The companies who have already implemented the document management software into their work system can agree with the fact that working with digitized documents has made their work easier. Not only organizations, individual people who wanted to secure their documents, trusting document management system for personal use.
The process of document management is pretty simple, yet it needs some clarification. So in this article, I will give a brief idea about the work-process of the document management software (DMS) and also why the software needs PDF compatibility.
Let’s learn more about the work procedure of a DMS.
1. Scan/capture: To digitize documents, one needs to scan all the old paper documents into the DMS, it can be done using a high-speed scanner. It might seem like a daunting task, but in this way, it is possible to get rid of those files or papers that will not be required ever.
Other than that, any software-generated reports, e-mails, system-generated results can be captured by the DMS, and will be saved for future use.
2. Sorting: This is an important process because without this step makes retrieving easier. All the documents get sorted according to their purpose, and with some right keywords, those records are indexed. So, when anyone is searching for a file from all the saved documents, then that person can type the keywords, and that particular file will be shown in the system within a fraction of seconds. Smart processing software can be used to index the records; however, ERP solution providers are most trusted in this case.
3. Storing: This procedure is the reason that the DMS can be classified into two types.
- Self-hosted DMS: it can also be called an on-premise DMS as the documents get saved in the server of the organization. The entire security and maintenance are the responsibilities of the organization. The whole process of saving and archiving the data is done offline.
- Cloud-based DMS: the entire process is done online. The data gets saved in the cloud, and unlike on-premise DMS, anybody working outside from the office can get a hold on to the files using any device having an active internet connection. To save the headache, the whole responsibility of the maintenance and security lies on the service provider (the host).
4. Retrieving: sorting process makes it easier to get a hold of the data faster. In the case of the self-hosted DMS, the documents can be retrieved from the server, and on the other hand, data is found from the cloud.
These digital documents can be shared via e-mail or using any file transferring process. DMS provides excellent security when it comes to privacy control, password protecting the files from folder level, and encrypting the documents while sharing is also possible. It is also possible to give authorization to certain employees to have access to confidential files.
Now when it’s clear how the DMS actually works, so, it is time to know why it is vital to have a pdf compatible document management system.
PDF files are accepted globally while dealing with digital documents because not only PDF documents provide faster access and great efficiency but also they are more secure than any other documents file.
Why are PDF documents most preferable?
PDF files are mostly preferred because they act like any other digital file, but they are consist of some more features like those files can be encrypted in such a process that only the author will be able to access or modify even can print it. It is similar in many ways with the word files, but a PDF file can only have a perfectly scanned image in it without having anything written, sometimes an image of a written file can also be saved as a PDF file.
These are the basic reason why PDF files are globally accepted. As all organizations and individuals accept PDF files, it will be beneficial for every company to have a PDF document management system implemented so that the workflow goes smooth. You can get some handy information from this article about its importance.
What to look for when getting a PDF DMS?
Three primary features to check when getting PDF document management.
1. There should be a scan to pdf option to scan all the other existing documents in PDF format.
2. There should be a virtual printer, which will be able to virtual print any other content to PDF format and store it for future use. This printing is only applicable to those files, like captured e-mails, software-generated results and reports, etc.
3. The DMS should be capable of behaving like document scanning software so that when scanning the documents, it can directly convert them to a PDF file.
Other than these features, PDF document management software comes with other attractive features too.
- As mentioned earlier, the DMS sorts all the scanned files with specific keywords. While working with PDF document management, it allows the user to use their own keywords to make it simpler for them to remember the keywords while searching for a file.
- Sometimes click to preview feature is also there to have a look at the document without reading the whole content.
- A PDF file can have only pictures in it, so the picture can act as the icon (generally known as a thumbnail) to make the user remember what the file is actually having.
- PDF editor is one new addition to the extra features of PDF document management. Suppose if any other scanned documents needed to be added to an existing PDF page or multiple PDF documents needed to be accumulated in one single document, PDF editor will have the use then.
If maintaining, updating, and as well as securing the documents is possible under one system, then there shouldn’t be any other worries. Implementing a document management software system not only helps us in improving and managing the workflow but also can reduce the usage of paper, which is basically taking a step forward to help the environment. Digitized documents are making their mark on the system, and it is here to stay. Futurists are having an obvious prediction that similarly a feature like pdf compatibility other new features will get included in the document management system, which will be extra useful to any business.
