Precis

precis

Electronic Document Management System

Samsung SDS Infotech Pvt. Ltd. 15th Floor, Signature Towers, NH-8, South City-I, Gurgaon-122001, Haryana, India Tel. : +95-124-2383474 Fax : +95-124-2383475

Overview Organizations live and breathe in a sea of paper. Current document management technology grows out of the business community where 80% to 85% of corporate information resides in paper documents. Due to the enormous volume of documents, employees spend a lot of time in managing documents. Employees on an average spend 2 hours per month looking for documents. In addition, without a systematic document recovery program in place, employees spend an estimated 9 hours per month searching for the same documents. Efficient management of these papers is crucial to the success of any organization. So what is Document Management? Is it a solution looking for a problem? Is it about Technology? Is it about Information Management? Is it about Business Processes? What are the real costs involved? How long will it take to implement? Whom does it affect? Can one buy a complete Document Management solution off-the-shelf? There are as many answers to these questions as there are people debating them. There are however some basic criteria and guidelines that can help you understand the problem, the issues involved and enable you to choose the answers that are most suited to your particular environment. These criteria and guidelines are described in brief below. Document Management is a very generic term. A document is an artifact resulting from the transformation of a set of ideas by people following a set of processes. An electronic document has the following characteristics: Holds information of multiple media: text, graphics, audio, video Contains multiple structures: headers, footers, TOC, sections, paragraphs, tables Is dynamic: can be updated on the fly May depend on other documents Document Management (DM) is creation, storage, organization, transmission, retrieval, manipulation, update, archival and retirement of documents based on organizational needs. However, EDM (Electronic Document Management) is the management of different kinds of documents in an enterprise using computer programs and storage. An EDM system allows an enterprise and its users to create (upload) a document or capture a hard copy in electronic form, store, edit, print, process, and otherwise manage documents in image as well as in text form. An EDM system provides a single view of multiple databases and includes scanners for document capture, printers for creating hard copy, storage devices and computer server and server programs for managing the databases that contains the documents. Précis is developed as a web based solution so that users can access the system from anywhere providing all the capabilities of the document management through browser GUI. In addition, the Précis uses authentication and authorization mechanism and ACL (Access Control Lists) to grant access rights to folders on a per-user, user group and department’s basis. Précis EDMS web solution is a rich, responsive environment consisting of JSP, Java Servlets, and XML. Highly intuitive, Précis’s WEB system allows even untutored casual users a secure and easy method to search repositories and view documents and workflow items.

Benefits ERMS functions can e-enable all aspects required for the efficient handling of the most important resource in any organization and that being the Human Resource. The basic coverage of the ERMS module wise is: Core Module - Intranet Leave Creation of organization hierarchy Defining number of approval levels required based on hierarchical structure Assigning approval managers at each level Defining time period for leave approval on any working day at each level View status of the application Acknowledgement/Confirmation/rejection mail to the applicant Automatic updation of individual leave records Attendance Tracking Employee Calendar - generate, view employee calendar. Attendance Tracking - through access control cards & tracking the leaves Movement tracking i.e. monitoring of entries and departures to the office along with reasons Manual Attendance (if required) - manually mark the attendance of the employees in the system. Advance Compensatory Off - enter/track details of ACO’s of the employees. Reports - generate various reports viz., Absentees List, Department wise Absenteeism, Late coming Register, Daily Performance, Daily Attendance, Attendance Register for a duration, Shift Roster etc. Search - search specific information related to employee Attendance, Shift etc. Automatic updation of leave through tracking of attendance Time Sheet Tracking Daily schedule Booking Time under Cost Heads Time Schedule Profitability of functions via cost head analysis Resource allocation enabler through advanced booking system Capacity utilization calculator Cost Head analysis MIS generator Holiday Calendar Claims Grievance Addressal mechanism with automatic escalation based on hierarchies Confidential grievance lodgement mechanism Role profile Linked to Knowledge and Skill Database Linkage to Skills Matrix Communication Agent

Increased Production No more lost time searching for files or information. Now documents and files are available at your computer workstation. Decreased future staff requirements The filing and retrieval can be handled by the current staff. Decreases in human filing mistakesOrganizations can literally spend days trying to locate misfiled documents. Search allows users to find specific information in multiple electronic documents - working from their desktops. Increased access to current information Users can search an entire database of documents searching for multiple documents containing needed information. Documents can also be shared with coworkers on the network, thus allowing them to route and process documents more effectively. Reduces the cost of storing paper documents Typically, the law requires a business to save documents anywhere from seven years to a lifetime. The annul cost to store legacy documents can be reduced and even eliminated. Offsite Storage Protection What happens to your business if you have a fire or water damage to paper documents? Electronic files are easily copied and stored offsite so that important information will not be lost. Intangible benefits to the organization Intangible benefits include less concrete measures of success, such as improved perception of the organization by both employees and customers. File Management & Instant Access to Information The ability to easily find and use the most current information is a fundamental benefit of electronic documents. Full text search allows users to find specific information that may be contained in multiple PDF files – working from their desktops. Reduced Cost Précis can help you reduce your costs, too. People can do things faster and accomplish more because they have quick and easy access to the information they need. It further cuts cost by eliminating printing and publishing costs for many things that exist in paper form today. Improved Communication Improved communication is often sited as one of the key benefits for installing Document Management System, since it facilitates the communication and sharing between and among organizations. It helps to break down the barriers between different parts of the organization. Facilitates Organizational Bonding Précis will make people feel like part of the team. When the organization communicates its vision, goals, and strategies, people bond and understand what is happening and why, and become part of making it happen.

Provide access and version control Various levels of access and version control can be applied on documents residing in document management system. Access to these documents are based on roles assigned to different users if the system. Version control of documents can be implemented with the help of check in check out procedures. Facilitate workflows (sequential and parallel) Implemented as an integrated part of the Précis, workflow caters to the movement of the electronic documents through a workflow route based on the predefined rules. Maintain audit trail Maintaining audit trials reports in the system for document access, operation performed, system alerts, security breaches etc.

Functionalities & Features The functionalities of Précis can be segregated in to Application and Core Services functionalities. The following are the Application functions of Précis: Basic Services Functions User account Management Document Management Folder Management Search Module Report Generation Version management Rendition Services Workflow Knowledge Map Document Storage System External System Integration Module The following are the Core Services of Précis: Help Services Events, Alerts & Logs System Security Follows the Document life cycle of creating (Create, edit, approve, search, Deliver), storing (database or document repository) and publishing (organize, index, Categorize, search, access, retain, dispose, secure, audit) of documents. Tiered Architecture (Presentation tier, Middle tier, Backend tier) Implements Document Management (WebDAV and ODMA) standards. Provides Document Management interoperability (through ODMA and PRÉCIS API implementation interfaces). Provides role based access to system users (Uses authentication and access rights) Version/Access control. Scalable and Reliable. Integrated Solution providing, Workflow, Full-Text Search, Document Rendition and OCR-Scan, as seamlessly integrated part of PRÉCIS system. Multiple databases support. Publish electronic and paper documents simultaneously. GUI personalization is provided at both user and administrator level

Storage and Retrieval The goal of any document management system is to take a paper document, scan it through a scanner, and convert it into an electronic document, which can easily be searched, retrieved and shared with other people across a network, the Internet, or an intranet. Eventually, the documents will be removed from the active system and archived. When archived they must be in a format that can easily be searched and retrieved as needed. Today, the definition of a document is much broader and document organizational challenges are much greater than ever before. Contemporary documents may be paper, but they may also be stored in electronic form, such as a word processing document, spreadsheet, fax, presentation, photograph, Internet page, medical image, text file or an AutoCAD drawing. These files are usually stored electronically, such as in companies’ local area network (LAN) file directories, on floppy disks, a user’s personal computer (PC) hard drive, or, perhaps, in a document imaging system. More often than not however, they lack a company-wide index searchable by anyone wanting to reuse information contained in them. A document management system replaces traditional ways of storing and retrieving documents (paper or electronic) by providing efficient storage combined with flexible search and retrieval methods. In general, there are two parts to a document retrieval system: one that controls how the document is entered into the system and another that allows users to search for and retrieve documents. Electronic Document Storage There are two issues, which must be addressed when setting up a document management system regarding the storage of electronic documents. Where to store current or active documents and how to store the archived documents? Documents can be stored as smaller single page documents, or large multi-page document files. Each of these two types of image storage has its own advantages. The advantage to storing a multi-page document as a set of individual images is primarily the significant reduction in image retrieval time. For example, if a 400-page document were to be stored as 400 separate image files, the user could start looking at the first page while other pages were being retrieved. This is especially helpful in an environment where the image storage device is connected to the viewing stations via slow speed connections. The primary advantage to storing a large multi-page document in a single file is that a single index record will catalog the entire document. This makes searches faster and maintenance easier. This might also be advantageous in environments where the images are being stored on a file server (i.e., not a high volume optical jukebox) because these file servers have limits as to the number of files that can be created on a disk volume. Active Documents Current information should be kept on the server. This gives all the security precautions associated with the company network and provides instant access to the documents over the network. One of the advantages of a PDF document on the network is that many workstations can view a document at the same time. The amount of hard drive space needed will be dependent on the number of documents one intends to scan and the length of time they should be kept on the server. Archiving Electronic Documents Eventually the documents will be removed from the active system and archived. Depending on the company’s comfort level, budget, etc. these documents can be archived on a tape drive, on a CD or stored on an optical disk. Most systems utilize document storage on a CD-ROM. A single CD stores up to 650MB of data and has a shelf life of 100 years. Furthermore, CDs are priced under $2.00 apiece. If instant access to archived documents is needed a jukebox may be added. For example the Kodak CDL-54 can hold up to 72 CDs for a total of 46.8GB or the Kodak CDL-144 model can hold up to 162 CDs for a total of 105.3GB. Scanner Workgroups that have needed quality scanners for production-style document scanning have had few choices in the past. Document Management System includes all TWAIN compatible Scanners. Different models depending on the volume of paper documents to be scanned can be used, thus, suiting the needs of many departments and workgroups that scan batches of documents throughout the day.

Document Format PDF documents are the standard used in the imaging industry because of their file efficiency and WYSIWYG format. Instantaneous search, view, print, fax or e-mail of any report or file, is possible from any computer. A key advantage to using the PDF document format is that you can share documents with anyone. PDF documents can be used across different platforms regardless of the operating system they were created on. Adobe makes available their Reader Software at no cost so that anyone can retrieve, view and print a PDF document. This feature is particularly attractive for companies with a network since it significantly reduces the cost of software to allow everyone on the network to have access to the PDF documents. Indexing and Retrieval System In the past, losing or misplacing paper files was a fact of life that every business had to deal with. Once paper files are converted into electronic PDF files and properly indexed, losing a file is almost impossible. An indexing system allows you to customize your filing system to fit your business needs and duplicate your existing paper filing system if it is working well for you already. The flexibility and ability to customize the system to fit your needs is a hallmark of the Document Management System. Document Management Hardware A typical imaging system generally consists of several machines: the controlling computer (Imaging Server), the storage device (Optical Jukebox), a scanning workstation, and viewing stations (Workstations and/or Laptops). The storage device contains the actual images and/or source files. It is commonly either an optical or CD-ROM jukebox that can store more than 20 Gigabytes (GB) of data. Jukebox Management Software Since an optical or CD-ROM jukebox can contain many more files that an ordinary hard drive and since it needs to be told when to change disks and where to get them from, special software needs to be installed to control their operation. Typically, this software makes the entire jukebox appear as a single disk drive to the rest of the network. Sometimes, this software is bundled with the jukebox, but most often it is purchased separately. Database Management Software The database management software keeps track of all the indexing (cataloging) information and allows users to search for documents based on any combination of indexes. If the document has gone through an OCR process, it may also contain the text of the document itself, allowing for users to search the contents of stored documents for a particular word or phrase. Common database management systems used with imaging systems include Microsoft Access or FoxPro (for small systems), Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, Informix or Sybase (for larger systems). In most instances, document management systems are adapted to work with a company’s existing database system. This is helped greatly be a technology called ODBC (Open Database Connectivity) that provides a common programming interface for many database types. This allows the document management system developer to write non-database-specific software that will work in most environments, from MS Access to large mainframe databases.

Architecture

The rapid development of Internet has formed new ways of accessing information. Today it is very common to use web browsers when accessing information. It is therefore natural to consider using a web browser as the client program when developing a client server solution. A Web Interfaced system uses HTML pages displayed by web browsers to communicate with the users. Generally an EDMS is used to store Microsoft Word documents, PowerPoint presentations and other files that are of interest to many employees. When files are added to the system, information about their contents should also be stored. This extra information makes it possible to search for files containing information on a certain topic. Another important function of the system is to generate unique identifiers for the documents stored in it. This identifier is called document number and it is used when files are stored manually in an archive or when referring to a document from a text. The web interfaced Précis System uses a database to store the information about the documents. The information that is presented to the users is displayed on HTML pages that are dynamically generated. The program that is used to generate the dynamic HTML pages is written in Java as Servlets. In order to run Servlets on a web server you need a Servlet runner to run the java byte code. The picture below shows how the communication between the client and the server works.

ODMA Client Application

Other Products

Products Adapter

Web Browser Client

Scan Adapter

ODMA Client Adapter

SOAP Adapter JSP

Object Impl

Servlets

ODMA Server Side Servlets

Beans

Value Object

DB Handler

SQL Query Parser

Search Engine Adapter Search Engine

EDMS Database

File Server

Précis System is accessible through external entities like web browsers, ODMA compliant applications and other third party products like OCR Scan software and other DM systems. The figure below depicts the block level architecture of the product. Web Browser communication with the Précis system is through HTTP 1.1 (WebDAV extension) protocol in a standard request/ response fashion. All other external applications, 3rd party products and soft wares communicate with the help of specific adapters provided as a part of the Précis system. Brief description of each adapter is provided below.

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SOAP

ODMA

WorkFlow Other Products

Report Help

OCR/Scan API

About Logs Administration Search Engine

Archivinng

Document Storage System

Database Storage

PRÉCIS Adapters ODMA Client Adapter ODMA client Adapter (combined with SOAP adapter) is the application that makes the Précis system ODMA compatible. Any ODMA enabled application can interact with the Précis system and perform the document management functions. The communication between the application and the Précis system is performed with the help of SOAP protocol (implemented in SOAP Adapter).

SOAP Adapter SOAP adapter is the external implementation/mapping of all the document management related functionalities available in the Précis system. It acts as the implementation interface between any external entity/product (external to Précis system) and the Précis system. Products/soft wares like OCR Scan or ODMA compliant soft wares (MS Office suite) can be brought into functionality with the Précis system using SOAP Adapter. OCR Scan Adapter This is the OCR software specific adapter that communicates with the SOAP adapter to communicate with the Précis system thus integrating/enabling Précis system with the OCR scan functionality. Product Specific Adapter Any other DM system or any other 3rd party product that needs to be integrated and provided as a part of the Précis system can be enabled with the help of this adapter. This product specific adapter communicates with the 3rd party product implementation API to seamlessly integrate and become a part of the Précis system. FTS (Search and Index) Adapter FTS adapter is provides an interface to integrate Full Text Search functionality with the Précis system. Any third party FTS product can be integrated with the help of this adapter thereby providing/integrating FTS functionality into the Précis system. Applications for EDMS Companies use Document Management Systems in their businesses for a variety of reason and in a variety of ways. The benefits of using a document management system are many. The bottom line however is document management systems save companies a lot of time and money. Document management is everywhere! Try to think of a part of your organization, which does not handle paper-based information. From Invoices in Accounting, to CVs and Payroll slips in Personnel, to Standard Operating Procedures in Manufacturing, to Brochures and Newspaper clippings in Marketing. How much of the information contained in these documents is either repeated or derived from another document? How much of the information can only be created if other documents are read and studied? How much of this information has to be retained for legal purposes? However, not all document management areas need to be transformed into an electronically controlled Document Management system. Up to 90% of filed documents are only ever retrieved once: to destroy them! There are cases where traditional archiving methods, combined with a sensible indexing organization, will provide a much more cost-effective way to manage your documents than any computerized environment ever will. Conversely, there are cases where an electronic system can significantly improve efficiency and productivity, saving potentially millions for the organization. Effectively, wherever an organization produces or handles paper, there is potential for Electronic Document Management systems. Document Storage and Retrieval Many companies live and breathe in a sea of paper. Over the years, thousands and even millions of documents have been accumulated and daily more files are being added. Storage space alone for those files can be an expensive problem. Wading through that maze of paper document files to retrieve a particular document can be very time consuming, if not nearly impossible. Losing documents altogether is not unusual. Many companies have looked to Document Management Systems to eliminate their paper storage and retrieval problems. By converting their archived files and newly generated files into efficient pdf documents, their document storage space problems are eliminated. Document retrieval becomes almost instantaneous with the click of a couple buttons. Time wasted hand shuffling through paper files looking for documents and then returning those files is eliminated. For many companies, the time and money savings here alone recover the cost of a Document Management System in a matter of months.

Improved Customer Service One of the applications that can give companies a huge payback when using a Document Management System is in the area of customer service. The ability to find and retrieve documents instantaneously means employees can also respond quickly to customer questions and inquiries. This instant access to information can quickly eliminate the time delays that frustrate customers, quickly eliminate confusion and misinformation, and ultimately translate into more satisfied customers. That of course can translate into a better reputation and greater repeat sales for the company. More Efficient Collaboration Many companies find a Document Management Systems extremely valuable tool to help them eliminate time delays and costs involved with needed collaboration on active files and documents. For instance, architects and engineers, who need to communicate and collaborate with large numbers of people on documents, blue prints and CAD drawings during a given project find a Document Management System extremely valuable. The graphic and text tools allow them to share comments and information in minutes rather than over the course of days, saving them precious time and large mailing expenses normally associated with each project. Sharing Information Internally Most companies have a need to share information internally in an accurate and timely way. A document Management Systems equips departments and employees with the ability to view same documents simultaneously from their PCs. That means no one needs to wait or look for a particular document. Approvals and sign offs can be acquired quickly and easily. The time it takes departments to share timely information in the course of building job files becomes extremely efficient. One only needs to look at the many ways companies need to share information internally to find more efficiency that can be gained from using electronic pdf documents generated through a Document Management System. Sharing Information over the World Wide Web A Document Management System gives you the ability to quickly and easily share large volumes of information employees, customers or clients 24 hours a day from your website. Employee benefit information, contact information, safety manuals, sales brochures, company policies, marketing tools, fully functional business forms, etc., all can be posted on your website for 24 hour, 7 days a week access. These are just a few ideas and examples of how Document Management Systems have been used in companies worldwide. Efficient document management is no longer a neat idea that would be nice to do someday. Efficient document management is a necessity to maintain a competitive edge and eliminating unnecessary costs for doing business. We have entered the “Information Age”. Companies that do not take advantage of the document management technologies available will very quickly be unable to compete with those who do.