eCircular enables paperless office for banks

Chennai-based Laser Soft Infosystems Ltd (LSIL) has developed an innovative software product aimed at converting large public sector undertakings, banks and corporations into paperless offices.

Christened eCircular, the product virtually replaces dissemination of important and sensitive information through the traditional printed paper based system or through unsecured methods like e-mails to a secured online mode operating through the private intranet of the organisation. Banks issue huge circulars to their zonal offices, regional offices and branches informing them of a variety of things like regulatory changes, change in interest rates, organizational information etc.

Most of the banks use large amounts of printed stationery, which is posted, or couriered to the receiving offices, incurring huge costs, time and labour. Often there are also chances of pilferage because of the fact that printed stationery passes through several hands before it can be received at the proper end, and thus often information is not received and implemented at the right time. PSU undertakings, banks, institutions and corporations spend several hundred crore of rupees every year in printing, posting and other costs for inter office communications.

Navin Kamath, product head of eCircular said that the product works in such a way that every single circular is properly created, despatched and acknowledged for, with a variety of options reserved for the sender and the receiver. The communication is stored in a central repository with options of retrieving later at any time, using a simple search platform.

‘‘With eCircular the banks or any large institutions can disseminate information in a safe and secured environment with hundred percent guarantee of receipt and in turn implementation of the same in shortest possible time,’’ Kamath said. ‘‘Besides as it is configured in the intranet of the organisation and does not use the public internet domain it is completely safe and secure,’’ he added.

According to K Raghuraman, GM (IT) of Central Bank of India (CBI), ‘‘a number of banks are trying to reduce paper-based communication within the organisation by using e-mails and web-based methods, a secured product will be of great advantage. Giving an example he said that in CBI, the HR department has already put in use an online product called HRMS from a South-based IT vendor, which has greatly helped the HR department.

Kamath said that within the first few days of the product launch several banks had shown interest in the product and as a matter of fact, the company has already installed the product in State Bank of India and its associate banks, Union Bank of India and Corporation Bank.