DIGITAL DOCUMENT SERVICES
- CAN IMAGES CREATED BY CRM BE INCORPORATED IN OUR EXISTING DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM?
- CAN YOU PROVIDE SOME EXAMPLES OF REAL-WORLD APPLICATIONS?
- WE USE CRM FOR STORAGE OF PAPER RECORDS. WHY SHOULD WE USE YOU FOR IMAGING TOO?
- HOW DO WE DETERMINE WHICH DOCUMENTS TO CONVERT?
- WILL WE HAVE TO SCAN EVERYTHING?
- WHY SHOULD I CONVERT MY DOCUMENTS TO DIGITAL FORMAT?
- WHAT ARE THE STEPS INVOLVED IN CONVERTING DOCUMENTS?
- HOW ARE CONVERTED IMAGES DELIVERED?
- HOW MUCH WILL IT COST?
- DOES CRM PROVIDE ON-SITE OR OFF-SITE IMAGING SERVICES?
- WHAT IS CRM'S IMAGE ON DEMAND SOLUTION?
- WHY CHOOSE A HOSTED SOLUTION RATHER THAN BUILD A DIGITAL RECORDS CENTER INTERNALLY?
- WHAT KIND OF SECURITY MEASURES ARE IN PLACE?
- WHAT TYPES OF FILES CAN BE STORED IN DIGITALFORMAT?
- WHAT DO USERS NEED TO ACCESS THE SYSTEM?
- HOW DO I RETRIEVE DOCUMENTS?
- IS RETENTION SCHEDULING SUPPORTED?
- WHAT IS 'METADATA'?
CAN IMAGES CREATED BY CRM BE INCORPORATED IN OUR EXISTING DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM?
CRM can work with your DMS provider so that the importation of images can be accomplished with minimal effort.
2. CAN YOU PROVIDE SOME EXAMPLES OF REAL-WORLD APPLICATIONS?
Customer Service: Immediate access to billing records, proof-of-delivery, or credit card receipts allows call agents to resolve
customer queries in real time, thus enhancing customer satisfaction and loyalty while lowering the cost of service.
Mortgage Lending: By converting mortgage applications to a digital format that can be incorporated into electronic review and
approval processes, a lender can process a higher volume of applications more quickly and speed revenue recognition.
Intellectual Property: By imaging their patents, a company can ensure fast, reliable and secure access to these sensitive
documents for business, regulatory and litigation purposes.
Medical Records: By imaging patient records, billing information and other records, staff can retrieve and review a patient's
history in seconds and have the ability to forward records to the appropriate parties. Older records can be scanned as they are requested using CRM's
Image On Demand service.
Engineers and Building/Zoning: By imaging engineering drawings, permits and inspection reports, information is available
immediately in the field when reviewing projects. Using CRM's IOD software and digital hosting services, clients have no capital investment, yet can
access records from any location using CRM's web portal.
3. WE USE CRM FOR STORAGE OF PAPER RECORDS. WHY SHOULD WE USE YOU FOR IMAGING TOO?
Unique expertise: CRM is a leader in document management. We are uniquely qualified to assist in integrating the management your physical and electronic
documents and the conversion of one to the other. Our integrated approach allows us to deliver the most appropriate and cost-effective solution for your
specific requirements.
A single chain of custody: Our seamless solutions eliminate chain-of-custody issues such as misplaced records, missed or late handoffs, and finger
pointing that often result from working with multiple vendors. In many cases, a client's records never have to leave our secure facility.
4. HOW DO WE DETERMINE WHICH DOCUMENTS TO CONVERT?
Many organizations have already developed a list of high priority imaging projects. Our imaging specialists can help you prioritize which projects will
deliver maximum impact and support your organization's strategic goals (e.g. increasing revenues, improving customer service, shortening time-to-market, etc.)
5. WILL WE HAVE TO SCAN EVERYTHING?
Not necessarily. After evaluating your situation, CRM will recommend an approach to scanning that is based on your unique retrieval requirements, desired
benefits, and costs. The "rule of thumb" is:
- For often-accessed documents that need to be retrieved quickly, converting all of the documents makes sense.
- For files that have only a few documents that will be referenced out of the whole file, we typically suggest converting only those more-active documents.
- For large backlogs with little retrieval activity, converting on demand only when a user requests that particular document is often recommended.
6. WHY SHOULD I CONVERT MY DOCUMENTS TO DIGITAL FORMAT?
There are many situations where the inherent limitations of physical documents make them more costly and cumbersome to manage than digital documents. Common
reasons for converting include to:
- Substantial cost-savings in maintaining and storing physical documentation.
- Immediate, simultaneous access for multiple users across multiple locations who might require documents in varying media formats Streamline the sharing of documents among multiple users and across many locations.
- Reduce space requirements and costs for physical document storage and management.
- Strengthen the privacy and security of sensitive information.
- Comply with regulatory and legal requirements.
- Ensure quick restoration of essential records following a natural or man-made disaster.
7. WHAT ARE THE STEPS INVOLVED IN CONVERTING DOCUMENTS?
Every conversion initiative differs. However they all share common elements:
Collection and preparation: The documents are gathered and prepared. Staples and paperclips are removed, pages are oriented,
small documents are attached to carrier sheets, and damaged documents are repaired. Some circumstances require verifying the completeness of the file or
similar business processing. In many cases, barcode identifiers are affixed to documents or inserted via leading sheets, giving each document a unique identity.
Scanning: Documents in good condition are automatically fed into the scanner. Fragile or damaged documents are manually placed
on a flatbed for scanning.
Quality control and image processing: The resulting images are compared to the original to ensure they have all been captured,
are complete and as legible as possible, and are oriented correctly. Software is used to "clean up" the image.
Indexing: Depending on the situation, indexes are entered manually or generated from the image and may be supplemented
with customer-supplied information.
Text conversion: In some cases, an image containing text is scanned to generate the text equivalent, making that content
searchable via full-text retrieval engines.
Digital Archiving: Images and Metadata are loaded into CRM's Web based software application, which provides instantaneous,
user-authorized access to digitized documents from a desktop via the Internet.
8. HOW ARE CONVERTED IMAGES DELIVERED?
Images can be delivered in a number of ways. They can be:
- Electronically uploaded to your image repository or hosted on CRM's servers.
- Accessed via an FTP site.
- Shipped to you on erasable media (USB drive) or read-only media (CD or DVD).
- Sent via e-mail (suitable for small volumes e.g. on-demand images).
9. HOW MUCH WILL IT COST?
Every solution is unique, and cost can vary depending on many factors including:
- The amount of work required to prepare the documents for scanning.
- The type and size of scanner required. Large formats (e.g. engineering drawings), bound books and microfilm require specialized scanners.
- The desired image resolution. Higher resolutions require more scanning time.
- The condition of documents to be scanned and whether they can be auto fed or must be hand-fed.
- The amount of indexing, image post-processing, and output packaging required (e.g. formatting for a specific imaging system).
- The work required to re-assemble physical documents once scanning is completed.
10. DOES CRM PROVIDE ON-SITE OR OFF-SITE IMAGING SERVICES?
CRM will tailor an imaging/capture solution that fits your business requirements in the most effective way. Our proposals cover the benefits of an
on-and/or off-site solution so that you can be equipped to make the best-informed decision for your business.
11. WHAT IS CRM'S IMAGE ON DEMAND SOLUTION?
Our solution provides your organization with a robust, scalable system that stores electronic files and scanned images of your physical documents.
Files are stored on our secure servers, using a flexible indexing scheme that enables rapid identification and retrieval. Authorized users can retrieve
documents any time from any Web browser, using search criteria that are based on your attributes. Our highly efficient streaming technology lets users
preview thumbnails, zoom in/out, rotate, download, print, or forward the file.
12. WHY CHOOSE A HOSTED SOLUTION RATHER THAN BUILD A DIGITAL RECORDS CENTER INTERNALLY?
There are three key reasons:
- Rapid deployment: Because the infrastructure and expertise are already in place, CRM can get your system operational in a matter of days compared to the 18 to 24 months that is often required to plan, fund, design and implement an in-house solution.
- Guaranteed success: Large-scale technology projects often fall far short of their intended goals. Due to CRM's expertise and long experience, you can be confident your solution will work, as promised.
- Predictable costs and a pay-as-you-go model: In-house solutions often exceed their initial budget and then prove costly to support and maintain. Using a hosted approach allows you to pay for the solution as you use it while avoiding the significant capital expenditures and labor costs of building your own solution.
13. WHAT KIND OF SECURITY MEASURES ARE IN PLACE?
Key protections include:
- Firewall and virus protection: A Firewall allows CRM to define and enforce a single, comprehensive security policy. The firewall limits access into our internal network, prevents denial of service, and detects computer viruses and malicious Java or Active X applets. Virus definitions are updated daily.
- Encrypted data transmission: Data is transmitted over the Internet via HTTPS (HTTP over Secure Socket Layer). HTTPS is the most widely used method for encrypted transmission of data between web browsers and web servers.
- User access control: To access the system users need a username and password, which are assigned by an administrator.
- Physical security: CRM facilities are protected by trained security professionals, 24/7 monitoring and measures such as card-key access.
14. WHAT TYPES OF FILES CAN BE STORED IN DIGITALFORMAT?
Virtually any type of electronic file can be stored, and any document can be imaged and stored. Sizes from post card through E-size Engineering Drawings
in color, grayscale or B&W can be accommodated.
15. WHAT DO USERS NEED TO ACCESS THE SYSTEM?
They need a user account, username and password which are set up by their administrator plus a system with Internet access and a browser with a
viewer installed.
16. HOW DO I RETRIEVE DOCUMENTS?
You enter the index information that you seek. The system searches the database, and presents a list of matching documents. You then select those you
want to see, and they are displayed on the screen.
17. IS RETENTION SCHEDULING SUPPORTED?
Yes. Document management features allow you to capture retention data so you can track the retention status of documents and ensure timely scheduling
of document destruction.
18. WHAT IS 'METADATA'?
Metadata is index data that describes and identifies a document, such as the title, author, topic, and type of document (invoice, requisition,
proof of delivery, etc.).