National Security Archive Automates Information Delivery with Captaris Solution

Captaris Alchemy Document Management Aids Freedom of Information Act, Streamlining Public Access to Records

Bellevue, WA — December 13, 2005 — Captaris, Inc. (NASDAQ: CAPA), a leading provider of Business Information Delivery solutions, today announced the National Security Archive, a research institute and library located at George Washington University in Washington D.C., is automating its records management and archival processes with Captaris Alchemy Document Management. The Archive, which collects and publishes declassified documents acquired through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), has cut file retrieval time by 50 percent. 

“The Archive is like a memory of what U.S. officials are doing,” said Carlos Osorio, analyst, director of the Southern Cone Documentation Project, and information systems manager with the National Security Archive. “Captaris Alchemy helps make that memory sharper. It is like a hyper-fast, accurate archivist.”

Though the Archive has always used advanced electronic tools to collect and catalog documents, the growing influx of files—more than 50,000 per year—posed challenges. To create a briefing book—a grouping of 10 to 150 documents related to a specific issue—analysts had to retrieve dozens of file boxes and spend weeks or even months searching through documents. This process could delay responses to constituents including journalists, congresspeople, historians and investigators. The Archive investigated several options before purchasing Alchemy, but found them to be “huge and inflexible,” according to Osorio. Also, as a non-profit organization, the Archive depends largely on contributions from foundations. Osorio feels the progress made with digitization will positively impact potential funding.

Since installing Alchemy, the Archive scans documents for digital storage and key word searching. It has streamlined collection efforts, reduced turnaround for requests and realized other efficiencies. Analysts are able to locate any document in half the time, “I search through files with key words, transfer the documents to digital folders and export all the data attached to them,” Osorio said. When constituents call with requests, the reply is now almost immediate. “Within the hour, we can respond with dozens of documents related to their subject.”

About Captaris, Inc.
Captaris Business Information Delivery solutions help organizations automate the information and document flow throughout the information lifecycle (capture, process, manage, deliver). With a comprehensive suite of software and services, Captaris helps organizations to grow revenues and increase profits while meeting compliance goals. Through a global distribution network of leading enterprise technology partners, Captaris has installed more than 90,000 systems in 95 countries in companies of all sizes, including the entire Fortune 100. Captaris is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington. The company was founded in 1982 and is publicly traded on the NASDAQ National Market under the symbol CAPA. For more information please visit www.captaris.com.

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