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The very nature of a company’s first line of business may make them seem like the most logical candidate for instituting an enterprise document imaging and management system. Typically these would be the companies which are actively researching such options, like medical offices, accounting firms and law offices. However, other types of businesses might actually benefit more from total electronic document management without even realizing it. For instance, companies involved in insurance claims or lending often feel that because they are so reliant upon paper documents, the full realm of enterprise or electronic document management and imaging cannot yet functionally serve them. In addition, the scale of a company’s full operations may appear to impose limitations on the benefits offered by a document management system for the entire enterprise; they believe that are either too small or too large, perhaps encompassing numerous lines of business.
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Document & Imaging Management Solutions
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Before a company excludes itself from the lucrative benefits and streamlining effects of an improved document management system, they should first consider the power and potential available with current document-related technologies, especially in the realm of document imaging.
Realizing the Power of Electronic Document Management
The true power of a complete enterprise document management system lies in the fact that it addresses a number of critical issues for businesses of all scales and types. The hardware, software and communications technologies now exist which can manage business processes for companies with the following concerns:
- Reliance on handwritten or highly regulated paper documents
- Numerous lines of business
- Complex variety of data and documents, such as engineering plans and foreign language documents
- Subsidiaries
- Security for sensitive information
- Satellite offices across the globe
Nearly all companies facing these issues already have a majority of the framework in place, which can be quickly and easily modified in order to reduce document-related expenses and begin maximizing profits. Because of this simple fact, it is possible that a company could assess its present business and document systems, then procure one or two more tools and begin addressing the critical concerns listed above for full management of all documents and data. The ROI would be attainable immediately, especially when the impact of lower paper, printing and regulatory compliance costs become apparent. Of course, the accelerated pace of business processes will become quickly evident through higher productivity. These primary benefits alone justify the investigation of how to improve business process and document management systems, but the following potential additional advantages warrant at least a consultation with a document management expert:
- Reduce staggering burden of creating and storing paper documents
- Reduce document search times
- Increase records security
- Simplify and ensure regulatory compliance
- Standardize business processes on an industry and global scale
- Centralize communications and security
- Capability of universal document access across the network
- Retain already existing technology investments
By infusing these advantages into a pre-existing or “legacy” system, companies can almost instantly realize the edge they have gained in their market.
Remarkable Potential of Document Imaging
It is a well-known fact that the industries of finance, health care, auditing and manufacturing have been burdened with seemingly oppressive paper retention compliance issues. This fact necessitated pioneering efforts in the platform of document imaging, which has accordingly evolved in such a way that this is no longer a reality. Electronic document management specialists have been focused on this aspect, making a special effort to fully understand the applicable laws and regulations for all industries. As a result, technology has been developed and modified to allow the management of documents for an entire enterprise so that it is not only used as a safeguard for compliance, but also as a method of operational streamlining.
What was formerly seen as an oppressive paper retention mandate, regulatory compliance has now become the foundation from which document imaging developed into an actual advantage for competitive companies. With the refinement of “OCR” and “ICR” technologies, the present power of document imaging places it at a strategic starting point from which any future regulatory conditions can be addressed. More significantly, this imaging platform now stands at a point from which all future technological advancements can move forward without any retroactive modifications. Specifically, this is because OCR, or “Optical Character Recognition”, allows for the “mining” of data within pre-existing, or externally created documents for indexing purposes. In plain English, the document imaging process functions in the following manner:
- It searches for significant indexing data within the document
- It optically recognizes the pertinent data
- It converts the data into digital tags
- Then it stores the data according to the desired reference parameters for easy access in later retrieval
This is a powerful attribute because it can read, recognize, index and store any computer-generated document. But there is more good news about the exciting state of imaging and document retrieval capabilities. Refinements in ICR, or “Intelligent Character Recognition” now allow data and document management technologies to perform the same functions with handwritten documents. This means that anything from bank checks and application forms, to pharmaceutical prescriptions can be intelligently read, tagged, indexed and stored for lightning-speed access.
Applying the Power
It seems there is no limit to what can be done with the power of document imaging for business purposes. It can take us as far as our imaginations will allow. In terms of enterprise document management, we can see now how anyone from a small brokerage to a global corporate entity can benefit from being able to digitally store and index any type of document. The centralized communications included in an enterprise system make the retrieval and distribution of imaged data and documents all difficulties of the past.
In its most extreme test, the performance and versatility of document imaging is demonstrated best when applied to multinational corporations, which have numerous plants and satellite offices. By standardizing all new creation, distribution and communication processes, this same information is easily assimilated with previously created and properly-imaged documents. It is then made available to anyone authorized within the network, regardless of their actual physical location. When desired, additional external access to network information can be permitted on a limited basis, according to the preferences of the company.
The specific security issues and needs of a particular company can be addressed by a specialist engaged to consult on how to apply the power of document retrieval, imaging and management to enterprises of any type, regardless of size or line of business. As specialists who have already developed the technology and researched the compliance issues, they possess the tools, knowledge and power to help companies lay present concerns to rest and focus on their first line of business.
Click here for answers to specific questions you may have regarding an electronic document management system for your company.
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