Story Highlights - Affordable housing financing leader re-engineers loan acquisition process - Provides enterprise platform for business process automation and integration with Microsoft enterprise applications - Loans are now reserved in minutes, improving sales

BELLEVUE, Wash., June 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ Captaris, Inc. , a leading provider of software products that automate document-centric processes, announced today that the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority (CHFA) chose Captaris Workflow to update its loan acquisition process and to provide an enterprise platform for business process automation. By re-engineering its loan acquisition processes with Workflow, CHFA enables lenders to reserve loans in minutes, which has increased sales; has a platform for easy integration with CHFA's Microsoft enterprise applications such as Microsoft BizTalk Server and Visual Studio; and has its services aligned with industry best practices. Read the full case study at http://www.captaris.com/case_studies.

Created by the Colorado state legislature in 1973, CHFA is a self-funded organization with a state-appointed board that manages close to $3 billion in assets. It was initially formed to address the shortage of affordable housing in the state. Since then, CHFA has established itself as the front-runner in the affordable housing industry by financing single family mortgages for qualifying home buyers. CHFA also provides loans to small and medium sized businesses. By relying on systems that did not support integration or flexibility for changing business processes, some CHFA procedures were no longer consistent with industry standard practices for selling loans. CHFA's clients-the lenders who secure loans for borrowers-were often challenged by business practices that occasionally caused lengthy turnarounds and delays for loan completions.

CHFA developed a plan for a whole new approach coined the Home Finance STARSystem, driven by integrated and automated workflow that would greatly enhance service to lenders. The IT team set requirements for the workflow vendor with a proven installation base and with software that could integrate with Microsoft server products and development environment. After conducting intensive evaluations, CHFA selected Captaris Workflow to automate its custom loan acquisition system for the Home Finance Division. Lenders now make loan reservations using the STARSystem Web interface and then the workflow system takes it to completion. Electronic reservations are held until they are matched with corresponding loan files submitted for compliance underwriting. After underwriting requirements are specifically defined, the workflow system automatically notifies lenders of necessary information or tasks to meet closing deadlines.

By re-engineering loan acquisition processes with Captaris Workflow, CHFA services are now aligned with industry best practices and the organization is providing a simplified experience to its single family lender base. Response to CHFA's new online STARsystem has been overwhelming. Lenders are quickly able to lock rates, manage their pipelines and reserve loans. Workflow provides visibility into case loads and processes, drives tasks and exposes bottlenecks. "When CHFA is able to turnaround loans sooner, our lenders require a smaller line of credit and get paid faster," said Karen Harkin, director of Home Finance. Rule-based workflow allows acquisition only when all documentation is perfected. The process to enter new products into the system and comply with IRS and mortgage industry guidelines is also streamlined. The key metrics of success are the cost savings in time and the ease of doing business, according to Rod Hardin, CHFA IT director. CHFA also plans to use Workflow to track response times, cost per loan and other statistics related to staff efficiency.

CHFA maintains six lines of business and residential mortgages comprise 65 percent of revenue. "We addressed the area with the biggest impact on our mission, but we've also created a framework to integrate effectively all line of business applications across a common platform," Hardin added. As a .NET solution that natively integrates with Microsoft technologies, Captaris Workflow seamlessly integrates with CHFA's infrastructure, including Microsoft BizTalk Server and Visual Studio. CHFA plans to integrate Captaris Workflow with a Microsoft CRM application in the near future.

About Captaris, Inc.

Captaris, Inc. is a leading provider of software products that automate business processes, manage documents electronically and provide efficient information delivery. Our product suite of Captaris RightFax, Captaris Workflow and Captaris Alchemy is distributed through a global network of leading technology partners. We have customers in financial services, healthcare, government and many other industries, and our products are installed in all of the Fortune 100 and many Global 2000 companies. Headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, Captaris was founded in 1982 and is publicly traded on the NASDAQ Global Market under the symbol CAPA. For more information please visit http://www.captaris.com/.

The following are registered trademarks and trademarks of Captaris: Captaris, Alchemy, RightFax and Captaris Workflow. All other brand names and trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

CONTACT: Barrie Locke of Ripple Effect Communications, +1-617-536-8887,
blocke@recommunication.com, for Captaris, Inc.; or Dan Lucarini of Captaris,
Inc., +1-303-930-4405, danlucarini@captaris.com

Web site: http://www.captaris.com/