With many companies looking to move towards a paperless office, a Document Management system or electronic filing system is often implemented to reduce paper files and improve efficiency. Previously the main mechanism for getting paper into an electronic archiving system would be a dedicated high speed document scanner, well now there is yet another use for the multifunctional copier.

Most good electronic document management systems will incorporate a feature that will periodically poll a network location to look for new files to archive electronically into the document management system. The 'one-touch' button on the mfd can be used effectively here too, by setting up the mfd to send the scanned documents to a specific network location this enables the electronic document management software to pick up any new files that have come from the multifunctional device and import them straight into the document management software.

Quick Document Connect

Another useful tool for linking mfd's to document management software is a quick connect button, this feature would enable the user to index a document at the point it is scanned at the multifunctional device. Take this as an example: A company wants to scan supplier invoices into document management software so that it can free up space and yet be legally admissible and approved by HM Customs and revenue, a user may place the supplier invoices in the document feeder of the mfd and select a one-touch button that may be labelled supplier invoices. The mfd then offers an index field so that the user may directly input the invoice number of the document, this means that as soon as the document management software has picked up the scanned document from the network location it has a searchable index reference (the invoice number) and the invoice may be retrieved by anyone with the correct permissions from any location.

In addition to the ability to index the document at the multifunctional device, it is now possible for certain document management systems to look for a match of the index field (in this example an invoice number) in another application in order to further automatically populate additional index fields in the document archiving software. So to further clarify, the document management system now has a number of images stored in its database that have a single (invoice number) index field, by looking at the field within an accounts application it may see the identical reference and then import the other indices that will be useful to search upon from within the document management system i.e. supplier name, tax date etc. Falcon document management have performed hundreds of installations featuring mfd's for scanning, please feel free to call or email us as we will be happy to give advice as to how best link your multifunctional device with your document management software.