Life has gotten just a little easier for Lisa Smith.

As a risk coordinator for Ranstad Temporary Services off Windy Hill Road in Cobb County, Ms. Smith examines about 200 resumes a week for various jobs.

For years, she and co-workers would have to collect information about a potential employee by calling references, contacting credit bureaus and government offices.

"There was a huge paper trail," she said, laughing about life before computerized reference checks came along.

Now, she uses software that covers all aspects of pre-screening potential employees. Computerized reference checks are quicker, cheaper, confidential and more accurate.

"If I'm unable to do a criminal background check, I can't fill the job order and it goes to one of my competitors," she said.

Her company's first exposure to such a software concept came with Marietta-based Employer's Reference Source, which pioneered one of the first systems in the human resources industry in 1991.

Facing competing programs such as Pinkerton and Choice Point (an arm of the giant Equifax credit reporting bureau), ERS' software first entered the market as a DOS-program.

During the last five years, the company has developed an advanced program from Windows-driven systems so that within 10 minutes, ERS can supply a company with a complete National Social Security Screening Report.

In layman's terms, this means employees can get verification of an applicant's Social Security number, their last 10 known addresses and the names of their last three places of employment.

The program - dubbed WINASAP - also included local, state and national criminal background checks, driving history (MVR), credit history and education and employment verification.

It's a subject that has earned some time in business spotlight lately - no only for its advances, but is effects on all areas of the human resources industry.

More companies are depending on computerized programs to streamline today's hiring practices. While some companies are dependent on CD-Rom operated programs like ERS's, others rely on programs to sort, organize and scan resumes.

According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, some of the country's largest companies - Sony Corp., Coca-Cola Co., International Business Machines Corp., Avis Rent A Car Inc., Microsoft Corp., Pfizer Inc., Shell Oil Corp., and Staples Inc. - use similar types of software to track resumes and sometimes make the first cut in the hiring process.

Midsize companies also are beginning to use similar software as cheaper Web-based versions have become available, according to the article. Essentially, these resume databases make it easier and quicker for employers to find what they want in a minimal amount of time - an identical need many ERS clients seek.

About 200 resumes go through Joe Emmerick's department at Schneider National Trucking Company. The Green Bay, Wis.-based firm is constantly employing new drivers to add to its 13,000 employees.

Emmerick uses the ERS WinASAP program because he says it keeps costs down, it's quick and most of all accurate.

"All of those things saved us a lot of time and dollars - which is good," Emmerick said.

It can find every bit of information on job applicants Schneider requires, including the ever important category of driving history. Like Ms. Smith at Ranstad, Emmerick and his co-workers used to call all types of agencies seeking information on job applicants, costing the company a lot of wasted time and dollars. With one click of his mouse, Emmerick has reduced the time to two days.

"The neat thing is that we're still in development, but enhancements are always coming from our clients," said ERS president Tammy Cohen, who added that an upgraded version of her company's program is in the works.