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What things should be considered
when selecting an imaging system?
Selecting
the right document imaging system can be an exciting task.
There are many aspects to consider to make sure it fits your
organization's needs. Using the expertise gathered from over
twelve years of creating document imaging solutions for our
customers, we've assembled a list of things to look for, including
some essentials and some nice extras.
Indexing
When
paper documents are received in an office, they must be organized
to be useful. Documents are labeled, sorted, stapled, placed
in folders and filed in a cabinet. Without these steps, nothing
could be found in a busy workplace. Electronic documents are
no different. A document imaging system must have a comprehensive
indexing system that organizes documents for future use.
There
are three different ways to index (organize) electronic documents
in an imaging system.
- Indexing
words inside the document
- Storing
documents in folders
- Assigning
index fields to a document
Indexing
Words Inside the Document
Traditionally, keyword indexing has been used to make the
information within a document available. Assigning key words
from the document itself allows users to store and find pages
later. Unfortunately, it can take a lot of time for qualified
people to read and manually key word documents. Document imaging
systems can eliminate the need for manual key word indexing
by providing automatic full-text indexing. To do this, the
software must have the capability to perform Optical Character
Recognition (OCR). This process actually reads a scanned page
and converts it into readable text. Once read, the imaging
software can then automatically index every word to track
the location of each word and phrase within every document,
dramatically reducing indexing costs while providing improved
searching capabilities.
Storing
Documents in Folders
Along with keyword or full-text indexing, an imaging system
must have a visual method of filing documents. In any office,
files are normally found by looking in a particular folder
in a particular drawer in a particular file cabinet. An imaging
system must have the ability to duplicate this filing system.
A flexible folder structure eases the transition from paper
filing to electronic filing and makes imaging systems more
successful.
Assigning
Index Fields to a Document
The final method of organizing documents is through index
fields or templates. An imaging system must use a robust index
field structure to accommodate large volumes of documents.
Generally, these structures are based on a database that maintains
these index fields. It is important that whatever the data
storage design, it must be non-proprietary and expandable.
Proprietary systems put the user at the mercy of a vendor
who can alter service, costs or functionality without the
customer's consent.
Because
of the need to integrate imaging systems with other applications,
these databases must use industry-standard languages and tools
such as SQL-compliant databases. Systems that do not provide
commercially available databases lock users into technologies
and systems that may not keep pace with advancements in the
computer industry.
Whatever
combination of indexing methodologies are used, it's important to
remember that they be easily used and understood by the people who
need to retrieve the documents as well as the people who need to
file them.
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