Seven Things You Should Know about Document Scanning Software

Seven Things You Should Know about Document Scanning Software
By: Manuel J. Montesino

Document scanning software is the core of most modern electronic document
management systems (EDMS). These new paperless methods of doing business have
proven to have radical advantages over the old paper-based methods of document filing
and retrieval, and it's changing the face of modern corporate life. Here are seven things
about document scanning software that you may or may not know, but either way, you
should.

Documents have been getting 'imaged' for decades, but 'scanning' is relatively new.
Copiers, fax machines, microfilm, microfiche -- people have been finding ways to turn
documents into portable items since the invention of the scribe. But only in the past
eleven years have people regularly been using document scanning methods to turn paper
documents into electronic ones.

Scanning is only the first part of the EDMS process.
A document, once scanned, is just a picture as far as the computer is concerned. There
are no words that the computer can recognize. This leads to…

Optical Character Recognition (OCR) is the next critical step.
Once the document scanning software processes the document with OCR, it can then
recognize the words on the image, which it compares to previously-created templates to
decide how to index any given image.

Metadata Analysis is optional, but useful
Metadata is just that: data about data. In the world of document management, metadata
specifically applies to things like barcodes that are put onto a document before it's
scanned. A barcode or other amount of metadata might hold specific instructions for the
computer on how to handle the attached document.

Location is irrelevant.
Unless you specifically tell the computer to identify and sort by the location a document
came from, you can put a document into the computer from anywhere and retrieve it from
anywhere.

Paperless offices reduce costs.
The up-front cost might seem mildly intimidating, but over the next business year,
between paper costs and the sheer amount of time saved retrieving documents (time you
have to pay your employees for), document scanning software pays for itself (provided,
of course, you actually use it.)

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EDMS means never losing a document again.
That's not just 'lose' as in 'be unable to find'. You never need to worry about a fire or
flood destroying old records forever, because electronic content can be stored in multiple
sites at once and instantly backed up whenever it seems prudent.

Document scanning software, when paired with a proper EDMS, means faster, more
efficient workflow. Employees that can get more done per hour, reducing costs while
improving security. These are great reasons for any business to join the paperless-office
revolution and gain money and effectiveness at the same time all from the benefit of the
right document scanning software.

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