What is Document Management?

Some people refer to document management as a Document Management System or DMS. Both of these terms are interchangeable so it is politically correct to use each term as they are. Simply put, the term refers to the process of using any computer system to save, process, manage, and eventually track the changes made in electronic documents.

When people talk about electronic documents they usually refer to an electronic image of paper documents that were scanned using a document scanner. Of course, there are other processes applied to these scanned images to make them useful for any business. These scanned documents are sometimes encoded into some other format that can be used in business processes. Technically speaking, the term document in a DMS is any piece of recorded information or it can also be any object that the system treats as a unit.

Digging a Little Bit Deeper

Document management actually deals with scanned paper documents as well as the full-fledged electronic data or scanned paper documents. The objective of course goes far beyond reducing the amount of paper clutter in the office. The end result is actually being able to make the information system in the work place a lot more efficient.

A DMS will usually start by storing information from paper documents in the workplace. The usual method of getting this done is by using a scanner. Some scanners process several pages a minute but the document scanners used in the work place can scan both sides of a document and process hundreds of pages in an hour.

As stated earlier, a DMS employed in the workplace is also involved in the processing of the said stored documents. As such, this system has the following important features: annotation and stamps, version control, locking, summarization, roll backs, check in and check outs, and audit trails.

Notice that the said features are also the functions that can be performed using document management. Any DMS allows users to modify electronic documents once they are stored in a computer system. However, this system should also be able to track any changes made to the original format.

They can take note of changes that were made while storing the originals on file. The system is also equipped with logging information that allows it to identify who made the different changes as far as it is possible. In case the integrity of certain information is compromised or even for any reason at all, the system should be able to perform a roll back of the information stored.

Size of DMS in the Workplace

Some people may think that only huge corporations with large-scale operations are the only ones that will have need of a DMS. The fact is that these systems actually vary in size. Some DMS are better suited for small scale industries while others are rather designed for the use in large corporate settings where literally hundreds of documents require processing on a daily basis. Even if you’re running only a small office with mid-size paper document output, document management will help make things more efficient in your operations.

Looking for a company which will do document management and document management for you? We offer the services at Tallega.com

Looking for a company which will do document management and document management for you? We offer the services at http://Tallega.com

Author Bio: Looking for a company which will do document management and document management for you? We offer the services at Tallega.com

Category: Computers and Technology
Keywords: document management

Leave a Reply