|
TOKOPEN
HELPS TOSHIBA ADD VALUE IN NEWLY LAUNCHED SOLUTIONS BUSINESS
-
Web-based PDF files capture and management
Tokairo
partner Toshiba TEC Imaging Systems, who adopted TokOpen as
a reseller, have now chosen the system for their own internal
document management solution. Following a successful pilot
application, the company is now poised to roll TokOpen out
across it's headquarters operation.
The
pilot was to provide a reliable and friendly channel of communication
between Toshiba and its 50-plus dealer network throughout
the UK for delivery of technical manuals, bulletins and product
service updates. Previously this had involved receiving material
from the company's parent in Japan, copying it and posting
it to individual dealers. The procedure was slow, inelegant,
inconvenient for dealers who might have to print further copies
themselves, and there was always the risk of material getting
lost in the post - or at the dealer's office.
Now,
all the technical information is lifted from an internal Web
site and imported as PDF format files into TokOpen which is
accessible via a link from the Toshiba dealers' "In Touch"
Web site. Dealer service personnel now have instant access
to the latest information, can perform full text searches
to ensure they have the most relevant information, and provide
a better service to their customers.
In
the past, if a service engineer at a customer site needed
to check on recent fixes or earlier identified faults, he
would have had to call his office, arrange for a colleague
to find the relevant document and if necessary, have it faxed
to him. Now the same engineer can access the information over
the Internet via a PC in the customer's office. TokOpen's
full text search abilities are also used to locate information
rapidly in Toshiba's Tech News internal fixes and faults bulletin
and in the minutes of Toshiba's dealer forums.
A member
of the world-wide Toshiba Group, Toshiba TEC Imaging Systems
is a leading provider of network document management solutions
to users across the whole spectrum of business and industry.
These range from major corporates through small and medium-sized
companies to individuals.
The
company's products range from personal desktop digital multi-function
devices that fax, scan and copy - to high volume production
systems that can produce 160 pages a minute. The Company partners
with suppliers of complementary systems whose products and
solutions augment its own offerings. Among these is Tokairo,
whose TokOpen document management system is included in Toshiba's
portfolio as part of a drive to penetrate new growth markets.
The
Company has a very extensive network of dealers and resellers
- over 50 - covering the whole of the UK and Northern Ireland,
including dealers with specialist market knowledge and expertise.
A
prerequisite for membership of this network is a high level
of dealer commitment and investment. Criteria include well
trained and qualified sales and service personnel, comprehensive
networked facilities to demonstrate business solutions, and
monitoring and benchmarking of service performance. In return,
Toshiba provides its accredited dealers and resellers with
a high level of support through its reseller programme.
A
particularly important area is the distribution of technical
information in manuals, bulletins, product information updates
and a variety of other documents covering modifications to
equipment and procedures. There are dozens of these every
month and the information contained in them is vital to enable
dealers to maintain service and repair quality.
In the
past this information was received by Toshiba from Japan and
Germany via an internal Web site. Details had to be lifted
off the site, sometimes rewritten, printed and then distributed
to individual dealers by fax and posted as hard copy.
"It
was pretty time-consuming, not the most elegant way of distributing
information, and left the dealers with piles of paper that
often had to be copied again at the dealer end if multiple
copies were required," says Toshiba Senior Technical
Support Specialist George Phillips. "At that time we
didn't have a document management system - it was an entirely
manual process".
|
