ePC

Take a trip down memory lane

Written by Richard Adams on Friday, 01 August 2014. Posted in Company news

It’s hard to believe that 10 years have passed since ePC launched following the acquisition of Cardiff Software by Verity. In this article, we take a nostalgic trip down memory lane - and look ahead to the next ten years.

2004

Working from a single office in Bracknell with a team of just four people, in those early days, ePC provided technical support and maintenance for TeleForm, the Opentext owned data capture product.

Among our first clients was Chevron Texaco who required an alternative to manually inputting low level fault and housekeeping data generated from site inspection cards. The team had to complete an ‘Air Pocket Dry Trainer User’ course before being helicoptered between four oil platforms in the North Sea to install the system, which scanned, stored, analysed and translated incident data into action plans.

It’s hard to believe that 10 years have passed since ePC launched following the acquisition of Cardiff Software by Verity. Here, we take a nostalgic trip down memory lane - and look ahead to the next ten years.

2005

We outgrow our first offices and move to new premises in Lightwater and secure ISO 9001 accreditation.

Just a year after launch, ePC helped the RAF reduce their data entry time and costs by 90% by implementing TeleForm and eForms at several bases.

We launch eStore - an effective alternative to the manual filing, archiving, storage and retrieval of paper and electronically submitted forms.

The soon-to-be traditional summer and winter employee excursions begin with a Christmas trip to Paris.

As the country celebrated winning 'the Ashes', an intrepid team from ePC raised £1,600 for the Bristol Cancer Help Centre during a Champagne Run to Epernay in the heart of French champagne country.

2006

This year saw ePC launch eTimeSaver to provide timesheet capture and retrieval systems to UK employment agencies. Monarch Recruitment, Premier People, Reed and Adecco all use the system.

Autonomy acquire Verity and announce TeleForm v10. The update included full support for Windows 2003 Server and improved compatibility with new technologies such as PDF and Microsoft SQL Server 2005.

2007

ePC launch eClinical to process high volumes of hand-completed clinical trial forms. Clinical Trials Group, South East Wales Trials Unit (SEWTU) and NHS Trusts nationwide use the system.

2008

With the global financial crisis looming, Buckinghamshire Hospitals NHS Trust become our 100th client after we install TeleForm to collate training feedback from mental health practitioners.

2009

By the late noughties, ePC was celebrating five successful years and expanding the scope of our capabilities with the release of eFlex - a solution for system alerting and monitoring needs.

2010

2010 marked a significant milestone in our history. In October, ePC announced a new partnership with BP Logix and become certified resellers of Process Director, signalling a shift towards business process management.

2011

It’s a busy year for ePC as we announce a new partnership with ABBYY and deploy a CapEx BPM system across Europe and Asia for Rentokil Initial.

HP acquires Autonomy to ensure the continued advancement of the Cardiff Software product line, including TeleForm and LiquidOffice. HP's long established track record of working with paper based technologies, such as scanners and printers, combined with its focus on enterprise software, guarantee exciting times ahead for TeleForm.

2012

We launch eValuate to streamline high-volume processing of training evaluation forms and assist with providing instant analysis and reporting. NHS Trusts, RAF and the police adopt the system.

2013

ePC expand our exam marking solution with options for distributed scanning via the web and web-based bulk marking. This helps us implement a new exam marking system for Cambridge English Language Assessment. We deploy a cloud based CapEx system at Millennium Hotels.

2014

Our track record of product innovation continues as we release eScan. We also implement TeleForm at seven NHS Trusts across Wales and expand our cloud infrastructure.

Looking further ahead

From our early days in document scanning and data capture, we have continually evolved to specialise in business process management and built partnerships with ABBYY, HP Autonomy and BP Logix. Over the last ten years, ePC has deployed systems for FTSE listed companies, NHS trusts and local councils including Adecco Group, Millennium Hotels, RAF, Rentokil Initial and UCL.

As we look forward to the next ten years, we plan to build on our success in the education industry after deploying an exam processing system for Cambridge English Language Assessment. We also plan to build on our eForms capability and further enhance our cloud platform.

If you want to find out more about our BPM and data capture solutions, or wish to book a demonstration, please contact us.

About the Author

Richard Adams

Richard Adams

Richard is the Marketing Manager at ePC where he is responsible for marketing, PR and ISO 9001.