What things should be considered when selecting an imaging system?

Selecting the right document imaging system can be an exciting task. There are many aspects to consider to make sure it fits your organization's needs. Using the expertise gathered from over twelve years of creating document imaging solutions for our customers, we've assembled a list of things to look for, including some essentials and some nice extras.

Indexing

When paper documents are received in an office, they must be organized to be useful. Documents are labeled, sorted, stapled, placed in folders and filed in a cabinet. Without these steps, nothing could be found in a busy workplace. Electronic documents are no different. A document imaging system must have a comprehensive indexing system that organizes documents for future use.

There are three different ways to index (organize) electronic documents in an imaging system.

• Indexing words inside the document
• Storing documents in folders
• Assigning index fields to a document

Indexing Words Inside the Document

Traditionally, keyword indexing has been used to make the information within a document available. Assigning key words from the document itself allows users to store and find pages later. Unfortunately, it can take a lot of time for qualified people to read and manually key word documents. Document imaging systems can eliminate the need for manual key word indexing by providing automatic full-text indexing. To do this, the software must have the capability to perform Optical Character Recognition (OCR). This process actually reads a scanned page and converts it into readable text. Once read, the imaging software can then automatically index every word to track the location of each word and phrase within every document, dramatically reducing indexing costs while providing improved searching capabilities.

Storing Documents in Folders

Along with keyword or full-text indexing, an imaging system must have a visual method of filing documents. In any office, files are normally found by looking in a particular folder in a particular drawer in a particular file cabinet. An imaging system must have the ability to duplicate this filing system. A flexible folder structure eases the transition from paper filing to electronic filing and makes imaging systems more successful.

Assigning Index Fields to a Document

The final method of organizing documents is through index fields or templates. An imaging system must use a robust index field structure to accommodate large volumes of documents. Generally, these structures are based on a database that maintains these index fields. It is important that whatever the data storage design, it must be non-proprietary and expandable. Proprietary systems put the user at the mercy of a vendor who can alter service, costs or functionality without the customer's consent.

Because of the need to integrate imaging systems with other applications, these databases must use industry-standard languages and tools such as SQL-compliant databases. Systems that do not provide commercially available databases lock users into technologies and systems that may not keep pace with advancements in the computer industry.

Whatever combination of indexing methodologies are used, it's important to remember that they be easily used and understood by the people who need to retrieve the documents as well as the people who need to file them.