Antinori Software Inc. has introduced a product that stores check file indexes on laser disks.
Check file indexes are used by bankers to record all checks written by customers.
The Transit Research System, as the new product is called, works with a similar group of International Business Machines Corp. software products, which capture the checks on optical disks.
By using the two systems together, banks can cut down on the cost and labor involved in delivering account, statement, and check information to customers, said Antinori executives.
A Month on One Disk
Financial institutions have recently turned to disk storage to compress information and make it more accessible. One optical disk holds more than one billion bytes of information - about one month of check indexes for a large bank - said Mike Israel, Antinori vice president for marketing.
"Our system has the intelligence to know where to look," Mr. Israel said, commenting on how quickly the information can be found when using optical storage of the indexes.
Both the IBM and the Antinori systems are run off the same OS/2 workstations. The Antinori product allows banks to automate their index searches, which can speed the check-retrieval process even if the checks are kept on microfilm or disk.
By using the system, a bank can also trace the route of an item from its entry into the bank to its current disposition.
Antinori has had a business relationship with IBM for more than three of its five years. The software vendor also works with Eastman Kodak.
