Document Imaging - Delivering Efficiency for the Digital Age

By Bill Thomas
From my “DocuBLOG” column
Bill works for USA-ONE Interactive

Document imaging technology helps businesses finally begin to deliver on what over half a century ago IBM scientists first touted: the paperless office. With the aid of document imaging, businesses today can streamline operations by replacing many hard copy documents with digitalized ones. Through document imaging faxes, emails and regular file documents can be digitalized, saving space, time and money for the organization.

Basically, document imaging is a matter of scanning files and paper documents, then having them converted into digital images that can be stored in Tagged Image File Format (TIFF) or digital files on your network server, computer hard drive, CD, DVD, or Document Management System. Often organizations prefer to have their document imaging stored off-site with a third party provider. This can be an excellent choice that offers greater security for important company documents and reduces employees’ workload, freeing them up to handle other tasks.

Another advantage of document imaging is the capacity it offers for using optical character recognition (OCR) on scanned documents. Using OCR an employee can search a document for specific text blocks and then copy them to another application — a real time saver!

One of the great advantages of using document imaging is the ability to scan in a faxed or paper form and then be able to fill it out online — even check boxes. Once complete, the form can be sent via email.

Other advantages include:

• Document imaging makes it possible to add comments to a scanned document on your computer and then publish it by email to others.
• Document imaging allows anyone in your office to circulated scanned documents as email or as an Internet fax.
• Document imaging permits the reorganizing and pagination of a scanned document and then the distribution of it via email.
• Document imaging lets you copy images or text from scanned pieces and insert them into other documents.

In all, document imaging cuts paper costs, handling costs and storage costs and that leads to a more efficient office and workforce. And, once a document is scanned, any authorized person can access it wherever an Internet connection is available.

Clearly, while document imaging does not fully eliminate the need for hard copy documents, it does take a giant leap toward a more efficient, more earth-friendly office.

Edocs — What They Are; How They’re Used

By Bill Thomas
From my “DocuBLOG” column
Bill works for USA-ONE Interactive

Edocs is short for electronic documents, but it could just as easily stand for efficient documents because nothing improves efficiency quite like replacing the circulation of printed documents with an edoc.

Typically, organizations will say that their primary reason for using edocs is to “go green.” Edocs definitely cut down on the use of paper and therefore help save our forests, but probably the overriding reason companies actually turn to edocs is economical. The “green” edocs save is a lot of greenbacks!

Edocs are popular with banks, law offices and just about every other organization that circulates information. Even Amazon.com has an edocs division that offers a broad selection of publications available for fast — virtually instantaneous — delivery. Plus, the Amazon edocs are priced lower than traditionally printed works, can be conveniently viewed through Adobe reader and, as mentioned above, have zero negative impact on the environment.

One industry that has made a near complete move to edocs is the cruise industry. A few short years ago cruise lines spent considerable money mailing out fairly elaborate kits containing itineraries, luggage tags, excursion options, contracts, etc. Now, all that is provided through edocs. An added advantage for the consumer is the ability to reprint any edocs that are misplaced without incurring the cost of contacting the cruise line representative and paying a fee to have replacement documents sent. The only disadvantage to edocs used in this way is simply the difficulty in training the public, particularly the often-older consumers who typically populate certain cruises. Now that the system of communicating by edocs has been in use for a couple years or so, consumers have definitely taken a liking to its convenience.

Another industry that has made the switch to edocs is the airlines. Where once tickets were mailed out, now they are emailed as edocs, saving time and labor. Plus, with edocs the airlines have effectively eliminated the problem of lost tickets that have to be re-sent to consumers.

Banks are doing everything in their power to promote the use of edocs too. They encourage customers to switch to edocs for receiving statements and bills rather than relying on traditional snail mail. Both cut costs for the institution and save time and paper.

Whatever the real motivating factor behind the societal move to edocs communication — money savings, ecology, time savings or something else — it is a positive step that appears to benefit companies, individual consumers and the planet as a whole.

Document Scanning: Step One Toward An Efficient Organization

By Bill Thomas
From my “DocuBLOG” column
Bill works for USA-ONE Interactive

Ever feel like you’re drowning in paper? You’re not alone. Sometimes when I look at the bulging files virtually busting out of office file cabinets, I wonder if anyone really knows where a given document is located. The truth is, often they don’t. Whether you work in a doctor’s office, a manufacturing firm, a marketing company, a pharmaceutical giant or any of the thousands of mom and pop shops that dot the business landscape, the sheer mass of paper contained in your “paper trail” is probably overwhelming. Document scanning is the antidote to paper overload.

Document scanning is today’s way of taking control of the clutter, including everything from documents you refer to daily to those you haven’t looked at since your incorporation, but still need to hold on to.

Document scanning can encompass both paper documents and information currently stored on microfilm. It’s an excellent way to bring all the hodge-podge you call “files” together in one consistent, accessible system. Clearly, document scanning offers many advantages:

• Document scanning eliminates the need for all those disorganized, easily lost, paper records. This saves valuable floor space in your company.


• Document scanning greatly reduces the number of duplicate documents you have squirreled away in your “physical archive.”


• Document scanning saves search time. Everything you’ve scanned is instantly available on screen. You save hours scrounging through dusty files, often in a panic because a valuable document has vanished.


• Document scanning allows you to maintain a consistent high quality of document appearance over all the items scanned. Even if your scans include pages from rare old books, schematic drawings, old handwritten notes — whatever, you can count on document scanning to deliver the highest quality image possible.


• Document scanning helps you speed up your service to customers. Since everything you need for a customer transaction is accessible at your fingertips, you can answer questions and solve problems fast, and that makes everyone happier.


• Document scanning saves money by cutting the high cost of storage. No more ugly metal file cabinets overwhelming your attractive office décor, no more storage room stacked high with boxes filled with old records you don’t dare pitch out. No more employees spending costly time digging through this mess to find something that may, or may not, be there. Everything is neat and organized and that’s a real confidence builder for clients visiting your office and being served by your staff.

If a paperless office is the future — and it seems that this is certainly where American business is heading — then documentscanning is a key part of your success.

CMS - Discover the Reach of Software that Manages Content

By Bill Thomas
From my “DocuBLOG” column
Bill works for USA-ONE Interactive

What is CMS? At first blush, the answer seems simple, and frankly, obvious. CMS is a system that manages content. That’s clear enough, right? … until you begin thinking about it. To truly define, and understand, what CMS actually is you must first set some parameters. For example, what is the content the CMS will manage? In its simplest form, “managed content” could be names and addresses in a Rolodex. Content: names/addresses. Managed: alphabetized on a circular file.

However, in the electronic world, where the term CMS is most often applied these days, content usually refers to any variety of digital info an organization wishes to retain and use. This includes such things as text documents, graphics, records, sound — almost anything that could be managed in an electronic venue.

OK, now that we understand the vast variety of content a CMS can deal with, let’s consider for a moment, what we mean by manage? Do we simply mean store? Unfortunately, that’s what some systems’ reps seem to imply. However, a truly effective CMS will combine processes, rules and workflow considerations in such a way as to make the materials being stored more accessible and more logically organized than they would be otherwise. CMS is a tool to make information access — both internally and externally, as allowed — more efficient.

Often when someone refers to a CMS, they are talking about a system used to manage the content of a website. This CMS is actually a combination of two different components: the Content Management Application, which makes it possible for someone not schooled in HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) to control the creation, alteration and deletion of content, and the Content Delivery Application which actually uses the information input to update the site.

In deciding to implement a CMS in your organization, a couple of considerations need to be pondered:

• How large is your organization and how far-flung are your offices. This is especially important if the CMS content will need to be used across international borders. This complicates the process of CMS implementation considerably.
  


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  How diverse is your organization’s data? If the CMS will control a wide variety of formats(video, audio, diagrams, text, graphics), management becomes more difficult.

For best results and long-term satisfaction with your CMS, work with a trusted representative as you set up the rules and protocols that will be followed by your system.

Document management software delivered as a software-as-a-service (Saas)

Software-as-a-service (SaaS) is becoming a popular 'must' for business today. One such SaaS is document management. The market is flooded with vendors and software service providers who would be more than willing to give your company an excellent offer for you to try their product. Document management software basically allows you access to your documents from anywhere without any hassle through the internet and a web browser. Let's have a look at how this concept works:

Create and Preserve documents
Most Document Management software integrates itself with commonly used office software like Microsoft Office etc. enabling you to create and manage the document in its original format. What's more you can even scan and save paper document and forms that have been around your office for years, making your office truly paperless. All of these documents can be preserved and can be set up for easy access when one needs them, through a filing and cabinet storage system that can be customized to the user’s needs.

Document Security
Security and back up of their valuable documents is probably the most important concern for any organization. Traditional ways of managing documents can cost a lot of money and most often than not have manpower requirements that are not always affordable for small businesses. This is where document management software comes in. Most document management software also come with security features like limiting access to certain documents and files etc. Backup is another important feature that comes with these SaaS packages making these tools very viable to be used around the office place.

Archiving and retaining documents
Retaining, archiving and then administrating and tracking these archives are one of the most essential parts of document management in today businesses. Making sure that the organization has easy and quick access to these digitalized documents is critical. Using document management software can help you achieve all these things, making sure that you lower and maybe even cut out unwanted costs of operations hence turning your business in a more profitable one.

Document Control for the 21st Century

Managing an organization’s documents takes more than creating a file on the computer and then electronically categorizing it for later use. You need real “corporate wide” document control that allows you to access and make best use of documents from creation through use by multiple individuals and ultimately storage, archiving and retrieval for further use. Data mining is also very important.

With exceptional document control, a company can enhance productivity, tighten security and exert more control over the full life of their organization’s documents. That’s a pretty big return on investment in technology.

What are the key issues solved by a good corporate document control system?

• Organizations with multiple locations each running their own, independent document control operation.
• Multiple tools and programs in use that are not integrated together to accomplish company goals and objectives.
• Poor security: With multiple programs and ways of handling information in use, it is nearly impossible to oversee and control information and keep it secure.

An effective document control system should offer a number of key features that make communication and control both easier and more secure. These include such things as:

• Full security — A company must be able to limit access to only those persons, inside and outside the company, who should be able to view documents.
• Audit “time trail” — Document control must include virtual time stamps that indicate when the document was last used and who last modified it.
• Convenient access — Eliminate the fiery hoops many systems make you jump through to access documents you have every right to see and modify.
• Reports and analysis — Exceptional document control requires the ability to analyze data stored in the system and generate reports quickly and easily.
• Document history — The company should be able to track the status of a document that is in process or complete.
• Search ease — The document control system should make it super easy to quickly locate the exact file or document you need. No wild goose chases, no wasted time!
• Easy integration with other applications — If you can’t use your document control measures with applications already entrenched in your corporate culture, you have a problem. Document control should not be like forcing a square peg into a round hole!

Chosen carefully, with a full understanding of the breadth of features available in the marketplace today, a document control system will expedite communication throughout your organization and raise productivity enormously. It is well worth the investment of time researching document control options and the funds for purchase.

By Bill Thomas
From my “DocuBLOG” column
Bill works for USA-ONE Interactive

Document Management — Bringing Organization to Today’s Fast-Paced Office

Document Management is a science that has come of age with the advent of the 21st century. What once was housed in huge, space-consuming metal file cabinets and even sprawling warehouses is now contained far more efficiently on servers, disks and hard drives.

Today, document management is largely a paperless operation. That’s good for the planet and it’s also a sanity saver for office staff as well. While today the infamous “file search” for the missing hardcopy document may be a thing of the past, we can’t say all lost document problems have been resolved for all time with the arrival of the computer age. However, a well-organized and carefully thought out document management system will eliminate a lot of cyber-searching for missing documents.

The key is to set up your document management system the smart way, taking into consideration the most logical and practical ways information can be categorized and also the myriad ways it will be used. Any time invested on the front end of the process of choosing and setting up a document management system is time well spent. Get it right and your document management system will be a thing of beauty that will serve your organization well for years to come. Choose poorly, or do a half-baked job of planning and you’ll be gnashing your teeth and maybe even cussing every time you approach the cyber beast you’ve birthed.

For starters, you need to ask yourself and your key players some basic questions:

• Do you need to be able to store any type of file format including not just word documents, but faxes, images, applications and more?

• What are all the potential ways information in your document management system will be used?

• Do you need different levels of accessibility for different employees in your company?

• How long should documents be retained and how easily do archived materials need to be able to be retrieved from document management?

• If documents must be passed from person to person, what is the ideal way for the document management system to control work flow?

• What security threats will information in your document management system encounter?

• Where do you want your document management system to house files — within your firm or at an off-site location?

These are just a few of a number of questions to consider when beginning the process of selecting a document management system. There’s a lot of choice out there, but some document management systems are decidedly better than others. The important thing is to choose a system that is user friendly, secure and convenient to access. Don’t be afraid to ask your potential supplier a lot of questions. And don’t settle until you get the features and support you want and need. Document management is too important to your company’s functioning and success to do anything less.

By Bill Thomas
From my “DocuBLOG” column
Bill works for USA-ONE Interactive

Document Management Software – how to make the most of it.

By Bill Thomas
From my “DocuBLOG” column
Bill works for USA-ONE Interactive


Ever since the invention of paper, there has been a need for managing the documents we create. With the advent of computers, that need has grown exponentially. Today, there are a number of document management software systems to help businesses manage the growing plethora of items created and needing to be used, tracked, stored, retrieved and archived.

A good document management software system is a real problem solver for a growing business. In selecting the ideal system for your organization, be sure you choose one that solves your organization’s many diverse needs and allows for multiple uses of information. Excellent document management software provides the ability to locate and retrieve information quickly and easily. With the right system, digging in physical file cabinets becomes a thing of the past. But caution — make sure you’re not replacing time-intensive searches through a metal file drawer with time-intensive searches through a complicated, slow-moving electronic document management system. Simplicity, speed and ease are the ticket.

When selecting a document management software system, ask questions and don’t settle for less than what your organization needs. Not sure what you need? A good representative for a document management software provider will be able to point you to the solution that’s right for you. Be sure to always ask for a demo or see if you can “test drive” it yourself with a free trial offer.

For starters, here are some excellent questions to have in your back pocket:

Q - Where will our documents be stored and what is the process for accessing them?
A - It’s important, for safety, that your documents be stored outside your company computer system. Document management software that offers an ASP or “web-based” solution is much safer than storing documents on employees’ desktops where they can be lost for good — poof! — with a company system crash.

Q - How will documents be organized and indexed?
A - Document management software systems typically use a database to store items. Does the organization make sense to you? Does the software allow your organization to create its own “hierarchy” for handling/accessing information? If not, keep looking.

Q - How is retrieval of documents accomplished? Is it possible to browse through everything on a given topic? How quickly can you retrieve specific information?
A - Again, speed and full access to what you need are critical.

Q - How safe are our documents? What measures are in place to protect our information?
A - This is a critical aspect of document management software. While you want access to be
easy for those who should have it, you want an ironclad electronic wall keeping
competitors, former employees and prospective saboteurs out.

Q - If there’s a disaster — fire, flood, earthquake, etc. — are our documents safe?
A - Any answer besides, “yes, absolutely” won’t cut it.

Q - How long will documents be retained as “active”?
A - “As long as you specify” is the one satisfactory answer to this question. Beyond the active period, find out the process for archiving AND having easy access to the archived files in future years.

Q - Is the document management software affordable?
A - Your document management software should never cost more than your small to medium sized company’s cell phone package. In other words, spending somewhere between $110 and $140 a month is reasonable. Anything more is corporate robbery.

Bottom-line? After you’ve heard all about a prospective document management software system, do you have the feeling that it will enhance your ability to serve your market and improve your efficiency as an organization? Or do you have a gnawing feeling that you will be bringing on a new electronic master that will force your organization to fit its mold? Your document management software system should serve YOU, not vice versa!

The electronic age has made simple, efficient document management a reality for thousands of companies worldwide. Select the right document management software and it has the potential to put your organization at the forefront of your field or keep you there. Choose poorly, and you’ll feel like you have a 2-ton elephant on your back.



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