Summary

Laserfiche is an “enterprise content management and business process automation” tool.  It stores documents or digital records and also allows for automatic processing of those items.  It will replace the ApplicationXtender product that has been used across USNH for many years.The following are questions related to Document Imaging and the shift from Xtender to Laserfiche.

Questions

Q1 - When is this change happening?

Q2 - How do I know if the document I'm looking for is in Xtender or Laserfiche?

Q3 - How do I get a Laserfiche account?

Q4 - How can I get more information about this change?

Q5 - Why is USNH switching to Laserfiche?

Q6 - What happens to all of the documents that are in ApplicationXtender?

Q7 - How will Laserfiche improve our day-to-day experience?

Q8 - Who is AIS (Accelerated Information Systems)?

Answers

A1 - When is this change happening?

The transition from Xtender to Laserfiche is being done in phases, beginning in Summer 2025 and continuing through Summer 2027. The schedule is projected to be:

A2 - How do I know if the document I'm looking for is in Xtender or Laserfiche?

All associated Xtender documents will be copied into Laserfiche when an area goes live. Please refer to the transition timeline above. Once an area is live on Laserfiche, Laserfiche will become the system of record and documents will no longer be added to Xtender. For a period of time, Xtender users will continue to have view-only access to their documents, however it is recommended that you search for documents within Laserfiche.

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A3 - How do I get a Laserfiche account?

If you have an existing Xtender account, you will automatically be given a Laserfiche account. It is possible that the access you have in Laserfiche is different from the access you had in Xtender. The project team is working with documentation owners to confirm appropriate security in Laserfiche.

If you need to request a new Laserfiche account, please submit that request through the Accounts Management System. 

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A4 - How can I get more information about this change?

Please email questions to the project team at dms.project.team@usnh.edu.   

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A5 - Why is USNH switching to Laserfiche?

There are a few big reasons for this change from ApplicationXtender to Laserfiche: 

• The shift from Banner and Colleague to Workday presented an opportunity to review all our tools. One of the compelling reasons to use Xtender was its tight integration with Banner, however with the transition to Workday, we no longer have that. Xtender would require work to integrate with Workday versus the native connection it has to Banner today. We may lose functionality and it wasn't clear that the work would return value.  

• We license Xtender from Ellucian, the maker of the Banner systems that we are retiring. We would likely pay more in the future to get Xtender separately. 

• There is currently a lack of standardization and best practices for document retention and removal, which could potentially result in compliance issues with GLBA financial disposal rules and FERPA regulations for student records.  

• Laserfiche gives us more current features and functionality. We have been using Xtender for more than 15 years and the tool hasn’t changed significantly in that time. We were looking for a more updated tool to better serve your needs. 

This strategic project was approved and funded by leadership across the University System. It is governed by stakeholders representing the various functional groups across the organization.  

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A6 - What happens to all of the documents that are in ApplicationXtender?

The documents which are currently in Xtender will be migrated to Laserfiche as part of this implementation. We will be consolidating the 4 Xtender databases (KSC Student, PSU Student, UNH Student, USNH Finance/HR) to one instance of Laserfiche. We will work with user offices from all campuses to map those documents to new locations in Laserfiche.

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A7 - How will Laserfiche improve our day-to-day experience?

A modernized system will: 

• Provide a positive user experience for faculty, staff and students 

• Simplify and streamline key business processes to reduce the time and effort required to process, store, and manage documents 

• Provide easier and faster access to important documents and data, improving the ability of staff, faculty, and students to find and use the information they need 

• Improve compliance with regulatory requirements such as GLBA financial disposal rules and FERPA regulations for student records, and automate document retention and removal rules 

• Ensure that systems can be easily maintained and updated over time 

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A8 - Who is AIS?

Accelerated Information Systems (AIS)  is our implementation partner and service and support vendor for Laserfiche.  AIS staff will be working directly on migrating the documents from Xtender to Laserfiche, working on needed integrations to Workday and other systems, providing training to offices that will be moving to Laserfiche, and making sure that our staff have needed support on use of Laserfiche.

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Further Readings

Document Imaging: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Accelerated Information Systems (AIS)  - vendor web site

Need additional help?

Submit a Business Applications Support ticket for assistance with Xtender or Laserfiche.

Visit the Technology Help Desk Support page to locate your local campus contact information or to submit a general technology support request.  For password issues you must call or visit the Help Desk in person.