Benefits to an organization include improved efficiency, better control, and reduced costs. Banks have converted to storing copies of old cheques in ECM systems from the older method of keeping physical cheques in warehouses. Under the old system, a customer request for a copy of a cheque might take weeks; a bank employee had to contact the warehouse where the right box, file and cheque were located. The cheque would be pulled and a copy made and mailed to the bank, which would then mail it to the customer. With an ECM system in place, a bank employee could query the system for the customer's account number and the number of the requested cheque. When an image of the cheque appeared on-screen, the bank could mail a copy immediately to the customer; usually while the customer was still on the phone.
