Finding a particular document

One of the major advantages using an electronic document management system (EDMS) is retrieving a document quickly when it’s needed. Doing this efficiently depends a great deal on how the EDMS stores documents in its repository and how they are categorized. Most systems have one or more of the following ways to retrieve documents:

• structural search
• keyword and/or metadata search
• full text search

Structural search is used to find documents in a very structured environment. If you think of a doctor’s office or a financial advisor, they have a folder for each patient/client and all the documents for that patient/client are in the folder. To find a particular document, open the folder and scan the list of documents and find the one you need. There are several things that can be done to speed up the scan, such as categorizing the documents (Correspondence, Progress Notes, …). Doing this with an EDMS is much faster than burning a path to a physical filing cabinet. In general, this type of search is valuable when you know exactly what you are looking for. Structural search is highly dependent on the Graphical User Interface (GUI) used by the EDMS. A good GUI is intuitive and requires little or no training to search for and retrieve documents. If a user can visualize the filing structure and navigate to specific documents with minimum clicks and data entry, the GUI is probably most responsible.

An EDMS allows users to index documents with keywords. Those keywords can be entered later in a search field and a list of documents associated with a keyword or set of keywords will be presented. The more keywords associated with a document, the more specific the searches that can be performed. The fewer keywords, the more likely you would receive a longer list of documents returned by the search. This type of search is useful for finding all documents with specific key words. Something like “July vacation request”, would return a list of all July vacation requests (hopefully). This type of search is dependent on getting the keywords input correctly on the front end, but can be quite powerful when looking for specific document types.

Full Text Search (FTS) is yet another way to search for a document. FTS involves looking for a document based on a word or phrase that may be contained within the document. For example, if a clerk wants to find all prescriptions for “XYZ Drug”, they could type that into the search and get a list of all documents that contain “XYZ Drug”. FTS first and foremost requires that documents contain text. An EDMS that provides full text search indexes the text contained in all the documents within a database. Depending on the size of the document repository, the FTS database can become fairly large. As documents are filed and indexed, they become searchable using the EDMS FTS feature. This is a straightforward process for documents like emails, MS Word®, MS Excel® and other text-based documents. However, scanned documents do not contain text (a scanned document is an image) so they must be converted to a format that contains text and is searchable.

Both keyword searches and full text searches are very useful for finding lists of documents containing a particular phrase.  The disadvantage to both of these is the search can possibly return long lists of documents. In addition, if the full text search is searching documents created with OCR, there may be issues with finding the text as OCR is not being 100% effective.

As you may have already concluded, no one search method is ideal for every business and every application. As with most things, there are compromises to be considered. For example, going with the easiest way to get files into an EDMS might mean it will take a little longer to retrieve. Careful, detailed indexing of every document may make it easier to find later, but there is a cost associated with this approach due to more time spent up-front filing documents. The best solution is to have the ability to run any of the discussed searches depending on the business process and the most efficient overall approach.

Jon Clark has written a more detailed white paper on this subject:
http://www.cabinetng.com/white-papers/document_search_methodologies.php

Batch Scanning – Turning Paper into Digital Documents

The need to quickly and efficiently organize, index, and file paper based documents in an Electronic Document Management System (EDMS) can be challenging. By implementing and properly configuring available software tools, this task can be managed effectively. Batch scanning is the commonly referred to process of turning paper into digital documents.  The use of batch scanning in the proper manner can increase productivity and ensure success in the implementation of the EDMS. Software packages that help with batch scanning are categorized as document capture software(a subset of the overall ECM market).

Batch scanning typically falls into two basic categories; manual batch processing and automated batch processing.  The two categories have different criteria and definition.

There are 5 steps involved in the capture process:

1. Document preparation – involves the preparation of the physical documents to be scanned by the capture solution. Depending on the state of the documents, preparation can be a time intensive task.
2. Scanning – involves the capture of the physical documents by a scanner. Scanner selection is key  step in getting this part of the job right.
3. Quality Assurance – the process of ensuring the documents scanned are of high enough quality and that all the data necessary is available.
4. Indexing or Classification – the processing of indexing the documents so they are filed in the correct place in the document management system. With an automated system they will likely be filed based on some piece of data extracted from the document (either via OCR or a barcode). With a manual system, a person would have to view the document and file it in the correct location.
5. Migration – the final step is having the document capture software file the documents in a document management solution.

The batch scanning and document capture process is very useful in processing many documents rapidly. It is important to review the document types, decide on the best scanning hardware and software to use for the capture process, and employ the most effective manual and automated data entry schemes.  By implementing these techniques, a few hundred to thousands of pages of paper can be processed by a single scan station on a daily basis.  It is critical to choose a knowledgeable consultant to guide you if you have large volumes of physical documents to import. Abe Niedzwiecki has written a more detailed white paper:
http://www.cabinetng.com/white-papers/batch_scanning.php

How do I get my paper documents scanned quickly and efficiently?

This is perhaps the number one question our professional services team gets when they are asked to consult on how to scan all of the old paper documents offices collect over time (frequently years). Companies have historical and current paper based business documents that must be digitally captured to be used with document management software. During the capture process, the documents must be labeled with index information so they can be easily located once stored. Various document types may require different scanning parameters and index information depending on the type of document and how the document will be searched in the electronic archive. Scanning thousands and perhaps millions of pages of paper requires a well thought out efficient capture solution.

There are five functions to be performed to get the old documents scanned efficiently:

1. Document preparation – prep old documents for scanning, determine document types, etc.
2. Scanning – determine volume of documents, how to scan, what to scan with, etc.
3. Quality Assurance – verifying the documents are scanned correctly.
4. Indexing or Classification – index the documents, automatically with OCR or barcode separation, manually by looking at each document, separate based on document types.
5. Migration to the document management solution – after scanning and indexing the documents are moved to a document management solution.

The keys to deploying a successful scanning solution begin with the planning stages. Understanding the document types to be scanned, hardware requirements, indexing methods available, and realistic timeframes to convert paper to digital images are all vital considerations. Without reviewing the physical documents and understanding the level of effort required to prepare the documents, the results may be disappointing. With careful planning and trial runs of the entire process, reasonable expectations can be set and met. Remember, if you need help, there are professionals available to assist you with the entire process.

Abe Niedzwiecki has written a white paper on this subject:
http://www.cabinetng.com/white-papers/document_imaging-where_to_begin.php

Challenging Economic Times

Paper document managment systems are simply inefficient. There is no way around it. With the economy the way it is today, companies have to “do more with less”. Part of this is making your business more efficient by using basic technology. Document Management is one of those core products that can make a huge difference in how your business operates. It’s a product that is no longer just to be used by the Fortune 500. It’s very affordable for even the smallest businesses.

If you aren’t using a document management system today, spend an hour learning about them and how they can help you. It will be well worth your time. Here’s a link to an earlier post about measuring the Return on Investment for a document management system.

Here are ten interesting facts about documents and how they cost you time/money. Just consider a couple of these in combination.  If 7.5 % of all documents are lost then not only do you have to spend $220 each to recreate them, but you have to spend $20 to file them again.

I personally don’t see how a business will survive these days without being as efficient as possible.

When out-of-the-box doesn’t work

Occasionally our out-of-the-box tools simply do not provide the necessary integration. Because of this issue, we have developed an Application Programming Interface (API) for CNG-SAFE. In a layperson’s terminology, an API makes it easier to develop a program, by providing all the necessary building blocks. A programmer then puts the blocks together to connect, create and\or gather information from the application that the API belongs to.

A sample scenario when integrating with an API might be useful

Given: An legacy system creates daily invoice reports based on Account Numbers.  A DMS exists with a cabinet containing folders for all accounts.

Without Automation:  The whole report is filed to a separate reports cabinet. A user has to manually file invoices to the appropriate folder and name the document.

Solution: Write a utility that monitors the report output directory. Split the report based on data on the invoice. Obtain the Account number, then using the API; create a folder if it does not already exist. Obtain the Invoice number to name the individual report in the DMS and file it using the API.

The goal of any integration done with an API is to save money (primarily labor dollars), and have your data be more accurate (less human intervention).

Sumanth Bail has written a white paper about API Integration located at: http://www.cabinetng.com/media/API.pdf .
Please take a look at it for more information.

Out-of-the-box Integration

Small and mid-sized companies need better integration between the applications they use to run their businesses. The large Enterprise has the advantage of large IT budgets and staff to develop and integrate applications that are tailored to the specific needs of the Enterprise. But the small and mid-sized company does not have these resources. Due to budget constraints, these companies typically end up using a set of software programs that are not integrated. The biggest problems small enterprises generally face when it comes to their software applications are:

• Double data entry – each package requires it’s own data entry instead of sharing data.
• Sparing employee time to learn multiple software packages
• Integrating applications so they work together

The first problem of sharing data between applications can be very time consuming and hidden cost for your business. Sales people usually do the initial data entry in your customer relationship management system (CRM) and the accounting department does it for your accounting software package. This raises the possibility of error as the two entries may be different. When you add a document management package to the mix, then you have the possibility of entering the data a third time. Cabinet NG has solved this problem with our Synchronizer module. It connects to any ODBC/OLEDB compliant database and synchronizes the data from the application database to CNG-SAFE(our document management product). This means as soon as data is entered in your other software product, it syncs with CNG-SAFE, thereby greatly reducing the effort on the part of our your employees.

The second problem is a real cost and can be solved by integrating (the third problem) the software package used by the employee with CNG-SAFE. This eliminates the need for training employees on yet another software package and instead lets them access the power of CNG-SAFE from our Retriever application. Retriever can be connected to another application very easily. It “reads” data from the connected application’s screen and find the documents associated with that data. This makes it very easy to learn and it can integrate with virtually any Windows-based application. This reduces training costs to practically zero and makes the combination of document management and other applications much more powerful.

Bottom line is your company saves time and money when using integrated software.

An in-depth white paper is here discussing this issue:
http://www.cabinetng.com/white-papers/out-of-the-box_integration.php

Gaining efficiency with an electronic workflow process

Every business has some sort of document workflow process in use. Whether that document workflow consists of an invoice, order processing, email, snail mail, or any other document type; workflow of these documents occurs every single day in every single business. Once the realization occurs regarding how often document workflow occurs each day, one begins to consider ways to improve and streamline the document workflow process so as to maximize time and cost savings.

Putting together a visual diagram of the process allows each of the stakeholders to agree to the process and demonstrates how the workflow actually works. Often, people don’t know or understand the entire workflow, so a diagram provides multiple benefits and gives everyone involved a clearer picture of what is being done. It may also result in the elimination of steps added over the years which no longer contribute to the process as a whole.

After the decision is made to improve workflow, the question becomes ‘Where do I begin?’.  The best thing to do is to choose one document process to start with. After selecting the process to improve, begin by breaking the document process down into the actual physical steps. Take the business process and physically follow it from beginning to end. Spend time with each person involved along the way and find out what actions occur at each step, what the exceptions for each decision are and where the document goes once it leaves that step. The end result of this will be a clear understanding of what takes place for the entire process.

Mapping this to an electronic workflow product requires an understanding of the features needed in the product and how they apply to workflow management.  A good set of features is outlined in a table in this whitepaper.

There is really no reason for businesses to continue using out-dated and inefficient workflow processing methods given today’s affordable and easy to use software technology. The trick is getting started and having a plan. The best way to get started is to pick a single workflow process and make this work with the software. After doing this use the new process for several weeks and learn how to improve it further before moving on the next workflow. After the first one is working correctly, subsequent processes will be easier to tackle.

Remote Workers and Document Management

More and more of our customers are asking us to help them provide employees with remote access to documents. This requirement is driven by a number of factors. Many of our customers are growing and opening new offices. And others have home-based and remote office-based employees. They need for these workers at the remote offices to have access to customer documents. Medical offices with multiple offices need to be able to access patient charts from any branch office that the patient might walk into. A financial services advisor needs to be able to look up client documents remotely from the client’s office. Branch managers at various types of companies need to be able to route invoices electronically for approval to the home office accounting department, an accounting firm wants to allow their clients to access their tax documents via a secure portal.

The common thread that runs through all of these remote document access applications is control. The medical office needs to control access to patient records due to HIPAA regulations, the financial advisor needs to meet SEC or FINRA compliance for all document storage,  the home office needs to control spending by implementing an AP approval process, the accounting firm needs to make sure a client only has access to their files.

So putting documents on a shared drive and providing remote access to the server is not a viable solution to provide your workers with remote access to documents. This approach lacks control. Consider the example of the accounting firm. They want a customer to log in to a secure system preferably via the web so they can retrieve, view and print out documents. This requires a document management system with rights management to control each user’s access rights down to the document level and a web browser-based application made available to the CPA’s clients.

Think of the benefits of this type of system. If you gave customers access to their documents via a web browser and your employees added documents via the document management application in the main office, the documents would be automatically available to the customer. No more phone calls, no more phone tag – no more looking up documents and faxing or emailing them. This approach makes both parties far more efficient – which is the name of the game in today’s economy.

To help you navigate the key considerations for bringing remote document access to your business, Jon Clark has recently written a paper on remote access which is available at http://www.cabinetng.com/white-papers/remote_access.php .

ECM – Electronic Content Management – Using it effectively

I recently received an email from a market research firm (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/). It has a number of interesting findings in the description of the report.

• “Many organizations have little or no content management discipline. 82% of enterprises use network file servers as their primary content repository; 60% use e-mail folders; 14% have no formal content repository at all.”

• “Enterprises with ECM solutions are very happy with their effectiveness and cost-benefit – over 80% rate their ECM solution as being effective with at worst a neutral cost-benefit.”

• “Enterprises are implementing ECM primarily to improve access to information, collaboration, and productivity. By contrast, cost reduction and regulatory compliance rate last and second-last respectively as expected outcomes from ECM deployments”

This information supports the data I showed in my post earlier this month. You don’t actually save most of the time and money in creating and filing documents (although with the right solution it’s probable). Most of savings come from the improved access to information (in other words – retrieval of documents where and when needed)

Did you know that the average office document is copied 19 times in it’s lifetime. That’s a minimum of a $1/sheet of paper when it’s filed. Think of how much money would be saved by simply making it electronic and providing access to everyone in the organization.

When implemented correctly, Electronic Document Management is a huge budget saver. In these difficult economic times, companies need all the savings they can find.

Return on Investment for Document Management Software

I consider electronic document management software (EDMS) one of the best investments a mid-sized firm can make. Obviously I’m biased as Cabinet NG sells EDMS and has a vested interest in promoting it. However, the other day I decided to do a high level analysis of the return on investment (ROI) using an EDMS for a mid-sized firm with 7 office staff managing documents. This resulted in a whitepaper which explains in detail how to do an ROI analysis for your firm.

The parameters for this analysis were:

Manual filing system

• Each person retrieved 10 documents per day at 3 minutes each.
• 20 documents were created and filed each day at 3 minutes each.
• Labor cost was $15/hour.
• Keeping a paper system up to date costs $1400/month.

Electronic filing system using an EDMS

• Each person retrieved 10 documents per day at 30 seconds each.
• 20 documents were created and filed each day at 30 seconds each.
• Labor cost was $15/hour.
• Keeping an EDMS up to date costs $200/month.

Obviously there are other costs to consider for each system (these are outlined in the spreadsheet in the whitepaper), but the analysis represented in the paper shows a solid return on investment of slightly less than 8 months. This represents a return of investment of 150% in just the first year.  Spreading this over 3 years results in a return of 380%.  Keep in mind these results do not include some intangibles like cutting down on the number of lost and misfiled documents.

The numbers speak for themselves. I encourage you to download the whitepaper, fill in your own numbers and generate your own ROI. In these challenging economic times, it is a necessity to be as efficient as possible. If you have specific feedback I’d enjoy hearing from you.