DOCUMENT IMAGING FOR THE OFFICE

BY STEVE STRONG
Jadtec Computer Group

If your organization uses PCs, it should also be using document imaging technology. With the right system set up, a document imaging system can make that perpetual problem of office paperwork much easier to manage.

Document imaging gives organizations the ability to access thousands of documents from the desktop within seconds. No more getting up from your desk, searching through endless file cabinets, copying thousands of records or trying to locate lost files. It's a competitive advantage that should not be ignored.

Document Imaging bring several immediate benefits to your organization: increased employee productivity, quick and accurate customer service, lower document management costs, reduced filing and retrieval errors, faster accounting turnaround times, reduced paper-storage requirements and increased security.

You'll find a broad range of document imaging solutions available on the market with prices ranging from a few hundred dollars to several thousand per seat/user. Backing up these standard packages are a host of "enabling products" that allow you to integrate things such as barcode and OCR (optical character recognition), forms processing, as well as COLD (computer output to laser disk) and workflow products. Combined, these products offer endless solutions to everyday business problems.

The best way to apply document imaging technology to your organization is in a slow and methodical manner. You aren't just adding a business application, you're adding a new thought process. You are also planting a seed that will grow throughout your organization, so a well thought-out implementation plan will save headaches later. A good start is to work with a qualified imaging vendor who is experienced in designing and installing your imaging system.

The initial imaging implementation should begin in departments that will see immediate advantages to electronically-stored documents. Concentrate on departments that maintain large amounts of paper and require constant information retrieval.

Shipping and receiving or accounting and purchasing departments are good bets since they are always asked for backup paperwork from various users and customers. Wouldn't it be nice if those packing slips and receivers were available electronically to these departments? What about personnel departments with resumes, insurance forms, vacation requests and employee reviews? Some other hot areas include:

• medical records, patient charts, billing records;
  
• litigation notes, briefings, depositions;
  
• credit card applications;
  
• stock certificates, margin agreements;
  
• mortgage processing;
  
• insurance claims processing, applications;
  
• government purchasing offices, RFP replies, vendor questionnaires;
  
• audit paperwork, background paperwork;
  
• product documentation, manufacturing records and filings; and
  
• warranty claims, receivers.

The most cost effective approach to imaging technology is to look for an application that offers expandability but with a low initial investment. Most imaging systems today can be purchased with minimal licensing (five-user and under), which makes them affordable even for smaller offices.

You should probably avoid closed proprietary systems and systems that don't offer multiple operating system support. Your imaging vendor should take full responsibility for the installation of both hardware and software, as well as the design and implementation of indexing formats. Make sure post-installation support and updates are available from either the Imaging Vendor or the software house. If would be nice if the Imaging Vendor also offers emergency support services.

If your organization already has a PC network in place, then additional hardware requirements are minimal. The typical topology includes a scanner and scanning station (PC), optical jukebox and jukebox server (PC), and a network server. High-resolution monitors are normally incorporated into the solution to aid in document viewing. A typical five-user system will run approximately $30,000, installed.

The standard document imaging system is built around scanning paper documents, applying indexes to the document images, and storage and retrieval of the image.

Once scanned, document images reside in a batch file for indexing. Scanned documents can be indexed in a variety of ways, from manually entering values, to auto indexing to barcode values and/or OCR values. Well thought out indexing designs will aid in subsequent image retrievals. Indexes are comprised of several variables including date, specific document number, invoice number, packing slip number, order number, etc.

The document images are normally stored on optical jukebox drives. Jukebox drives offer WORM (write-once-read-many) platters and re-writable platters in 1.3 gigabyte and 2.6 gigabyte capacities, both types below $100 per platter. Additional jukeboxes can be added to the system to handle any future growth.

Scanners come in a variety of flavors, simplex, duplex, error correction, various speeds, feeders, etc. . . . A good, solid scanner is worth the investment. Rescans take time and can frustrate even the most patient user. Look for good scan quality and speed. The scanner should scan faster than you can manually insert paper.

The City of Seattle Municipal Court recently installed an imaging system to scan traffic citations, along with officer notes. The citations have unique barcode values that are picked up with a special software application during scanning. The citations images are automatically indexed to these values during the indexing process. In addition, the PC based system is tied into the City's IBM mainframe to take advantage of additional index values present in an Informix database. Now, Magistrates can access the citation from their desktop PC. No more filing and refiling, no more misplaced citations.

Trust Company of America (TCOA) implemented imaging to scan pension fund documents, applications, checks, authorizations and letters for over 30,000 clients. Prior to implementing imaging, all paperwork was filed and retrieved from cabinets. Customer support calls were handled by collecting the initial information, sourcing the paperwork from the cabinets, then calling the customer back with the answer. Now, customer support is handled on-line during the initial customer call. In addition, TCOA has expanded the imaging system to include a workflow application which allows scanned documents to be automatically routed (as an electronic image) for processing, reviews and approvals.

It used to take several days for the County of Yakima Election Office to count absentee ballots. First the County would organize the ballots in alphabetical order, manually pull the registration cards, and verify signatures. Last year the County installed an imaging system to help with the process. All voter registration cards were scanned and automatically indexed to database values residing on their HP 9000 system. Now, as absentee ballots come in the signatures are verified electronically. The process was cut from several days to several hours.

If your business generates a paper trail, document imaging can lead to substantial increases in efficiency. In a competitive business environment, the increase in efficiency may be just what your company needs to gain a competitive edge.

Steven Strong is the Regional Manager of JADTEC Computer Group in Redmond, a business computer consultant.