The need
A shift into modern, purpose-built premises prompted Simpson Grierson to completely review its reprographics and business imaging requirements. The two major objectives were to achieve a cost reduction and to make scanning more accessible to all staff.

With 420 staff spread between Auckland and Wellington and strong global networks, scanning and emailing the mountains of documents that a busy law firm generates is an integral part of the company’s day to day operations. But with only a couple of designated PCs on each floor capable of scanning, the simple act of scanning and emailing a document was a very time-consuming and labour intensive process.

International deals often take place late at night when there is no secretarial support for lawyers; yet urgent documents still need to be sent around the world. Therefore equipment must help and not hinder the lawyers’ ability to share and distribute documents easily, quickly and securely.

The solution
Appointing Canon New Zealand as its reprographics and business imaging solutions partner was Simpson Grierson’s first step. Information Services director, Valerie Fogg says Canon demonstrated great vision, presenting a roadmap showing solutions to current needs as well as future upgrade paths that wouldn’t involve a lot of additional cost down the line.

Canon installed 55 networked Canon imageRUNNER Multi-Function Devices (MFDs) in the firm’s Auckland and Wellington offices, as well as a number of stand-alone printers. This means that colour is now available on all floors – whereas previously it was only available at Simpson Grierson’s copy service centre – and the new printing capability has enhanced the overall level of document presentation.

And as for the scanning and emailing dilemma? Installing eCopy on all 55 MFDs has certainly put an end to that. Already used by a third of the top 100 legal practices in the world, eCopy integrates the paper and digital worlds enabling staff to simply scan and email a hard copy document to anyone, anywhere, straight from the one Multifunction Device. Information can be shared instantaneously without waiting for busy fax lines or expensive overnight couriers.

What’s more, using eCopy improves security and customer confidentiality by creating an audit trail – so important for the legal profession. And by interfacing with Microsoft Outlook, copies of the email are logged in the users sent items folder, just as if they had been sent from their own PC.

Simpson Grierson staff no longer have to contend with the frustration of going to pick up an important document from the printer, or copying an important proposal right before deadline, and realising there is a fault with the printer or the toner has run out. Canon’s eMaintenance puts an end to frustrating delays caused by machine downtime by automatically polling networked printers and MFDs, reporting printer and copier faults directly to Canon without the need for customer intervention.

And another good thing for Simpson Grierson is that all these applications integrate fully with the firm’s existing business processes such as billing systems, macros and email.

The results
The implementation of the Canon solution in each office was seamless. There was no downtime at all to Simpson Grierson staff, and the benefits to the law firm were tangible and immediate.

"The three major outcomes for us have been the ease of use, convenience and the fact that we have seen a significant increase in productivity," says Fogg.

"Previously, scanning was complex and time-consuming with only a couple of PCs on each floor with scanning capabilities, meaning end users could not quickly access scanned documents from the system. eCopy has made scanning so accessible, and everyone is scanning so much more as a result."

Ease of use is another important consideration for Simpson Grierson. When working late at night lawyers just want to get the job done. At lawyers’ hourly billing rates, it wouldn’t do to have several lawyers standing around puzzling over a machine. eCopy enables a paper document to be quickly and securely sent to the other side of the world with the press of a button.

"Our service desk is noting calls that have been logged with Canon before they even knew there was a fault with the machine. This means downtime has been greatly reduced as there is a much quicker turnaround to resolve any faults that may occur."