Kentucky Housing Corporation

​Kentucky Housing Corporation (KHC) has a 38-year history as a leader in affordable housing. Since its creation in 1972, KHC has made homeownership possible for more than 82,000 Kentucky households—many who would not have been able to find safe, quality, affordable housing without the help of this agency.

“The key to KHC’s outstanding history as a leader in affordable housing is our dedicated and diverse staff. We continue to look for ways to enhance our programs and our delivery of services,” says Rick Boggs, CIO of Kentucky Housing Corporation.

 
Improving the delivery of services is no small task given the continual growth of the organization and the ever-increasing volumes of both paper-based and electronic documentation. KHC needed a low-cost, low-risk, easy-to-implement alternative to its existing document processing systems—and one that would enable a quick return on investment.

​To help address these challenges, KHC turned to Microsoft Gold Certified Partner KnowledgeLake, a provider of document imaging and capture software for Enterprise Content Management (ECM) solutions based on Microsoft Office SharePoint Server.

“Going with a Microsoft-based solution, we were able to take advantage of technologies that we already use, making it easier for our staff to adopt this new solution,” says Boggs.

Working with KnowledgeLake, KHC deployed an ECM solution based on KnowledgeLake Imaging for SharePoint, Capture, and Connect software for SharePoint. Together, these products provide a content management system that easily captures, stores, and searches documents, regardless of whether they are received as paper copies or electronic information received through e-mail or fax.

The following are included in the KnowledgeLake product suite:

• KnowledgeLake Imaging for SharePoint is extensible server software that extends SharePoint Server into a high-volume production-imaging system.
• KnowledgeLake Capture is used to scan and save documents to SharePoint Server using networked devices. KHC uses the barcode-reading functionality in the Capture software to separate documents and populate index values, as well as to capture documents from legacy computer systems and from faxed loan documents.

​With its ECM solution, KHC staff can now process loans and applications with greater efficiency, enabling the agency to better serve the housing needs of Kentucky families.

Improved Efficiency

When KHC receives paper-based or faxed loan documents, staff members scan them, and the scanned images are then indexed into the KnowledgeLake application, which adds custom metadata tags, such as loan numbers, tenant identification number, and client last name. Additional document search and retrieval capabilities also help staff retrieve and view loan information with more efficiency.

The scanned documents are stored in Microsoft SQL Server and accessed through Office SharePoint Server. Documents received electronically are augmented with metadata tags and stored directly in the system to facilitate search.

Easily Accessible, More Secure Data

With the move from paper-based files to digital data, KHC can be sure that users are always working from the most current information.

“We like that the KnowledgeLake document viewer requires no installation or add-ins, which will reduce the amount of time necessary to implement this solution across the Corporation,” says Redden.

The ECM solution helps KHC employees find, assist with, and deliver greater security for sensitive data. “By using barcodes and adding automated indexing, we will be more efficient and productive,” Redden says.

Greater Flexibility, Reduced Costs

With flexible search options, KHC can manipulate data quickly and easily for reporting and planning purposes.

“The ability to connect to our other databases for column validations, auto-population of fields, and list boxes will increase our efficiency and productivity,” says Redden.

KHC expects to save money because the cost of handling electronic files is less than the cost of filing, storing, and retrieving paper-based files.