Document Imaging – Efficient Document Management

Document imaging is a technology used in business for systems which can replicate documents. It may take various forms such as microfilm, on demand printers, facsimile machines, copiers, multifunction devices, scanners and archive writers. The system was implemented to manage and secure the electronic documents in the organization. These documents are in the form of spreadsheets, word-processing documents, PDFs, e-mails, etc.

Another technology that is increasingly being used is document management. It uses a computer system to track and store electronic documents and images of physical documents. It also provides history tracking where you may keep track of different versions modified by different users. In the early days of technology, software systems were developed to manage paper-based documents. Later on, these systems were modified to manage electronic documents. The modern day systems store the components Word, Excel or PDF. Or else, some other systems store the content in HTML. Storing the content in HTML format makes it easy to find the information. It is so because once the content is fed into the system, the software then acts like a search engine.

Document management system provides features such as metadata, integration, capture, indexing, storage, retrieval, distribution, security, workflow, collaboration, versioning, searching, publishing and reproduction.

The system stores metadata for each document and usually includes the date on which the document was stored and the user’s identity. These metadata helps to locate the document by searching for the keywords or full text. Integrating the system with other applications such as office suites and e-mail may assist in making and saving changes to the document all at the same time. Using either optical character recognition (OCR) or optical mark recognition (OMR) software accepts and processes images of paper document from scanners or multi-function devices.

Indexing an electronic document may keep a track of unique document identifiers that is often complex and classifies a document by its metadata. Storing a document involves managing the documents, where and for how long they are stored. Retrieving an electronic document is a complex procedure and may require using a Boolean expression with multiple keywords. While distributing a document, you should take care that it is not altered easily. As a practice, an original copy of document is never distributed easily.

Another important aspect is security of document that depends on the type of document used and may require certain compliance standards. The system collaborates the document to be worked upon by an authorized user only and blocks other users while the work is going on. If you version your document, you may return to previous version or continue work from a selected point.