Document Management Solutions

What is a Document Management System?

A document management system (DMS) is a combination of software and hardware used to track, store, and retrieve electronic documents and digital images of paper documents. A typical DMS has several components and functions. Document capture is the process of scanning a physical document into a digital form. Metadata is usually added to a captured document to describe its content and define key words that will be used to find it again. Integration of documents with other applications allows a word processor, for example, to locate a document in the DMS, import it into the current document, and save the new version under a different name.

OCR (optical character recognition) is the process of scanning a physical document's handwritten or typewritten text and converting its characters into digital text. OCR enables conversion of many mounds of paper into compact text files on a hard drive, without the tedious task of re-typing it all. In digital form, the text can also be indexed and searched, re-formatted with word processing or other types of software, and shared among many users simultaneously. OCR software such as PaperPort and OmniPage (both from Nuance Communications) are highly accurate and fast at scanning standard fonts in English. Handwritten text still presents challenges for OCR technology.

Some desktop scanners can scan documents for digital storage, and use OCR to convert them to searchable PDF documents. The Fujitsu ScanSnap is a popular example, used in many homes and offices. Scanners with OCR capability are especially useful for lawyers, accountants, and other professional services that tend to deal in large amounts of paperwork.

Digital signatures may be required in a regulated industry such as law, real estate, or medicine to verify the identities of every person who handled or altered a digital document. A digital signature may include a graphic image of the signatory's actual signature, or it may be an encrypted certificate that can be inserted into a document only by the owner who knows its password. See my related article on Digital Signatures to learn more about how they work.

Content Management Systems

Web content management is vital to most enterprises these days. The thing about Web content is that it's fluid; a Web page can change at the whim of a programmer or depending on the identity, input, and preferences of a user. Earlier versions may be lost unless they are archived. Web content management systems include blog software such as Wordpress and Joomla. It can also be more sophisticated software that integrates OCR, paper document storage systems, retrieval and distribution services. You can read my article Content Management Systems for examples of solutions for both non-technical and more tech savvy users.

Document management companies include Xerox, Belwo, Infushui, and other makers of document scanning, printing, and OCR equipment. Many smaller firms specialize in the integration of hardware and software from various companies and the customization of a DMS to a company's specific needs.

Then there are firms which specialize in storing and destroying physical documents. Tax records, medical records, legal paperwork, government records of all kinds must be preserved safely for years, or indefinitely. Document storage services provide climate-controlled, disaster-proof storage facilities for such documents and the ability to locate and retrieve a particular piece of paper quickly. At the end of the required storage period, these firms fulfill legal requirements for the confidential and complete shredding and disposal of documents.

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