DocuDriven Enhances Efficiency and Agility in the City of Hood River’s Planning Department
Project Overview
- Pages Digitized: 111,231 (including large-format maps)
- Boxes Scanned: 126
- Scanning Location: DocuDriven
- Cost: On Budget
- Timeline: Ahead of Schedule
Key Quotes
“Having the ability to call in and ask for a specific file rush delivered was just icing on the cake! This allowed us to remain fully operational while our entire archive was being digitized.”
— Jonathan Skloven-Gill, GIS Analyst, City of Hood River
“Bruce and Matt are incredibly efficient and professional in their business. Oddities, questions, and concerns were communicated as they arose, and the quality of the return product was superb.”
— Jonathan Skloven-Gill, GIS Analyst, City of Hood River
The Challenge
The City of Hood River’s Planning Department aimed to transition from a traditional paper storage system for its land use records to a more modern, digital format. However, when the COVID-19 pandemic struck, Jonathan Skloven-Gill, a GIS Analyst for the City, noted, “we realized that we were leaving ourselves severely disadvantaged for any type of historical research in our own jurisdiction.”
Chosen to spearhead the digitization initiative, Jonathan sought a solution that would allow for quick and easy access to records via their GIS web servers. The primary challenge was finding a trustworthy vendor capable of digitizing a substantial collection of land use records, which included large-format maps and drawings stored in 126 banker’s boxes accumulated over nearly 70 years.
The Solution
After reaching out to multiple vendors, the city selected four companies for evaluation. “We had each company digitize a land use box to see their responsiveness to our requirements,” explained Jonathan. DocuDriven stood out with a one-week turnaround time, proactive communication, and thoughtful follow-up questions. “The quality and speed of the test box were significant factors in the city choosing DocuDriven. Ultimately, it was Bruce and Matt’s professionalism, customer contact, and dedication that won them our business,” Jonathan noted.
The Results
The City of Hood River had specific requirements for its digitized records:
- Each section of files needed to be segmented separately.
- Large-format maps required precise insertion in the PDF, reflecting their original placement.
- All pages needed to be text-searchable.
DocuDriven successfully met all these criteria. Jonathan reported, “With the work DocuDriven has done, veteran and rookie staff can quickly search for keywords in massive documents within minutes. Having these documents digitally searchable has been huge for our staff. Before digitization, staff needed to know which document within a project pertained to their research, making it challenging for new team members.” Notably, DocuDriven completed the digitization of all boxes in less time than originally proposed.
The DocuDriven Difference
“I can’t wait to have our engineering department launch their own project. Rest assured, I will insist we continue using DocuDriven when that time comes,” stated Jonathan. DocuDriven goes above and beyond to help organizations save time and focus on their core functions.
About DocuDriven
DocuDriven is a Business Process Optimization (BPO) company specializing in data and document management, based in Vancouver, Washington. We offer tailored products and services designed to enhance your organization’s business processes, available both on-site and remotely.
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