Centreline 2000 in Action
Minute Manager for Local Govt
Taming the Paper Chimera!
At Hart District Council, as elsewhere in local government, the process of good management
is driven by timely decision making and accurate record keeping.
In partnership with Centreline 2000, the council has implemented Minute Manager an
automated document management system based on Uniplex Business Software, to manage the
documents generated by the council - and tame the paper chimera!
Helen Blackburn, IT Manager at Hart District Council, explains the motivation behind the
system. "Decisions that affect every aspect of the environment, building, planning and
finance in the region are made on a daily basis. The Council needs to manage the paperwork
that underpins these decisions. After all, it is these documents that drive the business process."
In common with every council in the country, Hart DC has to maintain meticulous records and be
able to demonstrate their complete accountability. But the council wanted more than a system
for storing and retrieving committee minutes.
Blackburn again, "we wanted a system that could also automate the process of creating meeting
minutes. It had to be easy-to-use. It had to fit into our existing IT infrastructure. Most
importantly, we wanted it to be accessible to all authorised users - senior managers,
councillors and the typing services group."
Hart DC are an established user of Uniplex Business Software and, knowing the inherent
configurability of the product, they turned to Centreline 2000 for help. In partnership
with the council, Centreline 2000 implemented Minute Manager, an automated committee
minuting system based on Uniplex.
Automatic creation and retrieval
The product automates the process of creating meeting agenda, reports and minutes by
leading the user through each stage. Templates step the operator through the content
and formatting of the document including the date, venue, subject, attendees and absentees.
Minute Manager records the discussions and the conclusions that have been reached on a
particular topic. It also records who has voted and how.
An invaluable reference
Hart DC now create and record the details of every meeting using Minute Manager. As
Helen Blackburn explains, the system has proved invaluable in a number of ways.
"It has helped us to be more productive. Users in the typing services department can
record the minutes - down to a very fine level of detail. It has also helped us to
standardise our record keeping.
"All meeting minutes are created in standard templates. We can search the documents
based on a range of pre-set criteria including date, subject and keyword.
"Best of all, with Minute Manager our councillors and senior management now have an
invaluable reference. They can search through current and past meeting minutes, ensure
they are thoroughly prepared at every stage and appraise themselves of the latest
developments in related areas. We've cut down the amount of paper we produce and
increased the amount of information we provide."
For more information on Minute Manager call the Centreline 2000 sales office
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