Cashiering and Recording
The Cashiering and Recording module is integrated with workstations that include cash drawers and combination receipt/barcode printers.

The cashier enters the appropriate document type and supporting information for each customer. This creates a record for the transaction.

The system handles a wide variety of document types, including:

Land records
Plats
Birth, marriage and death certificates
Veterans discharges

The appropriate fees and taxes are automatically calculated based on document type, number of pages and purchase price. The system also has the ability to endorse checks and can handle cash, debit/credit cards or escrow accounts, and has the ability to suspend transactions for a variety of reasons, such as insufficient funds.

The first sheet of the document is validated with a recording date and time, book and page number, barcode and other information such as instrument number. The system also produces a receipt for the customer that reflects all recording data, taxes and fees.

Scanning
The scan module utilizes high-speed scanners that create the actual image of the document. The system supports individual document scanning and batch scanning. The scanner captures the instrument number from the bar code imprinted on the first page of each document, and the system responds by displaying and linking the images to the document data assigned during recording. Once the document images are accepted by the operator, the system permanently burns the book and page number onto the bottom portion of each image, eliminating the need to hand-stamp every page.

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Index and Verify
After Scanning, the original documents may be returned to the customer; the staff can index and verify documents from the image and does not need the paper originals.

As a further quality check, the Index and Verify module allows the operator to review data entered during recording and enter additional data as needed. To verify the accuracy of data entry, the system can be configured to require the operator to manually re-enter information displayed on the document image itself. If the newly keyed information does not match the original transaction record, the operator is alerted so the discrepancy can be rectified.

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Public Search and Retrieval
With the images digitized and securely stored, it is possible to search for and display documents either using public workstations at the clerk’s office or via the Internet.

Documents may be searched based on party name, file number, book/page, book only, date ranges, or any other criteria recorded in the system, as needed. The module includes filtering capability to quickly narrow the search.

Once the document is found, a high-resolution image is displayed on screen, and may be printed for a permanent record.

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Redaction
The growing concern over identity theft has drawn attention to the relative ease with which criminals can obtain important information about an individual. For this reason, certain items in public records, such as Social Security numbers, need to be redacted (removed from public view).

The scope of this problem is daunting, considering the sheer number of public records in existence. Each document must be inspected and redacted. NewVision has developed the ability to automatically redact this and other information at the time of scanning as well as on previously stored records, through the use of optical character recognition (OCR) technology. This technology is so efficient that tens of millions of records have already been redacted with minimal impact on ongoing recording operations.

While this sensitive information must be kept from public view, it must also be retained within the official record. To accomplish this, a duplicate image is created from an existing image and the sensitive information located and blacked out by the system. This duplicate, redacted image is the one that is made available to the public, leaving the original intact. The entire process is fully automated.

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Reporting
A variety of standardized reports can be generated from the data captured by the system, including:

Check Report (close out)
Check Refund (close out)
General Ledger Totals (close out)
Receipt Summary
Escrow Balances
Escrow Activity
Documents Recorded
Documents Indexed
Documents Verified
Document/Status
Book/Page Report
Receipt Revisions
Conveyance Tax Report
Index Report by Grantor/Grantee
Day Book

Adapting to specific customer requirements, the system routinely interfaces with county or city financial systems.

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PRIA-compliant eRecording
As society moves increasingly towards digital record-keeping and away from paper, the need for universally accepted industry standards for recording formats has emerged. The Property Records Industry Association (PRIA) has developed the eRecording XML data standard for this purpose.

With well over 200 counties in 27 states now using eRecording, the format is emerging as an important standard for the public records industry.

NewVision provides PRIA-compliant eRecording capability for any new or existing Official Records system.

For more information about PRIA and eRecording, visit http://www.pria.us.

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