Establishing Standards for the Paperless Office

Capture

Entering documents into an EDMS can be a challenging task. More and more of the documents are arriving at firms in electronic format without any paper copies. This is fine as long as the EDMS has a way of importing or batching these documents into the system without a lot of user interaction. Most vendors will have an import utility which can be used to file the documents in the correct location according to document templates as mentioned above.

Document Capture is an integral part of any solution to the paper problem we all face. It usually consists of an input device (scanner), software to assist in sorting and identifying (indexing) the paper, and storage (disk space) to file the electronic documents for retrieval. Beyond simple document capture (imaging), many things can be done during the capture process to automate the process. Barcode recognition, database lookup, forms processing, and OCR are all advanced methods of capture that can boost productivity during the capture process. Finding a knowledgeable vendor to help analyze the capture process is critical to successfully implementing a solution.

Document Access

The last standard implementation piece for an EDMS is to provide reasonable and effective retrieval of documents from a variety of sources. Users today are more mobile and the vendors should provide the firm with a way of accessing their documents from a variety of sources even external to the firm. They should also provide the necessary tools to share client’s documents securely with the clients without using email. Email is unsecure and can be unwieldy once documents reach a certain size. A good solution is to have an EDMS that has an embedded branded portal capability which allows a firm employee to share documents back and forth with clients quickly and securely in the cloud.

Implementing an EDMS can be a challenging task, but once standards are developed by the firm in conjunction with the selected vendor, it can make the firm much more efficient. This allows it to add clients without increasing the number of employees as each employee can process more information. It is crucial the EDMS support as many of the document standards as possible without requiring user intervention for the system to be readily accepted.

Andrew Bailey has 20 years of experience in the software industry. Currently, he is president of Cabinet NG, a document management provider based in Madison, Alabama. Andrew can be reached at abailey@cabinetng.com. For more information visit www.cabinetng.com.