Unlike other solutions providers, we are extremely well versed in Canada’s education landscape. When instructors use Ricoh tools, they can be confident that these will work the way they are supposed to. We also provide extensive support should any problems ever come up.

Post-secondary institutions have many faculties and departments. These bodies may have radically different record and document management systems, making collaboration very difficult and time-consuming. These issues hurt staff, students, and the overall vision of the institution.

In the absence of a digitized document management system, working in silos can create myriad problems:

  • Employees have to run around to transfer physical paperwork to different departments. Employees are usually very busy and having to do this is a poor use of their valuable time. Due to their busy schedules, records may not be transferred in time, which could have detrimental results such as a grant not being submitted on time.
  • Paper records are prone to damage and can be lost in transit. If mistakes are made, the whole process has to be repeated to fix them.
  • The IT department has to spend time creating solutions, so that different departmental systems can speak to one another. The different systems may be built in totally different programming languages and protocols, and the task of creating these solutions may be very difficult or, in some cases, impossible.
  • In the process of transferring documents from one silo to another, some issues may arise. For example, there may be stylistic differences in how documents render in different systems, causing lots of unnecessary confusion and headaches.
  • Institutions often wish to distribute information across departments on such topics as the broad strategic goals of the university. In the absence of a digitized system, this information may not be easily dispensable and can lead to serious consequences. Universities may also wish to alert students about new regulations or upcoming events and may be unable to do so, hampering the student experience and potentially leading to legal consequences. 
  • Staff may wish to locate a certain document and be unable to do so, due to the absence of a consistent search and retrieval system. A vital document may be stored in another department and be difficult for another searcher to find. Depending on the nature of the document at hand, this can mean legal consequences, lost revenue, or lost trust by students and staff. 

Ricoh has worked with numerous post-secondary institutions and has witnessed these problems first hand. There are tangible losses in terms of money and time, but perhaps more harmful are the intangibles: loss of student trust, damaged relationships between faculty members, and lack of true collaboration. In the long run, these things can bring down institutions.

However, there is another way. Ricoh has not only observed these issues at institutions across Canada, we have also crafted solutions to fix them.

Ricoh’s Expertise Can Help

Our award-winning enterprise content management (ECM) system allows for easy collaboration between different faculty members and creates an environment of greater trust. All documents can be stored in our extremely secure digital system, eliminating the risk of them being lost or damaged. Our systems are comprehensive and integrative, meaning that we can craft our system to match with existing software and hardware while also ensuring that the information is accessible to all those who need it. Instead of running around to find documents, employees are able to locate what they need with only a few keystrokes. Similarly, team members can all look at the same version of a document simultaneously – bypassing unnecessary duplication and possible version control issues. This makes for a smoother experience for all involved.

Unlike other software providers, Ricoh provides a truly comprehensive solution. We not only provide our state-of-the art technology, we also provide our scanning services and our business consulting. That’s why we are the #1 value-added reseller of our software solution, Laserfiche

In order for an organization to grow, it needs to appeal to students and staff alike. Cross-departmental collaboration is vital to the very heart of institutions of higher learning. It is often in these moments of collaboration that great discoveries are made. If there isn’t a good relationship between faculty members of different departments, great discoveries may be few.

Let Ricoh help you make these discoveries, attract the brightest students, and move your institution to the next level!

Talk to a Ricoh representative about how you we can develop custom solutions for you. Contact us at educationsolutions@ricoh.ca .

Finally, please do keep in mind that Ricoh is not providing legal advice or ensuring legal compliance with any law, regulation, by-law or any other legislative requirement with respect to the content of this communication. It is the customer’s responsibility to obtain advice of competent legal counsel to ensure its compliance with such requirements.