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Document Management Services for Businesses

By Byron Dyson

Republish: EasyPublish™ Published: 29Jan2012 Word count: 1664 Viewed: 72 time(s) Get Free Content For Your Site

A document management system (DMS) is used to store electronic documents or paper documents. Many companies use the services to keep track of different historical versions. Content management systems also play a role in digital document storage and digital document management. Many organizations include these systems to manage workflow and increase efficiency of an organization.

How Digital Document Management Services Came into Existence

After the 1980s, the developers wrote a program for a system that would manage documents and files created on computers. The electronic document management (EDM) systems in the early days would keep a number of file formats. These systems focused on capture, indexing, storage and retrieval of image file formats.

The system would also capture faxes, forms and saves copies of image files. The repository keeps documents secure and allows for quick retrieval. Text retrieval is even possible with the text indexer.

As document management services improved, the applications included collaboration tools, workflow, security and auditing capabilities. The documents were later stored in the form of HTML. The software search engine included functionality to find documents.

Different Components of Digital Document Management

Metadata should be stored for every document in addition to the user's identity. Digital management services are designed to extract this data automatically from the document. Optical character recognition for scanned images may be used to facilitate this process. Some digital management services integrate with Office Suites, email or collaboration software. SOAP, WebDAV, LDAP and ODMA often helps with integration with other software.

Some businesses capture images from scanners or multifunction printers. During this process, optical character recognition (OCR) may be used along with optical mark recognition (OMR) software. Other computer-based files and electronic documents may also be used for extracting values from check-boxes and bubbles.

Indexing is implemented by tracking electronic documents. Index topology is important for rapid retrieval of indexed documents. Electronic or digital document storage will help clients manage where the documents are stored, migration of documents and how long the documents are stored.

To retrieve documents for storage, the system will locate the unique document identifier. The basic index system will retrieve the document from the storage system. Some systems allow the use of Boolean expression for advanced retrieval.

Document security is important especially in medical environments. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requires a certain level of security be met to remain in compliance. This process will prevent unauthorized alteration or unintended use of documents stored in the system.

Workflow is an important aspect of the workflow process. There are two aspects of the workflow process. One process is manual and requires that users manually determine the document's destination. The other type requires an administrator to create a rule to manage the flow of the document in the workplace.

Document management services are essential to the efficiency of any workplace environment. Implementation of the system is essential in large organizations that have numerous documents requiring approval by many levels of management.

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