Document Management Software

Implementing a Document Management software package will help your office organize, find and share documents in a secure and managed environment. It will also keep track of multiple document versions, send out email reminders and notifications for review and more. Solutions can be installed on your company's server or hosted in a securely managed storage facility.

Below are key elements of document management software and their benefits:

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• SaaS - Use of a fully functional document management solution without purchasing servers, backup tapes and software

  Software as a Service is a document management software package that is hosted in a secure and redundant environment. No equipment, software or backup purchase is necessary as all aspects of the system is included in a monthly fee. This allows smaller organizations to use a fully functional system without the upfront investment.

• Searching - Quickly find a document in seconds based on an index field or search the text inside a word document or searchable PDF

  This is one of the most powerful features of document management application. Users can type in a value and search an entire repository instantly. Users can also type in a key word and search the contents of the document without delay. This feature allows a search to span thousands of documents and return results in 2 seconds or less.

• Security - Protecting sensitive information from unauthorized users

  Permissions can be set at folder, document and meta data levels to show or hide information. If users don't have access to a specific document, the document will will be hidden from that user. This is more robust and easier to manage than Microsoft Windows folder security and can be configured by specific users.

• Meta Data

  these are key pieces of information about a document that can be used for searching, sorting and grouping. Examples are document description, created date, id of the user that added the document, invoice number, PO number and order number. These can be keyed in by users, set by the software or recognized from the document using OCR.

• Audit Trail - Need to see who viewed a document or made the last change?

  This is the aspect of a system that tracks everything that happens to a document. Whether viewing, adding or modifying a document, the system will provide a report of all activity. This is critical for proving a document's authenticity and knowing "who did what" to the document.

• Versioning - Keeps track of every change to a document and identifies the latest version

  This is a process by which documents are checked in or out of the document management system, allowing users to retrieve previous versions. Versioning is useful for documents that change over time and require updating, but it may be necessary to go back to or reference a previous copy. It also reduces the number of documents visible to the user as the software hides previous versions unless requested by the user. This ensures all users know what document is the latest version.

• Retention Schedules - Setting the amount of time to keep a document before automatically purging it from the repository

  This is a setting to automate the archiving or deletion of a record based on a time policy. This is set so that documents are kept for the necessary amount of time and then purged when it is no longer needed.

• Workflow - Automatically send documents for approval and review and track when these actions are completed

  The concept of creating a path that a document follows that is defined in the system. It can include document approvals, routing documents to different departments and putting documents in another user's ballpark with an email notification. Pieces of meta data can be used to let users know the status of a document.

• Auto-Naming - This feature sets a company standard for naming documents added to the repository

  A great feature of a document management application, auto-naming is a system rule that creates the description of a document automatically. This is critical for organizations that want a company standard for naming documents.

• Work Tray - Create a quick link to documents all over the repository that you are currently working on for faster access

  This is a way to take documents from multiple locations in a repository and set them aside in one location to quickly access them without navigation. This would replace the manual process of pulling files and putting them on your desk because they need to be worked on. The work tray does this electronically and still allows other users to view the document.

• Integration - Get your document management system to work together with your business applications for greater efficiency

  The ability to call the document management system from another application such as a business system or web application. Integration also refers to the ability of a document management system to work with the Microsoft Office Suite by adding buttons to quickly save or access documents without leaving the Office product.