Texas County and District Retirement System Goes Paperless With IBM Software

Texas County and District Retirement System (TCDRS) has selected IBM (NYSE: IBM) to bring millions of records online with a new enterprise content management system which will provide pension fund members and customer service representatives with real-time access to pension and retirement information.

In an effort to better support its customers, help ensure compliance and business continuity, and improve the storage and archiving of important retirement benefits information, TCDRS digitized all their customer account information and is electronically capturing new documents for this $17 billion statewide public-employee retirement system serving more than 180,000 active, retired, and former employees of participating Texas counties and districts.

“The move to electronic files is dramatically helping us improve our customer service delivery and helping us better protect and manage the millions of documents that TCDRS has created in the course of administering more than 570 nontraditional defined benefit pension plans,” said C. Ray Smith, Chief Administrative Officer, Texas County and District Retirement System. “We are transitioning our business by doing away with the manila folders that have traditionally been stacked on desks in favor of a more efficient electronic process that enables automatic routing of case files and customer service requests.”

The new enterprise content management system, built on IBM FileNet P8 Content Management software, will also serve as the foundation for a new advanced retirement system architecture that includes business process reengineering and enhanced customer relationship management to further improve services delivered to customers and at the same time improve the efficiency of TCDRS operations.

TCDRS recently completed conversion of over four million pages of paper files into electronic images allowing them to be easily stored, backed up and retrieved. The adoption of the new system is simplifying the jobs of customer service personnel, improving many of the daily business processes such as accessing account data, and enabling members to access and complete forms online thus improving the handling of incoming documents. Enhanced electronic workflow and case management capabilities are currently being designed using IBM FileNet Business Process Framework.

“We developed an enterprise content management system that not only helps us address our immediate needs for records accessibility and improved business continuity, but also lays the foundation to help us achieve our vision of serving our customers with expanded retirement planning and benefit services while striving to be one of the most efficient public pension plans in the nation,” Smith said.