| Imagine if you could find the information you need in seconds with one search? Today information is stored in many locations including paper filing cabinets, network servers, local hard drives and email in boxes. It’s no wonder that today’s knowledge workers spend up to 30% of their time looking for information. The scary thing is that many times they don’t find what they are looking for! What's the solution? Document Imaging Services.
What is it?
Document Imaging Services create a central repository for scanned paper, digital files and emails. With all of this information in one place documents can be found quickly.
What does it do?
Document Management streamlines business processes, helps ensure compliance with government regulations, facilitates collaboration and creates a disaster recovery strategy. - Instant Access Unlike a paper filing system that only has one index field, documents are filed with multiple index fields. For example, a file could be referenced by customer name, account number, address, account type and order date. You would only need one of these pieces of information to find the document quickly.
- Collaboration Document Management allows multiple users to see the same documents on their computer screen. This allows collaboration without making multiple copies of a file. Notes and comments can be added to the document so everyone is on the same page.
- Password Protection Security and privacy are the foundation of compliance with many new government regulations. With Document Management in place, all of your documents are password protected and your administrators can see a viewing log.
- Records Retention Enforce a records retention program. With Document Management, records that have passed their statute of limitations can be deleted and legal liability is reduced.
- Remote Access If you have multiple offices, home offices or staff that work in the field, Document Management gives them the information they need. Remote access can allow users to see files securely over the internet or a VPN connection.
- Disaster Recovery Paper documents are vulnerable to natural disaster, theft or fire. A Document Management system allows paper files to be backed up off site and ensures business continuity if disaster strikes.
The steps necessary to introduce document management: Documents are scanned into the system. The document management system stores them somewhere on a hard drive or optical disk. The documents then get indexed. When a person later wants to read a document, he or she uses the retrieval tools available in the document management system. Which documents can be read and what actions performed on these documents is dependent on the access provided by the document management system. A complete document management system comprises five elements: Scanning
Major advancements in scanning technology make paper document conversion fast, inexpensive and easy. A good scanner will make putting paper files into your computer easy. Storage
The storage system provides long-term and reliable storage for documents. A good storage system will accommodate changing documents, growing volumes and advancing technology. Indexing
The index system creates an organized document filing system and makes future retrieval simple and efficient. A good indexing system will make existing procedures and systems more effective. Retrieval
The retrieval system uses information about the documents, including index and text, to find images stored in the system. A good retrieval system will make finding the right documents fast and easy. Access
Document viewing should be readily available to those who need it, with the flexibility to control access to system. A good access system will make documents viewable to authorized personnel, whether in the office, at different locations, or over the Internet.
If you've got a good idea of the basics of a document management system, you'll find our in-depth overview of document imaging and document management software a useful resource. | 
