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Third Party Products
WebFOCUS – used as the reporting tool for the Banner software
CLEAN_Address – used for address verification, standardization, and correction
FormFusion – used for document creation from Banner output
Intellecheck – used for payment processing
UC4 – used for job scheduling
SFA has purchased WebFOCUS from Information Builders Incorporated (IBI) as the reporting solution for the Banner system. Their mainframe reporting tool, FOCUS, has been used by the programming staff at SFA for over 14 years.
WebFOCUS will have the necessary tools to provide reporting for Finance, Student, Financial Aid, Human Resources, and Payroll. It has the flexibility to allow users to view their information from Banner in numerous formats, including Excel, HTML, and PDF, along with charts and other visual data representations. Information Technology Services (ITS) will also continue to configure reports to be sent to defined users via e-mail.
Report development using WebFOCUS is a major piece of the Axcess Project. ITS is on track to have required reports in place as Banner components go live in order to continue providing the level of customer support that our users have come to expect. The WebFOCUS software was installed in November and training will be held onsite for our programming staff February 24-27, 2009. As we learn more about the WebFOCUS reporting tool, there will be opportunities for Banner end-users to learn to how to build their own ad-hoc reports.
WebFOCUS is used by numerous colleges and universities across Texas, the United States and around the world. The ITS department will be able to leverage that experience to SFA’s advantage. Several other institutions that are already using Banner have offered to share their reports with us. Additionally, IBI hosts a reporting repository where users can share reports. As a WebFOCUS client, we will have free access to this repository.
Examples of WebFOCUS reports being used at other universities available via the Internet. There are examples from Ohio Northern University available at www.onu.edu/registrar (click on either “Dynamic Course Offerings” or “Transfer Credit”). Another is Tarleton State University, which was built by their Institutional Research Office. You may view these at www.tarleton.edu/~opeir (click on “Texan Facts”, and then click the “Enrollment” tab).
For more information on WebFOCUS and its use in higher education, please visit their web site at http://www.informationbuilders.com/solutions/education.html
CLEAN_ Address
SFA has purchased CLEAN_Address from Runner Technologies which will provide address verification, standardization and correction. The software also contains the functionalities of telephone number checking and area code splits, name and e-mail validation and zip code and county table updates. Benefits of the use of this software include:
- Improved data quality for all contact information
- Faster data entry time with fewer errors
- Faster mail delivery
- Integrated batch verification and reporting
In February of 2006, SunGard Higher Education invited Runner Technologies to become a collaborative partner. Runner Technologies provides a seamless integration for CLEAN_Address within SunGard Higher Education's Banner suite, providing both real-time and batch address verification and telephone checking seamlessly integrated within Banner Forms, Internet Native Banner (INB), and Web self-service applications. CLEAN_Address will better equip the SFA community to adhere to the strict data standards required for Banner.
For a listing of current higher education customers and to find out more information about CLEAN_Address, please visit their web site at http://www.runnertechnologies.com/clean_addr_features.html
FormFusion
Evisions, the maker of FormFusion and a longtime SunGard Higher Education partner, has served the Banner community for over a decade. With over 800 clients worldwide, they are the premiere developers of products to compliment and extend the utility of the Banner system.
The FormFusion Suite allows users to take Banner’s basic output and create improved graphical layout and design for documents such as purchase orders, invoices, student bills, grades, letters and transcripts. FormFusion Suite begins by completely replacing pre-printed forms with the digital "form fusion" process, continues by allowing for limitless layout and graphical improvements, and concludes by allowing users to select from various destinations for their new digital documents -- printer, FAX, e-mail, WEB, or digital/CD archive
Some of the key benefits of using FormFusion are:
- eliminate pre-printed forms
- receive “digital forms” for the most commonly printed Banner processes
- select the form to be used, customize with your own logo, signature or other graphical elements
- run the process and the changes are digitally “fused” with basic Banner output, then printed on virtually any printer
The Banner system produces a wide-range of valuable reports. Rather than simply printing numbers and letters upon a page, we need to be able to produce rich, dynamic, digital documents that speak directly to their recipients. Adding FormFusion to SFA’s collection of third party add-on software lets us easily and systematically adapt the data content, visual appearance and delivery methods of important information for specific needs.
For more information about Evisions and the FormFusion product, please go to http://www.evisions.com/products/formfusion/
Intellecheck
Intellecheck is another Evisions product that serves as a Banner payment processing solution. It enhances and streamlines Banner output for AP, payroll, student refund checks and direct deposit advices. This product utilizes blank secure check stock replacing costly pre-printed check stock and will enhance SFA’s ability to protect against fraudulent activity with the built-in positive pay functionality. Intellecheck also integrates with 3rd party imaging solutions so check copies no longer need to be printed and stored and seamlessly integrates with Banner and ties directly to Banner security.
For more information about Evisions and the Intellecheck product, please go to http://www.evisions.com/products/intellecheck/
UC4 (AppWorx)
UC4 Software's solution (previously known as AppWorx) has been purchased as SFA’s job scheduling solution. This software organizes jobs, data center processes and manual tasks, using automation templates integrated with SunGard Higher Education’s Banner Suite through batch workloads. UC4's data center automation and application integration solutions have been successfully implemented at more than 1,600 companies worldwide, including numerous higher education institutions such as Angelo State University, University of Arkansas and University of Florida.
SFA will utilize UC4 to complement processes in Banner such as letter generation, financial aid processing and other critical university processes. Automation of job submission results in more efficient processing of jobs, more efficient distribution of resources, a reduction in risk associated with data entry errors, a relief of the burden on staff resources and the overall benefit of working with an automated, integrated system.
If you would like to read more about the UC4 product and its capabilities, please visit http://www.uc4.com/en/solutions/application-solutions/sungard-higher-education/