Posts Tagged ‘digital document imaging’

Steve Breault, Vircosoft Founder / CEO

Most company managers are looking to convert to a paperless office and are very aware of the benefits they will derive once business document management software is incorporated into the setup of their companies. When it comes to scanning, indexing and securely storing business information digitally onsite or offsite, easy access or retrieval of business documents with the click of a mouse, excellent operational efficiency and productivity, meeting and surpassing customer expectations by providing top-notch services and 24/7 remote access to documents from anywhere, IT managers know that digital document management software takes businesses years ahead of paper and mixed media once installed. If a company operates in a sector where cumbersome regulations and frequent audits are required, then this business document management application provides excellent audit trails paper files can’t withstand.

There are basic features company executives and managers should look for in any electronic document management software that promises efficiency and enhanced productivity and here is a checklist that will help you avoid a pitfall in selecting the best business document management software your company needs:-

User friendly interface: Any efficient digital document management application must be built on a solid user friendly interface. It is obvious that the best software solution can fail if it’s difficult to use by employees. Efficient electronic filing system will have tool tips or help functions to guide users through every step whether it is document scanning or capturing, indexing, accessing and general procedures involving management of business information. The software should have a single sign-on for all applications so that users won’t have to sign-on every now and then or need to remember and use multiple sign-on passwords.

Features to help make content searchable easily: If a digital filing solution will make successful search of content possible in a flash, then it must have thorough, logical and consistent indexing features. Look for a business document software solution that incorporates a full text or enterprise search options in order to enhance search performance. It may be good to ask some clients of your prospective vendor about their content search user experiences before you proceed to seal the purchase contract. Don’t settle for an electronic document filling application that is known for occasional document loss and don’t settle for an application that offers less than an excellent result when you are in a haste to locate a document file.

It should be scalable for your current and future needs: Consider the future of your business and its growth potentials and see if the document management software is scalable to offer relevance and support to the present and future needs of your business. Will the digital document solution be adequate for your present and future needs? Will the vendor offer professional integration services or will you have to struggle alone? Ask yourself these questions because the greatest return on your investment once you incorporate the digital filing application will be when you can leverage on it to improve your business now and in the future.

For every business to thrive and grow, it requires reliable access to its documents (including emails) which must be safe and secured always from unauthorized persons. Efficient document management software helps businesses rise above daily challenges while its managers are focused on reaching projected goals.

Steve Breault, Vircosoft Founder / CEO

Documents are a critical component of running a business. Keeping business documents helps in ensuring the survival of every business. While every business owner knows this, too often, because of the sheer volume, mission critical documents are left unsecured or simply placed in a file cabinet.  In fact, many businesses put a higher priority on managing their office supplies than they do their business documents. There is a simple, low-cost, easy to use solution in the form of document management software.  Digital business document management software is what you need.

How business document management software will support the growth of your business: An efficient business document management solution will help you turn your paper files into electronic documents, index the files, store them and help you to retrieve instantly. Imagine never losing or misplacing a document ever again?  A business document management system will help you monitor the progress of your business even when you are offsite or on a business trip by having real time access to every document.

It will assist you to prepare your business financial statements accurately and in record time, it will help you to keep track of your business receipts from anywhere and at any time and identify the sources of every receipt. When you need to prepare your business tax returns, this electronic document management software will assist you to track every document needed to file your tax returns accordingly, it will also help you to keep track on your customer database and information when you need them as well as keep track of vital business contractual documents.

The software will also ensure maximum security of your business information from all unauthorized persons and you could restrict some parts of your documents from being accessed by unauthorized persons even among your employees while enabling you to be efficient in attending to your customers at a speed that is not attainable with the use of paper document and the file cabinets, hence, helping you to improve your customer relationships and satisfaction and enabling your employees to be more efficient and productive- which are really the basic elements a business needs to grow.

Document management solution will help you to run your business automatically and cope with multitasking situations: Once incorporated into a business setup, document management system aids a business to run automatically and then you will able to cope with multitasking business requirements without the need to waste time, energy and money  in tracing any business document again. Your company should be able to focus more on the core aspect of your business which will improve productivity and your business profits.

Steve Breault, Vircosoft Founder / CEO

In today’s tough economic situation, the focus of many businesses is on cutting costs, eliminating waste and making a business operate more efficiently in order to improve on its bottom line. Companies usually have clear objectives for achieving these goals and lots of strategies are often deployed but the practical steps for achieving these goals are not always obvious. One of the important areas business managers should focus attention on when it comes to cutting costs and making a business run efficiently is the proper management of paper based business documents by deploying digital business document management software.

A research report reveals that an average office staff spends half an hour searching for lost or misfiled business documents each day which amounts to a whopping 130 hours every year while management staff spends one hour every week looking for the same sets of misfiled or lost documents. Put together, a staggering but wasted 182 hours in overhead costs each year goes for searching documents at a time when technology helps businesses runs efficiently. Every man hour spent on the job searching for lost or misfiled documents takes away from your business rather than add to its profit. Here are some ways document management software helps businesses cuts the costs of doing business drastically and improves business profits:

Business document management solution prevents lost man hours, cost of replacing lost document, saves cost of warehousing paper documents, eliminates paper related costs like printing and photocopy and makes efficient use of your office staff: Digital document management software that scans your paper files and stores them electronically in the form that makes accessibility easy and quick at any time and from any location adds to the profits of your business in many ways. This software which is bundled with a capture and indexing solution system will ultimately save your business money in many ways like saving you the cost of warehousing heaps of paper documents and removes the cost of printing and making photocopy of documents and even the cost of hiring messenger and courier services for distributing business documents.  If you’re looking to auto-file documents then you will need an auto-capture solution bundled with your document management software to perform that task and eliminate man hour needed to file documents manually.

Once it is deployed, this electronic filing solution will help your staff work efficiently without the need to waste time searching for any document and you don’t even have to worry about losing any document. So, there is no need paying for wasted man-hour since every man-hour contributes to the growth of your business and profit maximization. You do not also need to bear overtime costs with clerical staff once your business operation becomes automated.

Document management software will help you improve invoice processing, enhance payment of bills promptly and gain discounts for early payments, eliminate cost of using courier services for mailing documents to customers, improve customer service and hence gain customer satisfaction: Business document management software helps a business to improve its cash flow, avoid duplicate payments, gain access to customer information in record time and answers customer questions or inquiries promptly.

Steve Breault, Vircosoft Founder / CEO

If we take away the mundane task of filing paper documents and the use of the file cabinets by integrating electronic document management software into your business operations, you will surely see a dramatic positive change. A paperless office also creates a positive attitude among office staff.

Digital document management systems allow you to manage your business documents using your computers and system network  to create, scan, store, retrieve, edit, share, email, and even print your documents at anytime and anywhere you choose to access your documents once they are digitally stored. Performing this task of electronic filing of documents using capture and indexing software is a performance enhancer for any business process and can be used to improve efficiencies and cut overhead cost which is what modern day businesses are aiming at.

Document management software enhances productivity and creates positive attitude to work among office staff in many ways which in turn improves employee retention. Here are some ways this software will help improve employee retention for your business:-

Digital document filing software will help your workers to work smartly: Office staff loves to work smartly and digital document filing solution provides them with the tool for easy access to documents just at the click of a computer mouse without any need for searching through heaps of paper files or looking through file cabinets while keeping customers waiting. Working with digital document management software phases out posting, faxing, printing, and making photocopy of documents before sharing important business information with fellow office staff or a customer which is a smart way of working which employees love.

Electronic document management solution will help your employees to work remotely: Once the business document management software has been incorporated into your business operation, it allows your workers or staff to work remotely and access your documents from anywhere so long there is an internet connection and any type of internet access like dial-up, desktop computer with broadband connection, laptop, Wi-Fi, VPN and PDA. Even smart mobile phones can be used to gain access to your online documents which enhances productivity and makes working fun for employees and it will even encourage them to work from home even at odd hours if necessary.

Business document management software will improve multi-user access and enables your employees to get work done faster: This software allows multiple users to access any given document simultaneously without creating multiple copies of the same document on different computers within the same network since the document management software stores the documents in one central database and it therefore makes sharing of documents among many users easy.

Whenever you choose to manage your office documents digitally, you will be making an important decision that has many inherent benefits in it for you, your employees and the future of your company since employee retention is a crucial factor that helps to improve a business outlook, its efficiency, its profitability and how it is accessed by existing and potential customers.

Steve Breault, Vircosoft Founder / CEO

Business document management software is an efficient electronic filing system that works well for all types of businesses. Software helps the business owner save money, improve efficiency and render better customer service.

The smooth operation of any business depends on how effective the process of storage, retrieval, sharing, control and management of its information has been. For most organizations, the challenge of managing documents increases as the volume of documents increases particularly where the modern system of filing documents has not been deployed. 

When the business document management software is deployed in a business, it helps to create, name, index, store, control, retrieve, and in fact, manage the entire process of document filing within the business organization. The software has been designed to manage large volumes of files simultaneously among all users in the business set up with utmost efficiency.

Business document management is beneficial to those businesses whose costs of filing and managing paper based files is increasing by the day. It also benefits those businesses that require quick and easy access to business documents regularly in order to share information with clients, partners, and even regulatory agencies or vendors.

Here are the basic features of good and efficient document management software you should look out for when you are seeking to deploy the technology in your business.

Efficient document management software facilitates multiple indexing and customer satisfaction: Efficient business document management must enable multiple indexing of documents for easy reference and retrieval. Any user should be able to locate the right file within seconds from among the large volumes of the already stored documents. The document software must enable easy and logical search operations of stored files including the different versions of any given document.

This is particularly beneficial to you since it implies that your employees can attend to customers’ enquiries and questions while on the phone. So, if a customer calls in to ask for specific information or a copy of their contract and such information isn’t provided within seconds, then the filing system of that business must be working against customer satisfaction and must be replaced with proven document management software.

Efficient document management software guarantees customizable security options: Efficient business document management must provide effective security options that allow customization of features to meet the needs of your business. With this security customization, there comes your control over all users who have access to the stored documents. Good document management system also protects the original document throughout its entire lifespan.

Good document management solutions work seamlessly with client’s existing computer systems and server: When deployed in your business, efficient document management software will work in compatibility with existing computer systems and your company server to do the magic of filing your business documents automatically. Good modern technology filing solutions also allow easy integration with third party software systems whether the software is for scanning or imaging.

Steve Breault, Vircosoft Founder / CEO

In times past, businesses relied heavily on paper document filing systems and file cabinets to file and also to retrieve their documents when they choose to. However, times have changed and file cabinets are quickly becoming obsolete giving way to electronic business document management with the application of document management software. 

There are many benefits associated with the use of electronic business document management over the old fashioned paper documentation systems which use the file cabinets.  File cabinet document filing system requires more and more physical space with increase in the quantity of paper documents available for filing while electronic system requires just the bits and bytes of your computer and the electronic filing software for filing your business documents after scanning which will not compete with your employees for space.

The world is gradually going green in factually all things and lovers of the environmentally green concepts have argued in defence of the preservation of trees from which tens of thousands of sheets of papers were made for writing, office and contract documentation purposes. Think of it, when sheets of papers are discarded they turn into methane gas by chemical means which when burnt makes the environment unsafe for human habitation. However, by making use of the document management software process to file your business documents, you would through your business help to protect the forests and also help to protect the environment and keep it safe for human habitation.

The process of accessing and retrieving your data is another very important benefit of electronic business document management. It is much easier when compared to working with and filling paper documents. When more than one employee needs to work with a paper document, there is always the need to make copies of that document for easy accessibility by every employee concerned but with the use of document management software, the need to make copies becomes eliminated as employees authorised to have access to any document stored online can do so at any point in time and at the same time in different locations real time.

The security of your business documents are better guaranteed with electronic storage of files as most common business document management software available make use of the most reliable firewall technology security systems to protect your documents at all times and yet you are allowed the ease of access any time without any encumbrance from the security features since you and any other employees authorised by you will be given free access. In fact, your employees may also be restricted to the level of access you want them to have to your business documents once they have been scanned and stored with the aid of the document management software.

It is sure that the need to file business documents will always remain with us though methods of filing or managing information may change. It is then necessary to endeavour to go with the evolving trend in information management and the way to go when it comes to electronic document filing is the use of the business document management software.

Steve Breault “DocMeister”

Every organization strives to grow in terms of profit, revenue, consumer base and geographic or global presence. However, an organization can achieve its business goals only if the growth is managed carefully. For instance, a company growing at a fast rate may not be able to handle increased workload or capital costs successfully. Modern technology such as automatic data capture incorporated using optical character recognition is aimed at helping small, medium and large companies increase productivity and profitability.

The very first image scanner was developed and built in 1957. Earlier image scanners consisted of a single photo detector along with a rotating drum. Image scanners have undergone a variety of changes in terms of their size, quality and speed. With technological advancements image scanners now come in compact format and can be easily placed on your desktop. Apart from this, modern image scanners can be easily integrated with document management software to capture and store data automatically.

As your business grows, the number and types of documents handled by your company will also increase. Imagine a situation where your office receives thousands of invoices and remittances per month. Even if the entire system of documentation is computerized, there may be instances where managing data can become problematic. For example, a customer paying multiple invoices with one check can complicate document processing. In fact, this would involve manual entering of the amounts against each invoice. One small error can lead to repeat work, wasting precious time and effort. This will also reflect on the productivity of your company and seriously hamper its growth prospect.

Document management software coupled with technologies such as optical character recognition (OCR) helps simplify document processing. OCR software is an artificial intelligence system able to recognize, scan and store sequences of characters or lines. The characters are scanned, checked against a database and relevant information is stored for later use or forwarded for further processing. Automatic data capture using OCR and other such technologies can be of tremendous help to organizations that receive large number of documents on daily basis.

Every office has a document management system in some crude form or other. For instance, there may be some naming convention in place so a particular type of document or information can be easily searched in the computer. Similarly, your computer systems may have different folders for different types of documents, aimed at easy search and retrieval. However, how many times has an employee accidentally deleted a folder or forgotten where a certain information has been stored. It may also happen that a document has been stored in the wrong folder, resulting in unnecessary search or recreation of the document. Document management software greatly reduces such errors by automating the entire data processing system.

A document management system can be programmed for automatic data capture to scan and store data in certain format and location. The data is indexed so it can be easily retrieved whenever required. Such a system usually has a document feeder that feeds paper documents into the scanner. The document scanner then captures required information and stores it on the computer in a systematic manner. This stored data can be easily backed up reducing the time wasted in searching or recreating deleted or lost information.

Both information and time is of great importance in the success of any organization. Document management software provides a combination of different solutions with the sole aim of leveraging the process of document creation and retrieval. Such a system helps provide accurate information in a timely manner, thus increases productivity and helps manage growth effectively.

Steve Breault “DocMeister”

Computer technology was incorporated by many companies and organizations throughout the world as a means to automate information management processes. However, many still continue using paper based documents for a variety of reasons. For instance, many companies receive documents in paper format or have important archived documents in paper format. Even if receiving paper documents cannot be helped, filing, storing and sharing of such documents has to be done manually. This turns out to be quite inefficient, unsustainable and costly, compared to an automated system using document management software.

Many enterprises do not realize the loss they incur when handling physical documents. The loss of time and human resources in manual processing of documents is rather staggering. Apart from this, carelessness when handling critical documents, albeit unintentional, can prove to be disastrous for your business. Any organization can take care of common hazards and errors encountered while processing important documents, simply by adopting an electronic documentation system. Document management systems come with automatic data capture feature that can be programmed to scan and store data systematically. By doing this a well-organized approach can be incorporated to create, update, change, store, search and retrieve important information.

Some important features of document management software include:

Import document: The performance, usability and sustainability of a document management system entirely depends on how quickly and efficiently documents in different formats, from wide range of sources, can be imported into the system. Automatic data capture is one of the most important features of a document management system. The entire purpose of automatic capture of information is to reduce manual work and resulting errors.

Automatic filing: The document management system can be easily automated to capture and organize data, so that every document is saved in the right place. Document management software offers a variety of methods of integrating index data obtained from different sources such as databases, text files, address books and forms. Some of the methods are standard to all software while others can be customized depending on the requirements of your business.

Integrated system: A document management system offers an integrated platform to manage both paper and electronic documents. For instance, your office may receive invoices in both paper and electronic format. The document management system can be used to extract information from both types of documents and process it as required by company policy.

Disaster recovery: This is again an important part of electronic document management system. Though most companies find it easier to handle paper documents simply because they are used to it, paper is vulnerable to errors and hazards. For instance, a paper document can get completely destroyed in a fire or misplaced when passing from desk to desk. On the other hand, electronic documents can be easily stored, backed up and retrieved.

Apart from the benefits it offers in terms of document processing, document management software also helps cut costs. On an average, a company spends $20 per hour in searching for misplaced or non-existent files. Similarly, many man-hours are wasted in recreating lost documents. Using automatic data capture you can reduce manual handling of paper documents. Along with this, the information now in electronic format can be easily shared and backed up, reducing the hazard of losing or recreating documents.

Photocopying and printing paper documents are again costly, and this is greatly reduced when you use digital document management system. Apart from this, you no longer require bulky filing cabinets eating up your office space. Every piece of information in your paper files can be imported onto your computer system and organized using document management system. This reduces the need for physical storage space, both inside and outside the office.

Demand for information can come from many sources including upper management and regulatory authorities. Keeping control of proliferating paper and electronic documents can become quite a hassle, especially when making critical decisions for your business. With document management software you can take care of all your document processing needs and ensure consistency in work, thus achieving your business goals.

Steve Breault “DocMeister”

Document management software provides the version control feature in order to manage, track, store and retrieve different versions of a document. Such a system is usually required when several team members are working on a project, with many making changes to the same document. For instance, a presentation on project development and progress may require inputs from all the team members working on the project. Thus, changes will be made to the same presentation, saved as a different version by each member, and later integrated to make the final presentation by the team leader.

A version control system in digital document management works through the check-in and check-out system. The check-in allows you to save the current version of a document in the central repository and check-out allows you to retrieve current or previous versions of a document. Versioning often involves several steps such as reviewing, editing and modifying before finally being approved. When several people work on the same document, it may result in confusion over the latest version of a document, who made the changes and why, current working version and final approved version. Document management software can be of great help in sorting out such problems. Some benefits of a version control system are:

Ability to return to a previous working version: In case of an error or accidental deletion of a working version of a document, you can return to a previous working version. Many version control systems work by taking a snapshot of changes being made. This way you can check the order in which the changes were made and recreate the current working version.

Track who made the changes: When you know who made the changes, you can seek clarification and approve the document accordingly. This also avoids duplication of content as you know which version was created and updated by whom.

Maintain previous versions: Document management software allows versioning by enabling you to maintain previous versions and create their replacements at the same time. For instance, a mapping company may require older versions of a map before the new version is created and approved.

Maintain record of development process: Progress reports may be required from time to time to apprise the higher management or simply to check it against the designated completion time. Version control in digital document management helps you keep track of progress of a project and how it is being developed.

The version control system in digital document management works by assigning version numbers to the documents, making it easier for the users to keep track. Apart from this, you can also add comments and descriptions so different team members can check the content of a document before retrieving and using them. Version control may be required at some point in document life cycle. Document management system offers a comprehensive solution to managing different versions of a file.

Steve Breault “DocMeister”

Document management has evolved in the past few decades, from records being maintained on registers to the Relational Database Management System and document management software. Information technology has changed the way businesses function today. Most government organizations and industry sectors like engineering, construction, pharmaceutical, manufacturing and banks already have a document management system in place. However, in today’s business environment, every type of organization requires a document management system, no matter what its size or function.

Even if you own a small or mid-sized business, maintenance of different types of records and documents must be of utmost importance. If you are frequently facing problems such as loss of documents, misplaced reports or accidental deletion of records, you definitely require professional document management software. A document management system is not just a software with fancy features. It is a combination of different technologies brought together to provide a sophisticated and comprehensive document management solution. Some technologies used in electronic document management system are:

Automatic data capture or digital imaging: The digital imaging systems in the form of scanners, form recognition packages and character readers convert paper documents into digital documents. Such a system enables employees to capture, store, search, retrieve and share any type of document stored systematically in a digital format. Automatic data capture saves data in two formats, image or PDF which cannot be modified and text format which can be edited. Both formats may be required at some point in time. For example, image format is ideal for invoices coming from outside, as these will not be modified at any stage during processing and archival.

Workflow: Document management software with workflow systems are aimed at automating the business process. Such a system allows a business to define, manage and control the way information moves through various departments or processes. This enables a business to maintain strict quality control, improve customer service and concentrate on business objectives.

Optical storage: Storage in the form of an optical jukebox has become extremely popular in the recent years. It serves as a great option to online storage and enables storage of large volumes of data. So such a system works best for large volumes of video, images or audio files, say in real estate, medical or construction business.

Groupware systems: Groupware systems support more than two users performing the same set of tasks. Such a system provides an interface that can be shared with other users. Some features of groupware systems include bulletin boards, electronic schedulers and discussion databases, all of which can be incorporated into document management software.

Electronic publishing and sharing: Every type of data can be electronically published on a CD or DVD. Apart from this, data can also be shared or distributed via intranet or the World Wide Web through email.

Automatic data capture, storage, automatic indexing, version control, maintenance, security, automatic retention and deletion, are some of the basic features offered by document management software. The type or version of software you choose would depend on the type of business you have. If you have a small business, then document management software with basic functions such as metadata capture, security, version control and storage would suffice. However, for a mid-sized or large business, you may require additional functions such as automatic conversion, free-text search, large storage capacity, networking, and so on.

Apart from being compatible with your existing system of document management, the software you choose must enable you to follow government standards for electronic document management. For instance, public records such as company policy should be easily accessible, whereas confidential documents must have adequate security and access control. With the right type of document management solution you will certainly be able to take care of administrative, technical and legal requirements related to document management.

Steve Breault “DocMeister”