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APRIL. 1993
scan in all its archive of paper
documents since it is estimated it
would require 23 man years and
involve storage capacity of about 572
Gb. In the event, the following
documents have been scanned and
are now held in image format.
• All documents relating to new
companies registered since May,
1990.
• All documents received in the
CRO since April, 1991.
There are currently over 400,000
documents (over 2 million pages) on
the system which represents an
archive of 140 Gb. There are 41,000
companies with no paper files at all
(i.e. about 30% of all companies on
the live register).
By accessing the PROMIS database
it is possible to identify a company
by its number, its name or by other
data fields. Once identified it is
possible to display all the data fields
relating to that company. Certain
documents can then be accessed in
imaged format by pressing a
function key to retrieve the image
from the juke box of optical
disks.
Public Access
The CRO provides a range of access
facilities for members of the public
including:
• Telex/fax
which allows access to
the PROMIS database only and
retrieval of a printout of company
details including a list of
documents held.
• Terminal fax
where a remote
terminal can be logged into the
system via a modem and any
document retrieved via fax. The
fax gateway operates through the
WANG office software and can
transmit retrieved images to any
remote Group 3 fax machine.
• Tape transfer
of all images where
all images loaded onto the system
are copied to a tape.
• Remote image access.
The office
recently launched a Windows
based PC application with
Voyager Image Retrieval software.
Images will be requested directly
to the remote users PC for
display, storage or printing.
By August, 1992 the imaging system
had been operational for 27 months.
The rate of filing has reached 20,000
documents per month. The rising
trend of document submission
indicates that the rate is likely to
reach 30,000 documents per month
by 1997. Images are requested at the
rate of 18,000 per month at present
and this rate is rising steeply as a
greater proportion of the CROs
active documentation becomes
available in image form. Already
approximately 75% of document
requests result in image retrieval with
a shrinking balance requiring the
physical retrieval of the older paper
files. It is clear that the CRO is well
on its way to the implementation of
21st Century technology in providing
a more accessible and speedier
service to its demanding public.
Further details on the CRO system
may be obtained from
Paul Farrell,
Manager, Companies Registration
Office, Dublin Castle, Dublin 2.
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• Parties up to 200 catered for.
• "Afters" catered for.
• Available to solicitors and their sons,
daughters, brothers, sisters, nephews
and nieces.
• Attractive location for photographs.
Contact:
Peter Redmond (Phone 710711, Ext. 266)
for a competitive quote.
126