Document Management System

Today's world of information technology is all about accessing and managing information in a cost-effective manner, saving valuable time and space.
Research shows that in any business 98 per cent of the documents are stored and archived for future reference after their current utility ends. Large spaces are required for storage of these documents, wasting valuable space. Stored documents are also exposed to the risk of damage, being misplaced or misfiled. Retrieving documents is extremely time consuming. Sometimes, extra manpower is required just to maintain them.

Document management solution handles documents by electronically storing, organizing, indexing and filing. They can be retrieved when required, without any loss of time.

1. It uses imaging technology to enable access to the unstructured data in the form of documents present in your organization.
2. It brings all documents to your desktop and enables you to work with them, eliminating the need for paper-based documents.
3. It is a powerful document archival system, which ensures safety of documents, faster access to them and huge cost savings.

This technology will enable you to manage paper as well as electronic documents and files in a single system. Documents are electronic and can be retrieved easily for quick reference.

Paperless office-3

An important step in the paper-to-digital conversion is the need to label and catalog the scanned documents. Such labeling allows the scanned documents to be searched. Some technologies have been developed to do this, but generally involve either human cataloging or automated indexing on the OCR document.
However, scanners and software continue to improve, with small, portable scanners that are able to scan doubled-sided A4 documents at around 30-35ppm to a raster format (typically TIFF fax 4 or PDF).
Issues in keeping documents digital
1. Business procedures and/or government regulations. These often slow the adoption of exclusively electronic documents.
2.The target readers' ability to receive and read the digital format.
3. The target readers' ability to manipulate, i.e. highlights, annotates, or edits data in a digital format.
4. The longevity of digital documents. Will they still be accessible to computer systems of the future?
Paperless versus traditional office philosophy
A traditional office consisted of paper-based filing systems, which may have included filing cabinets, folders, shelves, compactuses, microfiche systems, and drawing cabinets, all of which take up considerable space, requiring maintenance and equipment. A blinds manufacturing company who make roller shades and woven wood shades , they are doing business online with paperless office. Few years back it was not possible. Same way, we can take example of term life insurance agents who are doing online business which is again a paperless.Meanwhile, a paperless office could simply consist of a desk, chair, and computer (with a modest amount of local or network storage) and the user could use and store all the information in digital form, including speech recognition and speech synthesis.

Paperless office-2

Today we continue our discussion on paperless office which is most important part out topic. Each of the technologies uses software that converts the raster formats (bitmaps) into other forms depending on need. Generally, they involve some form of image compression technology that produces smaller raster images or the use of optical character recognition (OCR) to convert the document to text. A combination of OCR and raster is used to enable search ability while maintaining the original form of the document.

An issue faced by those wishing to take the paperless philosophy to the limit has been copyright laws. These laws restrict the transfer of documents protected by copyright from one medium to another, such as converting books to electronic format. An important step in the paper-to-digital conversion is the need to label and catalog the scanned documents. Such labeling allows the scanned documents to be searched. Some technologies have been developed to do this, but generally involves either human cataloging or automated indexing on the OCR document.

However, scanners and software continue to improve, with small, portable scanners that are able to scan doubled-sided A4 documents at around 30-35ppm to a raster format (typically TIFF fax 4 or PDF).

Paperless office-1

We continue our discussion on paperless office today.
Metaphor and philosophy
Paperless office is also a metaphor for the touting of new technology in terms of 'modernity' rather than its actual suitability to purpose.
The paperless office is now considered to be a philosophy to work with minimal paper and convert all forms of documentation to a digital form. The ideal is driven by a number of motivators including productivity gains, costs savings, space saving, the need to share information and reduced environmental impact. I was talking with owner of blinds store who made roller shades and woven wood shades blinds, he says paperless office is basic requirement for any business in today’s time.

Transforming paper-based documents to digital-based documents
One key aspect of the paperless office philosophy is the conversion of paper documents, photos, engineering plans, microfiche and all the other paper based systems to digital documents. The technologies that may be used include -
1. Scanners
2. High speed scanners - used for scanning very large volumes of paper.
3. Book copiers - used for taking photos of large books and manuscripts.
4. Wide format scanners - used for scanning engineering drawings.
5. Photo scanners
6. Negative scanners
7. Microfiche scanner - used to convert microfiche to digital documents.
8. Digitization of postal mail - provides online access of scanned contents.
9. Fax to PDF conversion
Paperless office is more helpful to term life insurance business and motels owner too. We continue our talk on paperless office and transforming paper-based documents to digital based documents in next post.

Paperless office

The paperless office was a publicist's slogan, meant to describe the office of the future. The basic idea was that office automation would make paper redundant for routine tasks such as record-keeping and bookkeeping. The idea came to prominence with the introduction of the personal computer. While the prediction of a PC on every desk was remarkably prescient, the 'paperless office' was less prophetic. Improvements in printers and photocopiers have made it much easier to produce documents in bulk, word-processing has deskilled secretarial work involved in writing those documents, and paper proliferates. An early prediction of the paperless office was made in a Business Week article in 1975.

Historical paper useContrary to the predictions of the paperless office, the introduction of computers increased paper use, with worldwide use of office paper more than doubling from 1980 to 2000. This has been attributed to the increased ease of document production – rather than needing to type a document up; one may easily print out multiple copies, email it to someone who then prints out a copy, print out a web page, and so forth. However, since about 2000, global use of office paper has leveled off and is now decreasing, which has been attributed to a generation shift, younger people being less inclined to print out documents, and more inclined to read them on a screen.

Document Imaging

Document Imaging is an information technology category for systems capable of replicating documents commonly used in business. Document Imaging Systems can take many forms including microfilm, on demand printers, facsimile machines, copiers, multifunction printers, document scanners, Computer Output Microfilm (COM) and archive writers. In the last 15 years Document Imaging has been used to describe software-based computer systems that capture, store and reprint images.

Document Imaging is part of the set of technologies within the Enterprise Content Management category. In the early days of content management technologies, the term "Document Imaging" was used interchangeably with "Document Image Management" as the industry tried to separate itself from the micrographic and reprographic technologies. Organizations like National Micrographic Association (NMA) and American Records Manager Association (ARMA) found themselves inventing new ways to describe these new archive and library tools. The 'NMA' became the Association of Image and Information Management. Currently, document imaging industry information can be found at the Association for Information and Imaging Management (AIIM).

In the late 80's and early 90's a new document management technology emerged: Electronic Document Management. This new technology was built around the need to manage and secure the volume of electronic documents (spreadsheets, word processing documents) created in organizations. Electronic documents can change constantly and those changes require security authorizations and tracking, which are the core functionality of an EDMS (Electronic Document Management System).

EDMS is not limited to native word processing and spreadsheet files, scanned images also have a life being redacted by users as you would a paper document.

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Records Management Society

Today we are going to discuss on records management society. The Records Management Society was founded in 1983 as the main professional body for records managers in Great Britain and Ireland. Its objectives are ‘to further knowledge of the management and administration of records, in whatever media, created during the course of the business activities of any organization, and to promote fellowship and co-operation amongst individuals working in this field.’

All those in any country concerned with records and information, regardless of their professional or organizational status or qualifications, can join the Society, which currently has over 1100 members from 30 countries. There are special interest groups for local government and higher and further education, as well as regional groups in Ireland, Scotland and Wales and the North, Midlands, South and South West of England.

The society organizes meetings and an annual conference, publishes the bi-monthly Records Management Bulletin containing comment, analysis, case studies and news from the UK and international records management scene, produces information guides on issues such as records retention and information technology, and runs training courses for members and non-members.

ref: wikipedia

Current Issues in Records Management-1

The management field is very responsible field. We are talking about records management. Still today we have discussed the different type of the records management like practicing records management, managing physical records, managing electronics records etc.. Today we continue our talk on current issues in records management. Privacy, data protection, and identity theft have become issues of interest for records managers. The role of the records manager to aid in the protection of an organization's records has often grown to include attention to these concerns. The need to ensure that certain information about individuals is not retained has brought greater focus to records retention schedules and records destruction.

The most significant issue is implementing the required changes to individual and corporate culture to derive the benefits to internal and external stakeholders. Records management is often seen as an unnecessary or low priority administrative task that can be performed at the lowest levels within an organization. Publicized events have demonstrated that records management is in fact the responsibility of all individuals within an organization and the corporate entity.Related topics of current note include: information lifecycle management and enterprise content management.

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Current Issues in Records Management

Records management or RM is very important part for any organizations. We have already talked the records management definition very descriptively in our previous post. Still today we have already discussed the important point like Practicing Records Management, Managing Physical Records and Managing Electronic Records which are related to Records Management. Today we are going to discuss on Current Issues in Records Management.

As of 2005, records management has increased interest among corporations due to new compliance regulations and statutes. While government, legal, and healthcare entities have a strong, historical records management discipline, general record-keeping of corporate records has been poorly standardized and implemented. In addition, scandals such as the Enron/Andersen scandal, and more recently records-related mishaps at Morgan Stanley, have renewed interest in corporate records compliance, retention period requirements, litigation preparedness, and related issues. Statutes such as the US Sarbanes-Oxley Act have created new concerns among corporate "compliance officers" that result in more standardization of records management practices within an organization. Most of the 90s has seen discussions between records managers and IT managers, and the emphasis has expanded to include the legal aspects, as it is now focused on compliance and risk.

ref: wikipedia, guaranteedblinds, premierinns

Managing Electronic Records

The general principles of records management apply to records in any format. Digital records (almost always referred to as electronic records) raise specific issues however. It is more difficult to ensure that the content, context and structure of records is preserved and protected when the records do not have a physical existence. Guidance on the management of electronic records can be found on the websites of National and State Archives authorities listed below.

Unlike physical records electronic records cannot be managed without a computer or other machine. Functional requirements for computer systems that can be used to manage electronic records have been produced by the US Department of Defense, the National Archives of England & Wales and the European Commission. It is noteworthy that the Moreq specification has been translated into at least twelve languages and is used beyond the borders of Europe. Development of MoReq was initiated by the DLM Forum, funded by the European Commission.

Particular concerns exist about the ability to retain and still be able to access and read electronic records over time. Electronic records require appropriate combinations of software versions and operating systems to be accessed, and so are at risk because of the rate at which technological changes occur. A considerable amount of research is being undertaken to address this issue, under the heading of digital preservation. The Public Record Office Victoria (PROV) located in Melbourne, Australia published the Victorian Electronic Records Strategy (VERS) which includes a standard for the preservation, long-term storage and access to permanent electronic records. The VERS standard has been adopted by all Victorian Government departments. A digital archive has been established by PROV to enable the general public to access permanent records.

Managing Physical Records

Managing physical records involves a variety of diverse disciplines. At the simplest, physical records must be organized and indexed. In more complex environments, records management demands expertise in forensics, history, engineering, and law. Records management then resolves to being a coordination of many experts to build and maintain the system.
Records must be identified and authenticated. In a business environment, this is usually a matter of filing business documents and making them available for retrieval. However, in many environments, records must be identified and handled much more carefully.
Following four steps are useful to understand for managing physical records
1. Identifying records
2. Storing records
3. Circulating records
4. Dispositioning of records

1. Identifying records. If an item is presented as a record, it must be first examined as to its relevance, and it must be authenticated. Forensic experts may need to examine a document or artifact to determine that it is not a forgery, or if it is genuine, that any damage, alterations, or missing content is documented. In extreme cases, items may be subjected to a microscope, x-ray, radiocarbon dating or chemical analysis to determine their authenticity and prior history. This level of authentication is rare, but requires that special care be taken in the creation and retention of the records of an organization.

2. Storing records. Records must be stored in such a way that they are both sufficiently accessible and are safeguarded against environmental damage. A typical contract or agreement may be stored on ordinary paper in a file cabinet in an office. However, many records file rooms employ specialized environmental controls including temperature and humidity. Vital records may need to be stored in a disaster-resistant safe or vault to protect against fire, flood, earthquakes and even war. In extreme cases, the item may require both disaster-proofing and public access, which is the case with the original, signed US Constitution. Even civil engineers must be consulted to determine that the file room can effectively withstand the weight of shelves and file cabinets filled with paper; historically, some military vessels were designed to take into account the weight of their operating procedures on paper as part of their ballast equation (modern record-keeping technologies have transferred much of that information to electronic storage). In addition to on-site storage of records, many organizations operate their own off-site records centers or contract with commercial records centers.
We will discuss on Circulating records and Dispositioning of records in next post.

ref : wikipedia, leadorganizer, agencymanagementsystem, shopblindsonline, premierinns

Practicing Records Management

We are talking here Document management. We talked different aspect related with document management in our previous post. In last post we started talk on Record management. We talked RM is the practice of identifying, classifying, archiving, preserving, and destroying records. It includes creating, receipt, maintenance, use and disposition of records. Today we are going to talk about how to practice records management.

Records management (RM) practice involves following steps.

• Creating, approving, and enforcing records policies, including a classification system and a records retention policy
  
• Developing a records storage plan, this includes the short and long-term housing of physical records and digital information
  
• Identifying existing and newly created records, classifying them, and then storing them according to standard operating procedures
  
• Coordinating access and circulation of records within and even outside of an organization
  
• Executing a retention policy to archive and destroy records according to operational needs, operating procedures, statutes, and regulations.

Often, a records management system helps to aid in the capture, classification, and ongoing management of records throughout their lifecycle. Such a system may be paper based (such as index cards as used in a library), or may be a computer system, such as an electronic records management application.

Records management - RM

Records management, or RM, is the practice of identifying, classifying, archiving, preserving, and destroying records. The ISO 15489: 2001 standard defines it as "The field of management responsible for the efficient and systematic control of the creation, receipt, maintenance, use and disposition of records, including the processes for capturing and maintaining evidence of and information about business activities and transactions in the form of records".

The ISO defines records as "information created, received, and maintained as evidence and information by an organization or person, in pursuance of legal obligations or in the transaction of business". The International Council on Archives (ICA) Committee on Electronic Records defines a record as, "a recorded information produced or received in the initiation, conduct or completion of an institutional or individual activity and that comprises content, context and structure sufficient to provide evidence of the activity."

While the definition of a record is often identified strongly with a document, a record can be either a tangible object or digital information which has value to an organization. For example, birth certificates, medical x-rays, office documents, databases, application data, and e-mail are all examples of records. Records are to be managed according to their value to the organization rather than their physical or logical characteristics.

The other crucial aspect of the above definitions is their consistent reference to records as evidence. Indeed, records management can be seen as being primarily concerned with the identification and management of the evidence of an organization's business activities.

ref: wikipedia, woodblinds, agents website design

Off-line Handwriting Recognition

Off-line handwriting recognition involves the automatic conversion of text in an image into letter codes which are usable within computer and text-processing applications. The data obtained by this form is regarded as a static representation of handwriting.

The technology is successfully used by businesses which process lots of handwritten documents, like insurance companies. Insurance software companies like Agents web world and agencyorganizer are useing technology successfully. The quality of recognition can be substantially increased by structuring the document (by using forms).

The off-line handwriting recognition is comparatively difficult. As different people have different handwriting styles, so it becomes difficult to recognize the handwriting by computer. Nevertheless, limiting the range of input can allow recognition to improve. For example, the ZIP code digits are generally read by computer to sort the incoming mail.

Research
Handwriting Recognition has an active community of academics studying it. The biggest conferences for handwriting recognition are the International Workshop on Frontiers in Handwriting Recognition (IWFHR), held in even-numbered years, and the International Conference on Document Analysis and Recognition (ICDAR), held in odd-numbered years. Both of these conferences are organized under the auspices of the IEEE. Active areas of research include:

• Online Recognition
• Offline Recognition
• Signature Verification
• Postal-Address Interpretation
• Bank-Check Processing

ref: agents web world, wikipedia

Online Handwriting Recognition -3

Online Handwritting Recognition we are talking here. Document Management Software (DMS) are part of Document management system. If we talk with reference to insurance industry , than Insurance CRM Software helps any business to handle their document management. Insurance SFA software also help business to deal with it's sales/marketing related document management. Today, we are going to talk about Online Handwriting Recognition.

A Tablet PC is a special notebook computer that is outfitted with a digitizer tablet and a stylus, and allows a user to handwrite text on the unit's screen. The operating system recognizes the handwriting and converts it into typewritten text. Windows Vista includes personalization features that learn a user's writing patterns and/or vocabulary for English, Japanese, Chinese Traditional, Chinese Simplified and Korean. The features include a "personalization wizard" that prompts for samples of a user's handwriting and uses them to retrain the system for higher accuracy recognition. This system is distinct from the less advanced handwriting recognition system employed in its Windows Mobile OS for PDAs.

In recent years, several attempts were made to produce ink pens that include digital elements, such that a person could write on paper, and have the resulting text stored digitally. The success of these products is yet to be determined.

Although handwriting recognition is an input form that the public has become accustomed to, it has not achieved widespread use in either desktop computers or laptops. It is still generally accepted that keyboard input is both faster and more reliable. As of 2006, many PDAs offer handwriting input, sometimes even accepting natural cursive handwriting, but accuracy is still a problem, and some people still find even a simple on-screen keyboard more efficient.

ref: Insurance Software, Insurance CRM, Document Management Software, wikipedia

Online Handwriting Recognition - 2

Agency Management Software with crm software and sfa software are available in the markets. Document management system we are talking here. We talked about Online Handwritting Recognition in our last post. We continue our talk on the same today.

A modern handwriting recognition system can be seen in Microsoft's operating system running on Tablet PCs (notably Windows XP Tablet PC Edition and Windows Vista). It is based on a Time Delayed Neural Network (TDNN) classifier, nicknamed "Inferno", built at Microsoft. Later on a version of CalliGrapher, the handwriting recognition software used on Newton OS 2.0, which in 1999 Microsoft acquired from ParaGraph International was integrated as a secondary recognizer with the TDNN.

The "third generation" riteScript handwriting recognition technology, built by EverNote Corporation (the successor of ParaGraph International and Pen&Internet division of Parascript) in 2000-2004, is included in the ritePen and EverNote software. ritePen also includes fusion technology, which allows combining riteScript with the embedded handwriting recognition in Windows Vista to improve recognition accuracy of each handwriting recognition engine.
We will finish our talk in next post on

ref: agency management software, insurance software, wikipedia

Online Handwriting Recognition - 1

Document management we are talking here is part of insurance crm software or insurance sfa software which included in any agency management system. we talked Handwriting Recognition in our previous talked. In last talk we talked little about Online Handwriting Recognition. Today we continue our talk on the same.

Handwriting recognition is commonly used as an input method for PDAs. The first PDA to provide written input was the Apple Newton, which exposed the public to the advantage of a streamlined user interface. However, the device was not a commercial success, owing to the unreliability of the software, which tried to learn a user's writing patterns. By the time of the release of the Newton OS 2.0, wherein the handwriting recognition was greatly improved, including unique features still not found in current recognition systems such as modeless error correction, the largely negative first impression had been made.

Another effort was Go's tablet computer using Go's Penpoint operating system and manufactured by various hardware makers such as NCR and IBM. IBM's ThinkPad tablet computer was based on Penpoint operating system and used IBM's handwriting recognition. This recognition system was later ported to Microsoft Windows for Pen Computing, and IBM's Pen for OS/2. None of these were commercially successful.

Palm later launched a successful series of PDAs based on the Graffiti® recognition system. Graffiti improved usability by defining a set of pen strokes for each character. This narrowed the possibility for erroneous input, although memorization of the stroke patterns did increase the learning curve for the user.

We continue our talk on online handwriting recognition in next post.

ref: agency management system, Insurance Software, Document Organizer, wikipedia

Online Handwriting Recognition

Agency Management System (AMS) include Document Management and lead management. we talked about OCR, ICR in our previous talks. today we are going to talk On-line recognition as part of our talk on handwriting recognition.

On-line recognition
On-line handwriting recognition involves the automatic conversion of text as it is written on a special digitizer or PDA, where a sensor picks up the pen-tip movements X(t),Y(t) as well as pen-up/pen-down switching. That kind of data is known as digital ink and can be regarded as a dynamic representation of handwriting. The obtained signal is converted into letter codes which are usable within computer and text-processing applications.

The elements of an on-line handwriting recognition interface typically include:

• a pen or stylus for the user to write with.
• a touch sensitive surface, which may be integrated with, or adjacent to, an output display.
• a software application which interprets the movements of the stylus across the writing surface, translating the resulting curves into digital text.

we continue our talk on online handwriting recognition in our next post.

ref: agency management system, insurance sfa, wikipedia

Handwriting recognition

Document management is part of agency management system. we talked OCR and ICR

Handwriting recognition is the ability of a computer to receive and interpret intelligible handwritten input. The image of the written text may be sensed "off line" from a piece of paper by optical scanning (optical character recognition). Alternatively, the movements of the pen tip may be sensed "on line", for example by a pen-based computer screen surface.

Handwriting recognition principally entails optical character recognition. However, a complete handwriting recognition system also handles formatting, performs correct segmentation into characters and finds the most plausible words.

we continue our talk in next post.

ref: agency management software, wikipedia, Document organizer

Intelligent character recognition - Document Organizer

Document Management and Document Organizer we are talking here. We talk about Optical Character Recognition (OCR) in our last talk. Today we are going to talk about Intelligent Character Recognition (ICR).

In computer science, intelligent character recognition (ICR) is an advanced optical character recognition (OCR) system that allows fonts and different styles of hand writing to be learned by a computer during processing to improve accuracy and recognition levels.

Most ICR software has a self-learning system referred to as a neural network, which automatically updates the recognition database for new handwriting patterns. It extends the usefulness of scanning devices for the purpose of document processing, from printed character recognition (a function of OCR) to hand-written matter recognition. Because this process is involved in recognising hand writing, accuracy levels may, in some circumstances, not be very good but can achieve 97%+ accuracy rates in reading handwriting in structured forms. Often to achieve these high recognition rates several read engines are used within the software and each is given elective voting rights to determine the true reading of characters.

ref: Insurance Document Organizer, wikipedia