CVU & WorkPoint 365
Improved customer experience, time saved, and financial gain with a WorkPoint 365 Document- & Case Management solution with Dutch WorkPoint partner, I4-YOU
CVU is a Dutch funeral association and an independent part of Yarden. It is responsible for approximately 1,300 funerals per year in the Rotterdam Rijnmond and the Gouwestreek area. The funeral association focuses on high quality and an individualised approach to each and every funeral. We spoke with Martin Berns, who has been with the organisation for more than 23 years, and is responsible for Accounting and ICT.
We provide funerals daily, including all associated services. What many people do not know is that we also take care of the administrative side, from processing policies to handling required legal documents in the event of a death.
Due to the nature of their business and the level of service provided, CVU works with multiple internal and external stakeholders such as the next of kin, printing agencies, insurance companies, transport services and funeral directors. Each of these services and agencies must have the correct information at the exact time that it is required for them to do their part in the overall workflow of a funeral. This information sharing process is regulated by law in the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Background
The established processes within CVU performed great, as evidenced by their continued compliance with ISO Standards. However, the workflows these processes were a part of were very slow, tedious and time-consuming. A lot of information was written down on paper and/or stored on a local server on-premise. The documents were copied and sent with regular post, whilst archiving was mainly paper-based with old files being destroyed in accordance with legal requirements.
Business challenge
Although performing successfully, the existing processes were, as mentioned, very time-consuming and CVU recognised the need for more efficient methods and workflows. The main challenges faced were:
- How do you optimise processes with complex document flows, within an organisation that must comply with extremely strict laws and regulations? Compliance is a must.
- Due to extremely tight deadlines and working in an industry where even the smallest error can have irreparable consequences, a smooth running process is crucial at all stages.
Solution and outcome
A Document- and Case Management solution from WorkPoint 365 built on top of their existing Microsoft 365 platform.
While looking for solutions, we checked every step of every process together. Our contact person at I4 -YOU asked many questions: what do you do? Why is it like this? Who are involved? Which laws and regulations must we consider? The standard software solution WorkPoint 365, running directly in our Microsoft 365 platform, turned out to be a good match.
By configuring and implementing the WorkPoint 365 software to fit the specific business needs of CVU, a solution was created and customised to fit seamlessly with the existing methods and processes necessary for CVU to maintain their workflows but now in a much more streamlined and efficient way. Much of the manual work was automated such as alerts and notifications, as well as assigning access rights to documentation while upholding compliance. Furthermore, where documentation was previously manually copied and sent via post, with this new system everything was managed digitally.
As WorkPoint 365 is so closely integrated with Microsoft 365, the need to switch between applications was removed making the daily workload easier.
Smooth implementation and high user adoption
During the implementation phase, a WorkPoint 365 specialist from I4 -YOU worked at the CVU offices allowing for quick and easy communication and hands-on help from their consultation.
Training was provided for a small pilot group who then made the switch to the new system. Soon after, the digital solution was rolled out across the entire organisation.
The rollout was an ongoing process, and due to the nature of this industry, it was implemented very carefully and in small steps at a time. No additional training was necessary as colleagues who already work with the software help others on their way if needed. As with any change, some employees were skeptical at first. However, as the benefits are immediately obvious, user adoption has been much higher than what originally hoped for.
Improved customer experience and financial gain due to saving time (50% improvement)
Our processes are now automated and digital where possible and workflows are noticeably optimised. For example, the administration of cases has been reduced from 4–6 weeks to 2-3 weeks from first opening a file to the final invoicing. This allows for a much better experience for our bereaved customers as they can now close their administrative tasks much quicker. In addition to this, there has also been a financial gain.
Collaboration with I4 -YOU and the future
Close collaboration was crucial. WorkPoint 365 is a standard software solution with all the associated benefits, but equally important is that it feels fully customised when used as it has been tailored to the specific business needs of CVU. This achievement is down to the strong competencies of I4-YOU's consultants and their ability to understand the organisation and the needs of the employees who wiææ be working with the solution.
Our need for a good IT solution grew. We also wanted to make the switch from on-premise to cloud storage. All of our processes had to be scrutinized. Changes and implementation had to be done very carefully and thoughtfully. Our system administrator advised us to contact I4 -YOU.
WorkPoint Case Management
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