Accountants making progress with Safe4

/in ,

Getting critical documents to clients can be time-consuming and costly.  Especially when the client is a Trust, with Trustees that work in different environments and don’t have access to common IT systems and resources.  Correct, secure storage of documents is very much dependent on how well organised each of the Trustees is.  And, of course, sharing documents between Trustees can be a real challenge.

Manningtons, Chartered Accountants in Heathfield, East Sussex, have come up with the answer.  They have started to use Safe4 on behalf of the Heathfield and Waldron Millennium Green Trust, and are now able to deliver documents instantly to all members of the Trust by simply placing a document into the web-based Safe4 vault.  This gives immediate access to all of the Trustees, and informs them by email that a new document has been delivered.  Once in the vault, documents can be moved between folders to indicate whether they are Work in Progress, Approved, or Archived, and accessed at any time by members after entering a secure login and password.

Alan Staples, senior partner at Manningtons, is one of the Trustees, and is seeing the opportunity to greatly improve the way the Trust manages its documents.  The Millennium Green Trust is one of a number of clients who are now using the Safe4 service through Manningtons.  Saving money and making the communication process faster and easier – that sounds like a great way forward.

Dealing with winter weather

/in

Unexpected bad weather catches us off guard almost every year.  By my reckoning, I’ve been snowed in on 3 separate occasions this year:  in January, February, and again this week.  This can play havoc with running a business, when many staff simply can’t get into the office or place of work.

However, the arrival of Safe4 has helped to change that.  Using the internet, any authorised person can deliver documents to their colleagues and clients, as well as gaining access to all of the organisation’s stored information.  No need to set up complex and expensive Virtual Private Networks, no need to let your clients have access to your own IT systems.  And its completely secure.

Every organisation is affected differently by interruptions caused by the weather.  At least for some companies, Safe4 can help your staff to maintain a high level of productivity when transport networks are struggling, saving time and money and keeping your clients happy.

Safe4 Launches in Leeds

/in

Today sees the official Safe4’s national launch of an exciting new service designed to help professional practitioners and other businesses to get critical documents direct to their clients. Documents are then retained in a secure online vault to which both business and client have access from anywhere at any time.

The Lord Mayor of Leeds, accompanied by the Lady Mayoress, will speak at the launch in the presence of the Deputy Lieutenant of West Yorkshire. The event takes place at the historic Club LS1 in the heart of the city which is the UK’s leading centre for financial and professional services outside London.

Howard Kew, CEO of Financial Leeds, says “Innovative companies such as Safe4 bring additional impetus to the role of Leeds and the city region as a centre of business excellence, emphasising the importance of the region to the greater national economy.”  He continues “We welcome Safe4 to the Leeds business environment and are sure that their unique solution to the problems of managing critical documents in the digital age will be of interest to the many financial and professional service providers established in the region.”

No more lost documents

/in

Sounds a bit like “the paperless office” – something to aim for but not to be surprised if it never happens. Of course documents get lost, it’s their nature. The more important they are, the more likely they are to disappear. They are at the mercy of the elements –insurance documents in the fire or washed away in the flood, wills in the thin air that often engulfs them.

Earlier in the year, we produced some  White Papers as a result of discussions we had with various professionals – accountants, IFA’s, lawyers – and which focused on the benefits to the professional practice in reduced document delivery cost, streamlined business process and higher security using a Safe4 like solution. In reviewing those now, around our formal launch, we wonder whether we did not focus enough on the benefits to their clients in having documents automatically put into a secure online file and being available in electronic form with no risk of loss, for whatever reason.

Is “no more lost documents” the real value of placing documents in online secure storage?  Or is the cost and business process saving to the professional intermediary more important than the additional value to the client?

Talking of lost documents, the most famous has to be the cheque lost in the mail. With recent announcements of Royal Mail price increases, entrusting any important document to the mail and paying more for a higher chance of losing it, seems less like an optimal document delivery strategy for the future.

Keith Madeley appointed Safe-4 Ambassador

/in

Safe-4 have appointed Keith Madeley the prominent and highly respected business leader in the Yorkshire and Humberside region, as the Safe-4 Ambassador for the Yorkshire region. He will champion the use of secure online document delivery solutions for lawyers, accountants many different types of business in the region.

Keith  added “I am delighted to accept the post of Ambassador for the Safe4 business initiative because it reinforces my desire to see Yorkshire businesses draw together to embrace new technology. In so doing it helps create a vibrant local environment and solid future for youngsters across the whole community. Safe4 is an important step on the way”