ScanGuru-Document Management and Scanning

Document Scanning and Capture Planning - Part 4 - Document Scanning Models

2011-10-17T07:20:00.000-07:00

Document Scanning Models

After doing some planning on the hardware types and document scanning volumes, the next step would be to examine what type of model you need to deploy. There are typically 3 standard models for document scanning and capture: Centralized, De-centralized and Distributed.

Each model has its own pros/cons, and below I will examine each, and dive into some detail.

Centralized

Ah, the centralized model. Some call this old school scanning and capture, as for many years, this was the only way to get the job done, and convert your paper to digital form. This model provides a centralized scanning center to provide mass conversion for the organization. The operation can be run by in house personnel, be managed by a services provider in house, or be outsourced to a scanning service bureau. It requires high volume/high speed hardware, and typically utilizes advanced capture software to allow for the utmost in automation and efficiency. The software and hardware operators are typically highly trained, and there are usually only a few of them. Paper and/or digital media is shipped to the centralized location and processed through a set, standardized capture workflow.

Centralized Pros

Easily standardized process due to a limited number of skilled/trained scan operators
High speed hardware/software results in minimal processing time once paper is received
Centralized reporting and control of overall process
No loading on WAN infrastructure
Centralized backup and restore

Centralized Cons

Usually a high time delay for availability of documents
High cost due to shipping of documents
High maintenance costs
High training costs to bring on new operators
Disaster recovery planning issues if centralized site is down
Operators are typically not knowledgeable in the documents they are indexing

Decentralized

Over time, as bandwidth and scanning hardware/software prices went down, the obvious move was to decentralize the whole scanning and capture process. This move placed scanning in the branches, and allowed the whole document capture process to be performed by those who had working knowledge of the documents. Smaller, desktop class hardware could be used, and most capture companies made batch scanning and upload to the centralized repository simple to accomplish.

Decentralized Pros

Scan operators are well versed in the documents they scan
Documents are available almost immediately
No shipping or transfer costs for documents
Branch control of the whole scanning process

Decentralized Cons

Standardization can be an issue
No centralized control or reporting
WAN Bandwidth consumption can be high
Licensing costs can be high depending on software utilized

Distributed

The advance of network-based scanning devices and the lowering of bandwidth pricing led to the newest model, the Distributed Model. Distributed Scanning allows for just about anyone in the organization to walk up to a network scanning device/scanning copier/fax machine and send documents to a repository. The devices are typically multi-faceted, and along with repository integration, can provide scan to network folder, FTP and email. Collaborative back-end systems, like Microsoft SharePoint, lend themselves nicely to this model, as they allow anyone to participate in a Document Workspace.

Distributed Pros

Put scanning in the hands of everyone in the organization
Provides a great launching pad for collaborative solutions
Simple, easy to use interfaces allow for minimal training and quick adoption
Capture and indexing is now in the hands of the true document owner
One-to-many solution provides a single device to service many users

Distributed Cons

Lack of standardization without software addition
Security and document control can be major issues
Bandwidth from smaller branches can be a problem with larger scans
Lack of hardware integrations with back-end systems

So, most organizations today are combining the above models to create a Hybrid Scanning and Capture solution, and leveraging all the strengths together to minimize the weaknesses of any one model. Another strategy is to tie scanning models to specific business processes, as most lend themselves nicely to specific scanning and capture workflows.

Hardware and Choosing Your Scanning Model

Most organizations will choose their model to leverage their existing hardware investment, but this can be lead to decisions that seem good at the time, but if deeper examination occurs, it can make sense to realign hardware with the best model. Take for example, a company that instantly leans toward a distributed model, and attempts to leverage their copier fleet that is currently under lease. If you examine the part of this guide that covers scanning hardware, copiers will not always fit for the type of scanning you need to perform. Take for example a branch accounting department that is looking to scan receipts or check stubs. Will the copier perform well with mixed original sizes? Just a word of caution to examine the paper, workflow, and document types to get the best feel and adapt the best model.

PSIGEN Releases Integration with M-Files

2011-09-08T06:33:00.000-07:00

IRVINE, Calif., September 8, 2011 - PSIGEN Software, Inc., the leader in advanced capture and scanning solutions, is pleased to announce a new collaboration with M-Files, an award-winning provider of document management software. This partnership provides a powerful and advanced end to end solution for companies looking for a seamless document management solution. In addition to the advanced capture features within PSI:Capture, the integration of M-Files enables customers to more effectively organize, manage and track their business documents and processes.

“The incorporation of M-Files easy document management into the PSI:Capture solution provides customers with a powerful document capture and management system,” said Scott Erickson, Vice President of Channel Sales with M-Files Inc.. “The combined solution will help PSIGEN customers improve productivity and their bottom line by addressing the issues related to managing, finding, and tracking documents in today's information-intensive business environments.”

“The M-Files Document Management platform is simple, powerful and efficient, and we immediately identified some great synergy with our Advanced Document Capture platform”, said Stephen Boals, Vice President of Sales for PSIGEN. “The two products combined provide a fantastic overall solution for customers looking to scan, process and archive their paper documents.”

The PSIGEN PSI:Capture 4.1 is a flexible and efficient document scanning application, offering solutions for all different types of organizations:

· Document Scanning and Capture

· Advanced Forms Processing

· Invoice Processing and AP Automation

· Mail Room Document Routing

· Copier Document Capture

For a video demonstration of the combined PSI:Capture and M-Files solution, go to the following link: PSI:Capture and M-Files Integration Video

About PSIGEN

PSIGEN Software is the innovative leader in advanced document capture and document scanning software. For more than 15 years, PSIGEN has provided software to improve all the processes around the conversion of paper to digital documents. The solutions focus on cost reduction, flexibility, standardization, and improved efficiency. PSIGEN delivers these solutions through a network of resellers and distributors in the US and abroad. For more information, visit www.psigen.com.

"PSIGEN" is a registered trademark in the US, the EU and other countries. All other trademarks and registered trademarks belong to their respective owners.

CONTACT: PSIGEN Sales and Marketing: Stephen Boals, V.P. , Sales, sboals@psigen.com or 949-916-7700 x230.

About M-Files

M-Files Inc. develops easy-to-use professional document management software and the cloud-based document management service M-Files Cloud Vault that runs on the Windows Azure platform. M-Files and M-Files Cloud Vault enable companies and organizations of all sizes to make dramatic gains in efficiency and productivity by improving the way they organize and manage their business documents, information and processes. More than 15,000 customers in over 80 countries worldwide use M-Files to manage their documents. M-Files is available in 24 languages and is in use at customers such as AstraZeneca, BSA LifeStructures, EADS, FinnComm Airlines and Parker Hannifin. For more information, visit our Web site at www.m-files.com, the M-Files blog, and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

Document Scanning and Capture Planning - Part 3 - Scanning Hardware

2011-08-02T14:06:00.000-07:00

Now that I have covered Sizing and Storage in Part 1, and Document Separation in Part 2, now we can start to take a look at scanning hardware. There are several key questions you need to answer: Can I use pre-existing hardware such as copiers or fax machines? Do I need a dedicated scanner? If I choose to buy a scanner, what features/characteristics are important?

Some may argue you need to decide on a scanning model before you dive into hardware (distributed, centralized, or decentralized), but I will cover this in the next section.

So let’s start with a key question:

Scanning Copier or Dedicated Scanner??

Scanning Multifunction Peripherals (MFPs/copiers) have become standard in most offices. I receive the same question all the time from prospects and customers: Can’t I just use my copier for scanning? In many cases, for a typical office, with typical documents, a copier can be an appropriate component to any scanning solution. As offices become more complex in the way they handle their documents, or they expand their scanning efforts to other departments, dedicated scanners are usually required to achieve the desired result.

Below are some interesting statistics provided by InfoTrends:

· 65 % of office workers use digital copiers/MFPs
· Over 50% use the “scan” feature daily
· 71% expect scanning requirements to increase from year to year
· 72% believe it is necessary to view images before processing
· 36% will require dedicated scanners versus MFP devices
· 36% believe they will need both scanners and MFPs

So what are the benefits/drawbacks to scanning with both types of devices? Below is a summary:

Benefits of MFPs as scanners:

Leverage your existing investment in the MFP
Most copier maintenance plans do not charge for scans, so you get “free” maintenance for the scanning function (no print/copy, no click charge)
MFP manufacturers are really focusing on scanning capabilities: fast speeds, better quality and enhanced drivers, etc.
Network scanning functions:
Scan to email
Scan to Windows Folders
Scan to FTP
One-to-Many relationship: all workers can use one device.

Drawbacks of MFPs:

Contention – copying, scanning and printing may cause “a line at the copier”
Poor performance with differing paper sizes
Lack of color dropout (Scanning blue or black backgrounds will result in a black page)
Lack of image correction capabilities (auto deskew, despeckle, black border removal, streak removal, etc.)
Small Document Feeder sizes (50 – 100 pages)
On average, file sizes are 10-20% larger
Duplex scanning/DPI increase greatly slows down rated speed
Black and White scanning only on some models

Benefits of Dedicated Scanners:

Convenience – scan at your desk
Duplexing does not slow down scanner
Color dropout
Superior image quality due to enhancement features
Ease in handling differing paper sizes/types
Larger document feeder selections (up to 1000+ pages)
Smaller file sizes
Ability to preview scanned documents at scan time

Drawbacks of Dedicated Scanners:

One to One relationship – directly connected to PC
Additional Maintenance costs

Above are all the pluses and minuses, but in a nutshell, when should you use a dedicated scanner?

Scanning 50+ documents per day
Workers that are constantly scanning throughout the day
Mixed paper sizes, weights and colors
Poor quality, older documents or when image enhancement is required
OCR or ICR applications
High volume copying and printing environments
Large Document scanning
High security environments

Now that you have an idea of the pros/cons of both types of scanning devices, now let’s take a look at the different features of scanning devices, and what to look for when purchasing a dedicated scanner.

Scanning Speed

Scanning speed is a main area of focus when researching scanning hardware. A scanner’s speed is usually directly proportional to its price, but you have to ask yourself one question: How long do you have to accomplish your scanning tasks? If you buy that cheapo scanner at an office products store that scans at 8 pages per minute, good luck in getting those 10 file cabinets scanned. Another note to mention is that all the manufacturers rate their scanner speeds at 200 DPI. If you need high quality images, or are performing OCR, 300 DPI will probably be necessary. This will significantly slow down your scanning speed, as will color scanning and duplex (2-sided) scanning on some models.

Document Feeder Capacity

The document feeder provides you the ability to load anywhere from 1-1000+ sheets into the scanner. The feeder capacity you require all depends on the volume of paperwork you are scanning, and if you are using an intelligent capture application that provides the ability to use separator sheets to split documents automatically. If you are a Law Firm that routinely scans 200 page documents, then that is a good starting point for your feeder size requirements. This allows you to load your documents, and then let the scanner do the work.

Another focus area related to the feeder is the maximum and minimum paper sizes. If you intend to scan legal size paper or insurance cards, make sure the scanner can handle them.

Daily Duty Cycle

The Duty Cycle (DC) is a rating of the scanner’s durability, and defines just how much paper you can feed through the hardware in a day. If you are scanning 3000 pages per day, you do not want to buy a small desktop scanner with a DC of 750. What happens if you exceed this number? Nothing to begin with, but as time goes on the wear and tear on the unit will begin to show in the form of jams, miss feeds, skewing, etc. This number is also tied to the replacement of consumables (rollers and pads). If you continually exceed the DC, you will more than pay for a higher level scanner in consumables over time, and your maintenance costs may go way up.

Scanning Mode

Most scanners nowadays can scan both sides of your document, but there are still some lingering models that will only do simplex scanning. Also, if you have the requirement to scan color documents, ensure that color scanning is supported.

Warranty and Service

All warranties are not created equal. Some scanner manufacturers provide “depot” type service where you have to ship your scanner for warranty service. Others will provide onsite warranty service for a specified period of time. Along with this, the time period on the warranty also varies everywhere from 30 days, to a full year. Scanner service is a separate purchase, and in some cases, can be a shock to the purchaser. A basic service plan on a mid-range scanner can cost over $1000 per year. Get an advanced plan that provides Preventative Maintenance visits, and you could be in the $1500 - $2000 range, depending on your model. Get all the details up front, and some manufacturers will provide multi-year discounts on service.

Image Processing

Definitely investigate the image processing software that comes bundled with your scanner. This software will improve the quality of your images, remove shading, borders, etc. Many of the manufacturers now provide third party image processing software (Kofax VRS), but several have their own built into their drivers. Most capture software also has built in image processing components as well.

So hopefully this will answer the majority of your questions on hardware. Remember, hardware is just part of the overall capture solution. Follow on articles will cover information on software selection and required features.

Document Capture and Scanning Planning - Part 2

2011-07-08T11:23:00.000-07:00

Document Examination and Separation

One of the key steps in preparing for document scanning and capture is to identify how you will separate or split documents. What is separation and how does it work? Details below:

For those of you that are new to document management and capture, document separation is the notion of how we can determine when a document begins and ends. With most simple scanning software, this process is easy. You load a single document in the feeder, click scan, and when it is done, you name it and save it. With advanced capture, you can load multiple documents into the feeder, scan them all at once, and use a separation method to split them into individual digital documents. This is a massive time saver. Imagine loading 20 individual documents into a scanner one at a time, scanning each individually, and then entering information about each. Below are some key separation methods any advanced capture suite should have:

Fixed Page Count Separation – This allows you to split based on a certain page count. So if you scan a stack of 100 two page forms, you will have 50 separate documents in your capture interface.

Barcode Separation – probably the most pervasive separation method is a barcode separator. Place a sheet with a specific barcode pattern between each document, and you are off to the races. To give you the most flexibility, applications should support the following enhanced barcode separation methods:

Separate on any barcode
Separate on specific barcode terms and patterns
Separate on barcode type
Separate on barcode count
Separate on a certain number of barcodes on a page
Separate when a barcode changes

You want to make sure your barcode engine supports 1D and 2D barcodes without the purchase of any expensive modules or add-ons, and it should also have a simple feature that lets you split 2D barcodes and identify separation terms.

Patch Code Separation – So what the heck is a patch code? Just an old school horizontal barcode. Below is an example. If you work in the medical field, most medical billing forms will have these on them, and some scanners actually support using patch codes to shift scanner settings during the scanning process. For flexibility, choose an application that supports patch code separation.

Optical Character Recognition (OCR) Separation – OCR is the process of converting a scanned or imported image into searchable text. OCR separation searches for a key word, term or phrase on the document, and will recognize that page as the first page in a new document. This is a preferred method, as you don’t have to kill trees to print cover sheets, and it makes document preparation simple (no inserting separator sheets). For example, if you are scanning contracts, and you want to split when you find an 8 digit contract number in the right hand corner, this comes in very handy. There are several key requirements in this feature that are absolutely required in your application to make sure you get high separation accuracy:

Scan at 200 or 300DPI and use an app that has image processing software to clean up the page. Also, your image processing engine must allow processing of imported PDFs and TIFFs if you plan to harvest documents. Some image correction/processing engines only work with scanners.
Insure you capture application allows you to use expression matching (Regular expressions) so you have the utmost flexibility in finding separation patterns.
Character sets are key. These provide the ability to tell the OCR engine the type of characters you are looking for (A-Z, 0-9, etc), so if it misidentifies a character, it auto-corrects the information.
Finally, top line applications also allow you to separate when OCR terms change. So you can look for that contract number, and only split when you find a new one.

Intelligent Character Recognition (ICR) Separation- ICR is the process of converting scanned images of hand printing to text. This method can be utilized to split pages when certain patterns in hand printing are detected. Note: all of the features required to insure accuracy for OCR separation should also be considered if you utilize this method as well.

Document Import and Separation – There are several separation methods that can be key to success if you need to import large volumes of documents, or you want to process documents scanned from copiers, network scanners, or fax machines. Below is several separation methods required for any document capture from imported files:

New File Separation – This method of separation will look at a directory, pick up files, and maintain each new file as its own digital document.
Folder-based separation – This is a key method if you are importing documents and want to combine them based on the folder. One example might be a law firm that has a folder structure of case documents on different subjects for the case and wants to combine each folder into a single PDF file.

Blank Page Separation – I only mention this as I would always, always avoid it unless absolutely necessary, especially if you are scanning in duplex. Most implementations of this method, unless operated under strict preparation by knowledgeable operators becomes an absolute mess. (Just my humble opinion ;) )

Separation Scripting – Finally, for those rare and special occasions, you always want a product that has a pre-built scripting interface for customizing the whole process if necessary. Now let me be clear, not a sales rep “Yeah we can do that” (Which usually means $20,000 in professional services), but a product that has simple hooks into the separation function, that allows you a simple “yes or No” based on some parameter or criteria that anyone with basic scripting skills can write. When would you use something like this? Usually for very complex jobs where the original documents cannot be modified, but you need to put some logic in place to spit documents.

The last separation topic I want to cover is something called triggered separation. Let me set the stage on this one, and describe a process which is near and dear to every accounting manager’s heart, invoices. So you have a stack of invoices, some single page, some multi-page and you are struck with a dilemma. If I use barcode separators, and I have 100 single page invoices, do I really have to put 100 barcode separators between them all? Separation triggers allow you to scan single page and multi-page documents all together. So in this example, you can stack your singles, and then put separators between your stack of variable length separators. Put a trigger sheet between the two stacks (this tells the capture software to switch from single page separation to barcode-based separation), and scan the whole stack in one fell swoop. This is a huge time saver in high volume environments, and can allow you to also build redundant separation logic, so you get the highest accuracy in separation with the least amount of document preparation. Phewwww. That was geeky.

Do you really need all of this? Does separation have to be that complex? The whole goal here is to have as much as you possibly can in the tool kit to insure you can meet all the capture needs within your organization. I liken it to buying the a base model with no accessories, and then wishing every day you one or another feature.

So now you have examined your documents, and figured out how to efficiently scan and split.

Document Scanning and Capture Planning - Part 1 - Sizing and Storage

2011-07-06T08:35:00.000-07:00

Been wanting to do this for quite some time, and finally had some time to sit down and put thoughts together. I find that many of the scanning and capture implementations lack overall direction, structure and standardization. I wanted to put together a manual from my experiences, and ask the community to add so we can build a reference for everyone to use. This will be composed of many parts, including all different topics like storage, hardware, designing your index fields, etc.

Sizing and Storage Planning for Document Management and Scanning

One of the key areas of planning for any scanning/capture implementation is sizing and storage. Many of the customers we work with have no real grasp on the volume of paper they deal with on a day to day basis, and when they make the migration to digitizing their paper, they are often quite surprised at the amount of paper they push through the system. Obviously, this can cause some serious issues on many different fronts. So how do you estimate the amount of paper? There are several key conversion factors used by the document management industry, as outlined below:

Description	Number of Pages	Storage
1 Scanned Page – 8.5 x 11	1	50KB
1 Scanned Page – 11x17	1	100KB
1 File Cabinet – 4 drawers	10,0000	500MB
1 Box	2500	125MB
1 Linear Inch	100	5MB
1 E Size Engineering Drawing (48x36)	16 – 8.5x11	800KB

This table is a basic planning tool, and can be used as a starting point. One thing to remember is that these are all standard pages. Not full image magazine pages, but full text pages. The other thing to keep in mind is that we have listed for boxes and file cabinets, the average number of pages contained within. In the imaging world, we deal with images, not pages. What is the difference? A page may have 2 sides, which are converted digitally into 2 images. So effectively, if you have a box with double sided pages you are scanning, you will have to double the storage required.

Some other key factors that can contribute to storage and sizing:

DPI Setting – one of the key questions we always receive is What DPI should I set on my scanner? For most basic scanning and archive applications, you can set your scanner to 200 DPI. If you are doing OCR or any type of advanced data extraction, you always want a 300 DPI image for maximum accuracy. Anything beyond that is just a space killer, will slow down your process and really bloat your files.

Black and White, Greyscale and Color – always use black and white scanning to keep file sizes at an absolute minimum. Greyscale and color scanning should only be used when absolutely necessary, as file sizes are just crazy. Below is a table of file sizes for the same letter. The letter was about 50% page coverage.

Scanning Mode/DPI	File Size
Black and White – 200 DPI	26K
Black and White - 300 DPI	38K
Black and White - 400 DPI	51K
Black and White - 600 DPI	80K
Greyscale – 300 DPI	301K
Color- 300 DPI	577K

Image Processing – image cleanup can significantly reduce file sizes, and it is very important to use this feature whenever you can. Despeckle, deshade, border removal, etc. will eliminate unnecessary noise in scanned images, and reduce your storage requirement by 10-30% depending on the quality of your documents.

Image Format – There is a lot of misinformation on the market about TIFF versus PDF. I always hear “We want to store as TIFF because PDFs are just too big.” Just not the case. An image scanned to PDF is just a TIFF in PDF clothing (Or a PDF wrapper to be more exact). The PDF overhead is almost negligible. The de facto standard in imaging today is rapidly becoming the PDF image with hidden text. This gives you a nice little file with the pristine image, and converted OCR text in the background. The text layer adds negligible size to the file.

So now, with all this info, you can estimate volume in images, and then come up with required storage on a monthly, yearly or project basis.

SharePoint and the Document Management Industry

2011-07-03T06:34:00.000-07:00

We are talking denial, and I ain't talking about a river in Egypt (Sorry for the bad joke)

I see it every day, and the misinformation out there about Microsoft SharePoint is just crazy. First off, let me establish my position. SharePoint has mapped to the typical Microsoft pattern from a product perspective. Version 1.0 is usually lacking, causes great pain, and sours many IT folks. 2.0 starts to really get some traction, and people start taking notice, early adopters (also known as gluttons for punishment) go all in, and they continue to gather information for Version 3. Version 3, they knock it out of the park, address needs, and most IT jump in after service pack 1. This probably accounts for the slow adoption rates (Some interesting SharePoint Stats here)

SharePoint 2010 and all its wonder is taking business by storm. It is an incredible tool, when used correctly, as a collaboration tool, document repository and overall business automation tool. Depending on the business size, structure and industry, what I am finding is that it solves pain points. Take for example the document capture implementation we just finished. The customer was looking to eliminate Xerox DocuShare from their organization as they were having too many issues, and could not get adequate support from the vendor. As a large mining company operating in several large countries in South America, they were having a hell of a time dealing with all their paper invoices, and were looking to automate their scanning and invoice processing. They took a leap, and the pilot project was designed to capture and process invoices within their Chilean AP department. The project was an absolute success, and implemented within a weeks' time.

Simple. Effective. Done.

Now if you were to talk to a traditional Document Management Reseller, or perhaps a vendor, they would have instilled the customer with great fear and doubt:

"SharePoint is not a real document management system."
"The resources required to manage SharePoint will kill any ROI you can glean from automating a process."
"SharePoint cannot handle high volume of documents."

I find the attitude is pervasive, and I think it just comes from a lack of understanding, and truly a lack of effort to research the competition. Is SharePoint for everyone? No. Just as Documentum or FileNet is not for every organization. But the momentum is absolutely mind numbing. Watch for profits to fall in the Document Management segment...

Do you think SharePoint is the DM industry killer?

Scanning and Capture Models

2010-12-28T16:15:00.000-08:00

So, in examining a corporate strategy on how best to deploy a scanning and capture solution, there are typically 3 models:

· Centralized

· De-centralized

· Distributed

Each model has its own pros/cons, and below I will examine each, and dive into some detail.

Centralized

Centralized Pros

· Easily standardized process due to a limited number of skilled/trained scan operators

· High speed hardware/software results in minimal processing time once paper is received

· Centralized reporting and control of overall process

· No loading on WAN infrastructure

· Centralized backup and restore

Centralized Cons

· Usually a high time delay for availability of documents

· High cost due to shipping of documents

· High maintenance costs

· High training costs to bring on new operators

· Disaster recovery planning issues if centralized site is down

· Operators are typically not knowledgeable in the documents they are indexing

Decentralized

Decentralized Pros

· Scan operators are well versed in the documents they scan

· Documents are available almost immediately

· No shipping or transfer costs for documents

· Branch control of the whole scanning process

Decentralized Cons

· Standardization can be an issue

· No centralized control or reporting

· WAN Bandwidth consumption can be high

· Licensing costs can be high depending on software utilized

Distributed

Distributed Pros

· Put scanning in the hands of everyone in the organization

· Provides a great launching pad for collaborative solutions

· Simple, easy to use interfaces allow for minimal training and quick adoption

· Capture and indexing is now in the hands of the true document owner

· One-to-many solution provides a single device to service many users

Distributed Cons

· Lack of standardization without software addition

· Security and document control can be major issues

· Bandwidth from smaller branches can be a problem with larger scans

· Lack of hardware integrations with back-end systems

For more information, view a webinar on Distributed Scanning and Capture at the link below:

Distributed Scanning and Capture Webinar

SharePoint 2010 and Document Sets

2010-03-25T05:50:00.000-07:00

SharePoint 2010 Document Sets and Organization

One of the really cool features of SharePoint 2010 is Document Sets. Document sets are just another way to categorize and organize files without having to create a separate SharePoint Library. The article below gives a great overview on how to utilize them:

SharePoint 2010 Document Sets

8 Hot Trends in Scanning, Capture and Imaging

2010-03-17T08:11:00.001-07:00

Scanning, Capture and Imaging Trends

SharePoint and the Document Management Industry

2010-03-06T06:31:00.000-08:00

I has been a crazy few years in the Document Management and Enterprise Content Management space, and one of the key factors, in my opinion, is the emergence of SharePoint as a viable option for use as a repository for scanned images. All of the key players are touting their integration with SharePoint, but I am a bit confused? Why would I want to purchase a 6 figure DM/ECM system when I can just use SharePoint. I know, I know, let me see...as I recollect the comments I hear on a daily basis:

"SharePoint is not really a Document Management System"
"SharePoint doesn't allow searching by columns"
"SharePoint lacks the controls that my ECM system offers"
"SharePoint uses BLOB storage which is scary"
The list goes on....

The industry is in denial, and I hear more and more objections to using the system every day, which makes me think one thing: Traditional ECM is being challenged constantly, and they are upping their game to try and compete.

Just this week I had two calls where the customers were trying to move off Documentum, and migrate to SharePoint. Why? The main reasons are cost and flexibility. I believe there will soon be a total reset in the industry, both in price and features, as Big ECM struggles to survive in the current environment. 2010 will be an interesting year.

Does this scare anyone?

2010-02-23T05:51:00.000-08:00

Google Goggles is a slick application, but has some serious privacy concerns. Check out the video below...the Google device can take a picture and immediately present web findings on the subject.

Gartner Claims Document Management in Top 10

2010-02-17T03:47:00.001-08:00

Garter: Top 10 Priorities

ECM Facts by AIIM

2010-02-12T06:09:00.000-08:00

Great stuff:

ECM Factoids

OCR Software Overview

2009-12-27T09:54:00.001-08:00

Great questions to analyzing what you need from an OCR perspective:

OCR Software Information

MFPs/Copiers and the Panel - Scanning and Capture

2009-11-26T08:02:00.000-08:00

Okay,
I have held back comment on this one for far too long. What is up with the MFP manufacturers and what I call "Panel Insanity"? When it comes to scanning and capture, they want everything tied to the panel!!

So, I can understand, you make hardware. You want it to be as "all-in-one" as it can be, and give organizations a super powerful copy-scan-fax-print machine that can do it all.

But let's get serious for a minute, and talk about the drawbacks to panel processing for scanned documents:

Although the panels are getting larger and larger with every generation, do we really want users standing at the copier, pecking away, entering their metadata? Is that the most efficient use of their time? Efficiency is so important, and getting the most out of employee time in this economic environment is absolutely required.
Contention. When I want a copy, I want it now darnit. You scanners need to get out of my way, and yield to the almighty paper. Line at the copier? This is a bad thing.
Scan versus Capture? I wrote an article on the differences between the two application types on my SharePoint specific blog: Scan versus Capture? Let's move away from scanning and use some automation to collect data, rather than manually enter it at the panel.
Even though there are panel apps, there is almost always another component behind the scenes doing OCR, reading barcodes, etc. So now we have multiple failure points within the overall capture system. Keep it simple, the fewer application components, the better.

Just some thoughts on this topic.

Gartner Magic Quadrant

2009-11-18T06:46:00.000-08:00

Great overview of the latest Gartner review of ECM

Gartner Magic Quadrant

PSIGEN Introduces Intelligent Redaction to its PSI:Capture Suite of Products

2009-09-08T07:42:00.000-07:00

IRVINE, Calif., September 8, 2009 - PSIGEN Software, Inc., the leader in advanced capture and scanning solutions, today announced the release Intelligent Redaction within their capture products.

The Intelligent Redaction feature provides the ability to mask confidential information in scanned legal or medical documents. The product can search scanned documents for confidential information, like a Social Security Number, and “black out”, or redact the terms. As an option, the application can also mask set templates for specific section of forms and documents.

"Although manual redaction can be used, Intelligent Redaction is not only faster, but less error prone. This feature allows customers who provide services, especially in the Legal, Medical and Banking sectors, to quickly comply with strict information redaction requirements. " said Bruce Hensley, President of PSIGEN Software.

The Intelligent Redaction feature is just one of many new features in PSI:Capture 3.5.2, including triggered image processing, SharePoint WebDav folder monitoring and Advanced Data Extraction. PSIGEN will continue to innovate and provide valuable cutting edge solutions and features for scanning to SharePoint, unstructured forms processing with Advanced Data Extraction, and industry specific document imaging workflows.

About PSIGEN
PSIGEN Software is the innovative leader in advanced capture and document imaging solutions. For more than 14 years, PSIGEN has provided software to improve all the processes around the conversion of paper to digital documents. The solutions focus on cost reduction, flexibility, standardization, and improved efficiency. PSIGEN delivers these solutions through a network of resellers and distributors in the US and abroad. For more information, visit www.psigen.com.

"PSIGEN" is a registered trademark in the US, the EU and other countries. All other trademarks and registered trademarks belong to their respective owners.
CONTACT: PSIGEN Sales and Marketing: Stephen Boals, Vice President of Sales, 949-916-7700 x230.

PSIGEN Signs Distribution Agreement with Deltalink Consulting CC

2009-06-05T11:14:00.000-07:00

PSIGEN Signs Distribution Agreement with Deltalink Consulting CC -Partnership Expands Company's Growing Distribution Network to Southern Africa

IRVINE, Calif., May 21, 2009 -- PSIGEN Software, Inc., the innovative leader in advanced capture solutions, today announced it has signed a distribution agreement with Deltalink Consulting CC, a leading distributor of Document Management, Capture and Scanning Hardware in Southern Africa.

"The addition of Deltalink to our growing distribution network provides us with a solid technical and business partner in the region of Southern Africa," said Stephen Boals, Vice President of Sales at PSIGEN, “Their focus on Microsoft SharePoint, and experience in Document Management will provide valuable ECM solutions in their market.”

"We are excited about the benefits that our partnership with PSIGEN will bring to the local market. With PSI:Capture we are now in a position to offer an industry-leading capture solution to all organizations ranging from small companies to the largest corporate enterprise in South Africa and neighbouring countries. To date we have been unable to provide a suitable capture solution to resellers and end-users of either Microsoft SharePoint or MFP devices, both pervasive technologies in our market. With PSI:Capture we feel comfortable that we will be able to meet the diverse requirements of these and the large number of other capture users with a single product," said Gerrie Terblanche, CEO at Deltalink.

About PSIGEN

PSIGEN Software is the innovative leader in advanced capture and document management solutions. For more than 14 years, PSIGEN has provided software to improve all the processes around the conversion of paper to digital documents. The solutions focus on cost reduction, flexibility, standardization, and improved efficiency. PSIGEN delivers these solutions through a network of resellers and distributors in the US and abroad. For more information, visit www.psigen.com.

"PSIGEN" is a registered trademark in the US, the EU and other countries. All other trademarks and registered trademarks belong to their respective owners.

CONTACT: PSIGEN Sales and Marketing: Stephen Boals, Vice President of Sales, 949-916-7700 x230.

PSIGEN Software, Inc. releases version 3.5.1 of its powerful Advanced Capture Software

2009-05-13T15:15:00.000-07:00

PSIGEN Software, Inc. released version 3.5.1 of PSI:Capture. This latest revision of the powerful product provides an enhanced feature set for migrating to Microsoft SharePoint through a web services integration which allows dynamic document library and column creation, along with SharePoint site configuration import. The new release also provides automatic QA functionality that allows combining and sorting documents based on index fields, Zone OCR enhancements, Google Tesseract OCR Engine option, OMR enhancements and batch import and export for transporting batch sets.

The full PSI:Capture 3.5.1 enhanced feature set can be found here:

PSI:Capture 3.5.1 New Features

PSIGEN Software, Inc. is located in Irvine, CA. The company has been advancing document imaging since 1995.

www.psigen.com
(949) 916-7700

OMR and Microsoft SharePoint

2009-04-14T06:32:00.001-07:00

So, with SharePoint there is always a challenge in how to provide a scanning and capture onramp to the masses. How do we enable our MFPs to scan to our SharePoint Server? How can I scan to WSS with my copier? In Document Imaging, there are many simple ways to allow a standardized, efficient way to capture documents. One of the challenges with copiers, is that they only provide basic scanning capabilities. The key here is to empower your end users with some type of automated way to get information into the end repository. Here is one of the best ways I have seen, and there is a video on how to use routing cover sheets with SharePoint:

Simple Scanning and Capture to Microsoft SharePoint

New PSIGEN Site Up and Running

2009-04-02T16:54:00.000-07:00

New site with info about advanced capture and scanning for SharePoint and other back-end repositories.

Scanning and Capture for Microsoft SharePoint

The Power of Advanced Capture

2009-02-15T07:23:00.000-08:00

In any Document Management or Enterprise Content Management System, there are four basic components: Hardware, Capture, Archive and Search and Retrieve. So what is the most important piece? Everyone nowadays seems to have the hardware. All of the copiers today have scanning capability, with the newer ones scanning at 70 pages per minute. The simplest archive is a series of folders on your server or workstation. And with files on the network, Windows Search, or the search capabilities within Abode allow you to find what you are looking for quickly (sometimes).

For the more advanced organization, they may have a Document Management System, or utilize Microsoft SharePoint for their archive and search and retrieve functions. But what seems to be lacking in most organizations, is a structured, automated way of capturing files. The argument of this BLOG entry is that Capture is the most important piece to any ECM or DM System.

As mentioned before, when we look at just about any office or organization today, they are scanning with a copier or desktop scanner. But inevitably, they take their paper mess and recreate it digitally. Why? No standardization in the process. Joe scans his files to his email and stores them in Outlook folders, Betty scans to her My Documents on her laptop, and uses a convoluted naming scheme that only she can decipher. They take their paper problem, and create a huge problem for IT. Disparate archives now pose a disaster recovery problem, along with the issues of accessibility.

So what is the answer? Advanced Capture. Advanced Capture applications provide the ability to set structure, and harness the capabilities of all the scanning hardware within the organization. They can provide standardization and structure, along with fantastic efficiency improvements. Take for example, PSIGEN's PSI:Capture. With its Microsoft SharePoint Migration feature, and auto-import capability, you can set all your scanning copiers to scan to a processing folder. Utilizing the barcode routing capability, you can create cover sheets for each library within your SharePoint site. When you scan, the software will pick up, process, rename and folder files automatically. The end result is a standardized folder structure, standardized naming scheme, and a searchable PDF all within your SharePoint site.

The other major contributor to efficiency within Capture applications is the ability to use separation technology. I see it all the time...the office that has 20 documents to scan. They walk up to the copier, and scan them one by one; a very time consuming process. With document separators, you can scan the entire stack and let the software split the documents, rename and folder them. Let the technology do all the hard work!

For more info on improving your scanning work flow, go to www.psigen.com.

PSI:Capture 3.5 - The Killer App

2009-02-05T07:24:00.000-08:00

Every now and then, a new version of software comes along that just amazes you. In selling Document Management and Capture applications, I am constantly looking for features to help my customers make their processes more efficient. PSIGEN's PSI:Capture 3.5 is packed with some phenomenal features to help make the scanning and capture process more streamlined, and reduce the time it takes to index scanned documents.

The new version includes OCR Assisted Indexing, or what I will call OAI. OAI allows the user to "point and click" at pertinent information on the scanned document, and automatically populates the index field. For example, a scanned invoice can be quickly indexed by just pointing at the invoice number, invoice date and vendor...no typing necessary. The software takes this function a step further, and can auto-highlight specific information on a document based on a pattern of characters.

Feature detection is a powerful tool that allows the application to intelligently identify features on a page, like say, a logo. This detection allows the ability to separate documents based on certain features, so you can "tag" the first page of every document by the logo in the right corner. No more inserting separator sheets!!! Along the same lines, you can now separate based on zone OCR values, or particular words on the front pages of your documents.

The Zone OCR function in version 3.5 has now been greatly enhanced. The product now includes the ability to anchor, based on a barcode, patch code or from the left corner of the document. This ensures repeatable zoning across scanned documents. You can now images process individual zones to remove lines, and clean up the image before OCR. The image processing enhancements include line removal, autoinvert, and the ability to run them within the Quality Assurance module.

The product now includes Optical Mark Recognition. To give you an example, in playing with the software, I created a SharePoint Routing Sheet for an accounting department. On the routing sheet I have 4 boxes, one for invoice, po, contract and correspondence. When I scan the document, the application will read which box I have checked, and then autopopulate an index field, rename the file, and route it to the appropriate SharePoint Document Library and folder!!! Wow!!

This is just an overview of the high points, but the new version also includes the following: Separation Profiles, Device Profile import and export, PDF/A OCR output, new barcode types, and greatly improved database write/read performance.

I will be covering each of the features in a separate post with screenshots in the coming weeks. You can grab some more info from www.psigen.com or on www.scanguru.com.

Should I use SharePoint as a replacement for my file servers?

2008-09-21T17:30:00.001-07:00

Should you utilize SharePoint as a replacement for your file server?

Many SharePoint features make it a fantastic replacement for traditional file shares. The product is very strong in two key areas when it comes to files: collaboration and versioning. For those file types, like Word Documents and Spreadsheets, the product provides the ability to share documents with a group, and allow collaboration and change management through its version control functionality. The ability to share over the web makes it simple and easy for all to access files.

So is it time to move all of your file server content to SharePoint? I would say no, and restrict the system to those types of files that fit into the below categories:

-Those that need to be shared over the web
-Files that require input or collaboration from multiple parties
-Whenever version control is required
-Whenever files are subjected to compliance rules

For more information on SharePoint go to ScanGuru SharePoint Information Page.

Captaris Single Click Entry Technology

2008-09-01T13:38:00.000-07:00

I played with some cool technology this week. I received my demo version of the Captaris Single Click Entry (SCE) technology. Captaris aquired the application when they purchased Oce Document Technologies (ODT) back in January. The application has a native integration into SharePoint, and allows you to open a TIFF scanned image, and just point and click to enter index fields/columns. So, open an invoice, click on the invoice number field, and presto, you have instant OCR field population. There are some screen shots and an associated article at:

Captaris Single Click Entry for SharePoint Article