Document Automation - Solution for a busy office and thriving business

For various day to day scenarios with strict requirement of stability, scalability and the highest performance in today’s busy office, we’re really in need of Electronic Document Automation or Enterprise Content Management. For who has no idea what Document automation is about, Document automation (also known as document assembly) is the design of systems and workflows that assist in the creation of electronic documents. These include logic-based systems that use segments of pre-existing text and/or data to assemble a new document. This process is increasingly used within certain industries to assemble legal documents, contracts and letters. Document automation systems can also be used to automate all conditional text, variable text, and data contained within a set of documents.

If you are evaluating document management and document capture software products, there are several features and functions to keep in mind.

-Take into account the type of desktop authoring software your company routinely uses. The software products should work seamlessly with content creation software such as Microsoft Word, Adobe Acrobat, etc. 

- Also, determine what your scanning, capture and document indexing requirements need to be, this becomes crucial in keeping documents and data organized. In addition, if you use an Electronic Document Automation or Enterprise Content Management system, the software product you select needs to interface seamlessly with your business workflows. The software product should have robust functions and flexibility to efficiently distribute all documents in a variety of ways, i.e. email, burst, segment reports, sort, ftp, fax, etc.

- Further, the product should have the ability to retain documents for archive and retrieval purposes. Allowing configuration of retention periods and archiving parameters.

To name a few of the many outstanding benefits on selecting the correct document automation software, are providing outstanding service and delivery whenever customers deal with your organization.

Another important note for you before start using that service: be sure to review some case studies of customers using the software that you are considering, and work closely with your document automation software vendor to help guide you to a successful implementation.

Website: http://www.informdecisions.com/

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Thoughts on AP Automation and Document Capture

It is an interesting solutions landscape out there in the accounting/AP world today. More and more organizations are trying to become as "paperless" as possible, but the inflow of invoices just keeps increasing. There are so many options out there, and with every major accounting/AP software vendor now touting their "Document Management" module or add-on, what are managers in this department supposed to do?

Thoughts on AP Automation and Document Capture

Although I am a proponent of the pilot program philosophy, especially with ECM and Document Management, there needs to be an organizational plan and strategic vision with regards to automating AP processing. If every department put their software vendor solution into play, IT would have a major nightmare handling multiple disparate systems to manage company documents. Along with that, the majority of specialized departmental software falls way short in the document capture and scanning portion of their functionality.

So what is the answer? Find a solid enterprise solution that can be customized for each department's specific needs. Easier said than done, but in focusing on Accounting and Invoice Solutions, here are some key points:

• Focus on document capture - a quick, easy and reliable method for converting paper into digital format is essential. Utilizing a capture front-end such as iCapture can speed up the scanning process, and make the documents available to end users quickly.
• Look at integration - Most accounting software will tout this as a major advantage to their Document Management modules...one place for all your info. In reality, no one piece of software can be a "jack of all trades"; let the Accounting Software do what it does best, and find a Document Management vendor to handle your documents. All of the major vendors have Software Development Kits (SDKs) and Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) that allow you to integrate these systems with just about any application on your network.
• Look at possible future initiatives - That system may have a rock solid Accounts Payable Automation piece, but what about all the other document types? Contracts, POs, invoices, vendor information, tax info, etc. Ensure that the system you are evaluating can handle all document types, and not just specific functional areas.
• Get end users involved - There are so many key factors to success on these types of projects, but success will always lie in the end users ability to quickly adapt and utilize the system. Get their feedback and acceptance before moving forward.

Accounting Management realizes their need for Document Management and Intelligent Document Capture, but the task is daunting, and in most cases totally overwhelming. Get your IT involved, and a reputable vendor with implementations in like organizations.

Website: www.informdecisions.com

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