Bluepoint solutions’ core philosophy of commitment to client service excellence remains steadfast. It guides us in our day to day efforts to meet and, whenever possible, exceed your expectations. Our hands-on management approach places senior members of our team at the forefront of servicing each client. We continuously evaluate our solutions and services to ensure that you receive an unparalleled level of communication, technology solutions, expertise and support.
We recognize that each client is unique and consequently requires services of varying complexity. We listen to your needs and offer solutions to best address your specific business concerns. Our acquisition of Avalon International in July was a result of your need for an end-to-end Check 21 capture and image-based item processing solution.
With this acquisition, Bluepoint is better positioned to further our commitment to delivering the most advanced technology and superior customer experience. We now offer the most comprehensive next generation suite of image-based payment solutions in the industry. This puts Bluepoint head and shoulders above our competitors.
Today, Bluepoint is the most advanced provider of a full suite of image-based item processing, least-cost routing, image exchange, and comprehensive Check 21 capture including teller, branch, ATM, consumer and merchant capture using .NET architecture.
We are committed to being your trusted technology partner. As we continue our partnership, you can move forward with confidence knowing that you are working with the best people, the best products and the best technology solutions provider in the United States.
Respectfully,
Naseer Nasim, CEO
Bluepoint Solutions is pleased to introduce an image-based payment processing solution built for Check 21. ImagePoint is built on a state-of-the-art Microsoft .NET platform using proven components to deliver maximum efficiency and performance.
ImagePoint provides a scalable, function-rich, efficient and cost effective item processing solution by leveraging the latest advances in technology. ImagePoint suite consists of the ImagePoint Central module that performs centralized image capture, amount recognition, automatic MICR correction, amount keying, item correction and reconciliation functions. The ImagePoint Exchange module provides the functionality to accept incoming forward and return image cash letters from your exchange partners including participation in the FedReciept program. Additionally, your financial institution automatically participates in FedForward and FedReturn programs to send image cash letters.
Bluepoint’s revolutionary new payment processing solution provides comprehensive end-to-end functionality including:
- Integrated platform for handling paper and image presentment items
- Single platform for handling day 1 and day 2 item processing functions
- Sophisticated image recognition functions that significantly reduce data entry
- Easy deployment of client software Microsoft smart client interfaces
- Reduced requirement for expensive customization with a highly flexible and configurable system
- Improved client service results with feature-rich applications
- Scalable solutions for use from a small financial institution to a large, multi-site enterprise implementation
- Various options for prioritizing and controlling efficiency of operation with workflow management tools
ImagePoint is completely configurable to suit the processing needs of most institutions. This includes specifying sort patterns, endpoints, users, devices, calendar and a multitude of other parameters. ImagePoint is managed using a sophisticated but easy to use administration tool. The system provides logging of errors and warnings and the ability to monitor tasks, applications, devices and the back up and restoring of data. The inbuilt workflow management features allow operations management personnel to identify, monitor and manage the flow of work through the system. Supervisors and managers have the ability to change the workflow and priorities in order to quickly process the work and meet deadlines.
Deposited items can be selected for Courtesy Amount Read and Intelligent Character Recognition to significantly reduce the amount of keying required. ImagePoint interfaces with several best-of-breed recognition engines to maximize the read rates.
ImagePoint has three image-based applications that provide data entry completion capabilities for items that were not successful during the CAR and ICR process:
- Amount Entry provides a fast way to complete items that need only the amount field.
- Item Correction allows complete code line correction.
- Bluepoint’s Image Review application manually assesses the image quality and usability of items.
The sophisticated image-based balancing tool provides the ability to balance the work at required control levels, such as transaction, batch and block, and can be used for Inclearing and POD. Recon provides a ‘Smart Balancer’ that identifies potential out-of-balance conditions and provides operator tips. It also includes a facility to create client, inter-institution and teller advices. The comprehensive reporting and statistics package provides financial institutions with the required insight into the system for management. There are several available interfaces to the core system for posting to clients’ accounts.
The IP Exchange Module provides a complete solution for handling ‘incoming and outgoing’ for forward and return image cash letters. The IP Exchange solution positions financial institutions to be able to truncate paper items at the point of presentment. The ImagePoint Virtual Sort process provides the capability to virtually sort items to destination endpoints using a sophisticated sort pattern utility allowing simple RT based routing to complicated least cost routing based on multiple factors. The Virtual Sort module also allows financial institutions to accept deposit image cash letters from financial center branches, corporate account holders and merchant account holders.
The enterprise duplicate detection feature can detect duplicate presented items across the enterprise. In addition there is an option to synchronize images and code lines by automatically comparing the presented MICR code lines with the code line from the image as detected by the ICR engine. This provides financial institutions the capability to greatly reduce the risk of wrongly presented and the duplicate presentment of items.
ImagePoint Exchange module enables clients to send mixed return image cash letters to the Federal Reserve by interfacing to FedReturn and to accept return image cash letters.
The scalability and flexibility of the ImagePoint solution makes it a highly efficient and cost effective complement to Bluepoint’s RDC and C21 capture solutions. Together they deliver a true end-to-end Check 21 image-based item capture and payment processing solution for small and large financial institutions.
Seventy-four financial institutions chose Bluepoint’s real-time teller capture, branch capture, and receipt management solutions during the second quarter of 2008. Bluepoint Solutions delivers all of its solutions through direct channels, Corporate Partners, and Value Added Resellers (VAR) in either in-house, remote and on-site facility management environments to more than 900 financial institutions nationwide.
Details from just a few financial institutions that have chosen Bluepoint as their technology partner:
 First Capital Federal Credit Union in York, PA – 19,059 members, $91,568,014 in assets – has signed on to our Check21 Teller Capture and Receipt Manager.
Kevin Linden, Chief Financial Officer said, “Our partnership with Bluepoint will help us streamline our check deposit and research functions. “In turn,” continued Linden, “reduced expenses and increased productivity from our staff will allow us to focus on member service and additional products to benefit our membership.”
Jeremy Sterner, Information Technology Manager added, “It was important to select a Check 21 solution that integrated with our core processing application so that items could be scanned at the point of the transaction. It was also important to find a partner that would stand by their solution not only before and during but, most importantly, after the implementation.”
- Watermark Credit Union of Seattle, WA, with 72,390 members, $518,524,551 in assets, will be implementing a robust combination of real-time Check21 Teller Capture and Receipt Manager.
- Mountain America Credit Union of West Jordan, UT, with 304,000 members and over $2.7 billion in assets will be installing Receipt Manager with real-time Check21 Teller Capture.
As part of our client-centric strategy, we focus on improving our clients’ performance through the delivery of technologically advanced solutions. We sincerely appreciate the confidence and trust newly placed in us by all 74 financial institutions and look forward to a mutually rewarding and long-term strategic partnership.
Welcome aboard!
PHOTO: From left, Kathy Garrett, Alissa Fry-Harris (Bluepoint Solutions), Doug Knappe, Mark Helcl (Bluepoint Solutions) and Robert McNamara, Jr.
Patriots Federal Credit Union ($112 million; 6,725 members) serves over 6,000 households with members nation-wide. Their main office is located in Aliso Viejo, California.
In 2002, Patriots FCU wanted to move from the “stone age” of microfilm for document storage and retrieval into electronic document management (EDM). Bluepoint’s member centric-driven software design proved to be the best solution available that featured the member number as the focal point for EDM, which offered two key benefits – ease of use and scalability. As the volume of searchable information grows the capability of member-centric search retains its simplicity.
“The capability to scan at the teller line and know that the check image was electronically ‘stapled’ to the receipt delivered immediate results,” says Kathy Garrett, Vice President of Operations for Patriots FCU. “Research time was cut 95% with the new enterprise-wide availability of member records! No other solution we looked at offered customized search by member number.”
Bluepoint’s delivery and service support helps clients optimize and preserve their technology investments. The Application Services Contract (ASC) model utilized by Patriots FCU provides a dedicated Technical Account Manager, who remotely delivers scheduled preventative maintenance and responsive incident support – truly acting as an extension of their credit union. “Because of the level of support we receive from Bluepoint, Patriots FCU has been able to effectively reap the benefits of the software without needing a dedicated IT person to manage their solutions, ” says Doug Knappe. “It is a very personal relationship. Not only are we able to get our calls answered immediately, all of the internal support staff at Bluepoint is fully cognizant of the environment here at Patriots FCU and any one of them can address our questions real-time,” added Kathy Garrett.
Both credit union staff and their members benefit from sophisticated electronic document management software solutions. Robert McNamara, Jr., President and CEO of Patriots FCU says, “Our staff is more productive and frankly, it is easier for them to do their work. This gives them added time to develop relationships with our members and share with them new product and service offerings. We are an important part of our community and when we can focus on relationship building and problem solving for our members, we are delivering on our mission and goals.”
Shortly after taking the helm at Patriots FCU, Mr. McNamara attended a WesCorp Weekend Symposium for credit unions where Bluepoint’s products and solutions were featured. “Watching the Bluepoint products being demonstrated at the WesCorp event, in my mind, validated Patriots FCU’s choice to partner with a software solutions provider of the caliber of Bluepoint.”
Individualized service and support coupled with state-of-the-art technology has solidified the partnership between Bluepoint and Patriots FCU. “As both of our organizations grow, our partnership grows stronger and Bluepoint’s commitment to serving our needs grows with it,” Kathy Garrett adds, “Bluepoint’s responsiveness has increased while the company has enjoyed significant growth. In my experience, that is not the typical response from vendors. Service and support are embedded in the way Bluepoint Solutions conducts business and our partnership is testimony to that.”
 
Bluepoint Solutions strives continuously to maintain a high standard of technical excellence, and we are proud of our recent selection as:
- Gold Partner, one of only 10,000 Gold Partners world-wide, based on the number of individual and company Microsoft certifications and competencies;
- Independent Software Vendor (ISV), achieved through rigorous third party evaluation; and
- Small Business Specialist certification.
In addition to the above organizational advancements, Bluepoint now has eight Microsoft Certified Professionals that specialize in Microsoft software applications. The following individual Microsoft Certifications are held by Bluepoint staff: Systems Engineer, Product Specialist, Network Product Specialist, Technology Specialist, Systems Administrator and Database Administrator.
Bluepoint Solutions has experienced significant growth over the years and we are committed to matching that growth with an increased ability to support our clients. One of the steps we are taking to ensure service level enhancement is the implementation of a sophisticated suite of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software from Microsoft. This system will provide the foundation from which to support our growth for years to come.
This ERP solution will help Bluepoint to deliver higher level of customer service by streamlining communication and facilitating the integration of sales, support, RMA and accounting information within all departments.
The ERP suite houses CRM 4.0 which will handle incident and call tracking, Dynamics SL 7.0 which will handle all accounting and contract tracking and the Project Server which will further refine our project management best practices. The different applications will be integrated through the use of a sophisticated shared server, allowing more awareness of client needs between all departments and disciplines.
We look forward to launching the full ERP suite in January of 2009.
PHOTO: New Team Members from left, Kathleen Narayanan, Ragu Ramamoorthy, Tom Reinmiller, Susan Prince, Jackie Hogsed, Ron Ruff, Brian Kohrman, Carrie Grillo (front), Nagi Natarajan, Chris Peters, Seth Narayanan. Not pictured: Phil Yarbrough.
Seth earned a BS degree in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology in Madras, India in 1984. He continued his education by receiving an MBA, with majors in marketing and information systems, from the Xavier Labor Relations Institute in Jamshedpur, India in 1986.
Seth began his career as a software systems analyst at the Indian subsidiary of Unisys Corporation in Mumbai, India. He was involved in the full software development cycle, from requirements gathering to design, coding, testing, implementation and support for many significant customers around the world. Beginning in 1988, working directly for Unisys, Seth was a key contributor in the design, development, testing and implementation of payment processing software and solutions for a variety of U.S. and international banks and financial institutions. In 1991 Seth co-founded Avalon to directly serve the financial services and banking community.
Kathleen Narayanan, Co-Founder Avalon International, Inc.
Vice President, Client Relationship Management
Kathleen began her IT career as a Programmer at Farmers' Bank and Trust Co., Hummelstown, PA, while working towards an Associates Degree in computer science and accounting at Thompson College. Kathleen continued to contribute to Farmers' Bank's IT department while earning a B.A. in computer applications at Pennsylvania State University. She furthered her career and knowledge by joining Unisys Corporation in 1983 as a Programmer Analyst. During her career at Unisys, she served in several key roles including Team Leader and Project Manager in several software development and implementation projects. Kathleen has interfaced with several major clients on various projects, many specifically in the banking industry. Kathleen was recognized as a small banking expert and solution provider at Unisys, receiving their Achievement Award for Excellence in 1986 for her leading role in the development of the Unisys solution for Mellon Bank's Small Banking Service Center. She also developed the Unisys solution for Credit Union payment processing needs. In 1991 Kathleen co-founded Avalon to directly serve the financial services and banking community.
 Phillip Yarbrough
Regional Vice President
Phil Yarbrough joined Avalon International as the Vice President of Business Development in August of 2007. Phil brings his experience as a senior software manager with a sales, marketing and operations background. He has a twenty-five year track record of achieving superior growth results. Phil, most recently, was a corporate VP with Metavante Corporation where he helped develop, market and sell their Check 21 (“Sendpoint Merchant”) capture system. Prior to Metavante, Phil was SVP of Selkirk Financial Technologies (now owned by Thompson Financial), a treasury workstation software company; EVP of J. Driscoll & Associates (now owned by Trintech) a leading provider of reconciliation software to the largest retail chains in the US; SVP of Worldwide Sales for S2 (now owned by ACI) a provider of financial transaction software switches. Phil also served as president of Computrac, a law firm automation software company and as VP and General Manager for the End User Division of BancTec, Inc. located in Dallas, Texas.
Phil maintains an office for Bluepoint Solutions in Dallas, Texas.
Ronald Ruff
Regional Vice President
Ron Ruff joined the Avalon team in June of 2003 after 30 years at Unisys and serves as a Senior Check 21 Specialist. Ron has worn many hats at Avalon including product design, enhancement, direct sales and technical support. He has over 35 years experience in Item Processing, Remote Capture and Core Systems. Ron earned a BA degree at Southern Connecticut University and an MBA from the Wharton School of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania. Ron is a member of the TAWPI National Organization for Remittance Processing. Ron is active in promoting Special Olympics, Florida.
Tom Reinmiller
Senior Technical Account Manager
Tom has nearly 40 years experience in systems, development, installation, and management for the financial information services industry. Tom's IT career started at Maryland National Bank (now Bank of America) in Baltimore, Maryland. He rapidly advanced from Operations to Programmer to Senior System Analyst. He was then called to join BancTec in Dallas, Texas, as a Senior Systems Analyst; while there, he advanced to Product Manager.
Tom joined Unisys in 1983 as a Senior Analyst in the Dallas services organization. He accepted a transfer to Atlanta in 1984 to be FACTS manager for the GFS product. He then accepted a position in the IPS services working on FED IPS. From there, he was brought into the IPS Installation Services organization to streamline the installation process. During his career at Unisys he represented the company at trade shows and participated in presales efforts for numerous customers both foreign and domestic. Tom also spent several months in China salvaging the automation of item processing at the Peoples Bank of China and received numerous awards including the Chairman's Achievement Award for Excellence in 1995 and 1996.
In 1997 Tom left Unisys to pursue consulting opportunities with the major money center banks including Y2K and conversion projects. In 2003 he joined Avalon International and is enjoying changing the way banks look at checks.
Chris Peters
Implementation Specialist
Chris joined Avalon in June of 2007. He has been instrumental in the success of the Fiserv and TCF ImagePoint installations. Chris began his professional career by joining the Air Force, where he received training in computer programming. Since then, his roles have ranged from UNIX and Windows NT Sysadmin, to Java, ASP 3.0, ASP .NET and SQL Developer. Past assignments included Accenture and Advanced Computer Technologies. In his spare time, he enjoys working on cars and tinkering with computers.
Brian Kohrman
Director, Product Development
Brian Kohrman joined Avalon in May 2006 as a Product Development Manager to oversee the development and implementation of the ImagePoint suite of products. Brian has been involved in large system design for much of his career and holds a B.S. in computer science from the University of Georgia. In his spare time, he enjoys running, tennis and spending time with family.
Nagi Natarajan
Senior Developer
Nagi brings over two decades of legacy Item Processing knowledge along with innovative thinking to the Avalon team. He joined Avalon in the late 1990s after working with Avalon leaders in other engagements. He has played a key role across the board in all of Avalon’s product offerings. Most recently, he worked on IPS Bridge, a product which seamlessly integrates ImagePoint to the large established base of the Unisys IPS platform. This IPS Bridge is a key to enhancing ImagePoint’s early market penetration and success.
Ragu Ramamoorthy
Senior Developer
Ragu came to the United States in late 1999 to join the Avalon team. He has played a key role in all of Avalon’s product offerings. Recent and notable among them is IPS Bridge window services which seamlessly integrates Unisys IPS through TCP/IP socket connection back and forth to transfer data. This is key to enhancing ImagePoint’s early market penetration and success. Ragu is originally from the southern part of India and holds an M.S. in computer applications. He has extensive experience in .NET platforms. He played a lead role in the architectural design and development of both the presentation and database layer for Avalon’s products. He designed and developed the User Interfaces IUI) using C#, .NET User Controls and .NET Server controls, window forms, web forms and SQL Reporting services. In addition to development, implementation and support of various modules, Ragu also coordinated with third party API suppliers such as Silver Bullet Technologies, A2iA, and Allmypapers. In his spare time, he enjoys playing tennis, cricket, singing and spending time with family and friends.
Susan Prince
Quality Assurance Engineer III
An Atlanta native, Susan joined the Avalon team in September of 2007 as a Quality Assurance Lead. She brings over seven years of QA knowledge and experience to Avalon and now to Bluepoint. Prior to Avalon she worked at Credigy Inc and for Previsor Inc. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her husband Dan and her two children Anthony and Julia.
Jackie Hogsed
Senior Developer
Jackie Hogsed joined the Avalon team in August of 2006. She serves as a Senior Developer and helps design and implement applications for ImagePoint. Prior to Avalon, Jackie was with Unisys. She has over 18 years experience in software development and item processing applications. Jackie is originally from Scotland and is a graduate of Strathclyde University in Glasgow, Scotland with a degree in computer science and microprocessor systems. Jackie is a Microsoft Certified Solution Developer. In her spare time, Jackie likes to read and spend time with her husband and two children.
Carrie Grillo
G/L Accounting / Office Manager
Carrie joined Avalon in February of 2004. She has served as the Finance Manager, Office Manager and Marketing Support and Tradeshow Coordinator for the last five years. Although she wears many hats, Accounting, Forensic Accounting and Auditing are her real talents. Her dedication and many contributions have been instrumental in the success of Avalon. Carrie has many hobbies, including tennis, hiking, camping, and skiing. She also enjoys reading and traveling with her husband Stephen and their dogs.
Are you satisfied with the level of communication on this incident? Are you satisfied with the manner in which this incident was addressed and resolved? These are the types of questions that we ask of our clients when we conduct our incident surveys. Each time an incident is closed, an automated email is sent to the client requesting that they complete a five-question survey on our website. The answers to those questions are individually reviewed by our management team to assess our service levels. In addition to reviewing the responses, we also collate them by category, by representative and by client. This allows us to get an overall view of how effective our support team is and focus our attention on continual improvement of our service levels.
Whether your feedback is positive or negative, you will be assisting our Technical Account Managers to improve their skill, our solutions and service levels.
The next time you receive a survey from Bluepoint, please take a few minutes and complete our survey and let us know how we can better serve you. We appreciate and value your feedback and we look forward to serving you.
Bluepoint Solutions has established a 2008 Holiday Schedule that aligns with the Federal Holiday Schedule. Our goal is to be “on the job” to support you when you are open and serving your clients. Upcoming holidays:
Columbus Day Monday, October 13
Veteran’s Day Tuesday, November 11
Thanksgiving Day Thursday, November 27
Christmas Day Thursday, December 25
Check21 2.1.1
Enterprise Report Manager 1.4
eSign & Capture 1.6.0
FD BatchScan 3.2
FD Master 4.0.3
ImagePoint Merchant 3.14
ImagePoint Branch 3.9
ImagePoint Central/Exchange 3.4.5.16
Internet Access 1.2
Receipt Manager 3.4.8
Remote Deposit Capture 1.1.0
X9 ImageViewer 3.5
By Terry Chamberlin, Monarch Committee Chair
Monarch School offers homeless and at-risk students an education and the opportunity to participate in many activities such as student government, Street Law, A Reason to Survive (A.R.T.S.), Debate, women’s self-defense group, Model U.N. and business management at the Cabo Café. Bluepoint continues to deliver on its commitment to support the students of Monarch through monthly dinners, clothing donations and special events.
You may remember that at the beginning of the year, Bluepoint committed to the donation of 200 items of clothing. By the end of first quarter, we had already achieved our goal of 200 clothing items, so we raised that goal to 500 items. Now as we near the end of third quarter, I find that it is time to raise that goal even further – our Back to School clothing-drive gathered over 50 items alone!
Additional opportunities to contribute have also been embraced and created by our team. In May, we were able to send 10 beautiful dresses for the senior prom. In June, we ran a “Pocket Change Pays Off” day, which earned over $200 that was used to provide gifts for the graduating class of 2008.
Bluepoint team members are also excited about participating in the upcoming Red Shoe Shuffle. San Diego Metro Office of Keller Williams Realty is holding The Second Annual Red Shoe Shuffle 5K as a benefit for Monarch School. The event will take place on Saturday, October 18th, 8:00 AM – 2:00 PM, at NTC Park in Liberty Station, Point Loma. All Bluepoint team member contributions will be matched by Bluepoint.
If you would like more information about the school, fundraising opportunities or a tour of the school please contact Paula Kelly at 619.685.8242 or check out their website www.monarchschools.org. If your organization would like to sign up for a program like Bluepoint’s and “adopt” the Monarch school, please contact Hal Tilbury at hal.tilbury@bluepointsolutions.com.
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Employee Update