ePaper - The PDF/A Capture Tool

What is PDF/A ?

Different vendors create their own version of PDF. Not all of them are consistent and guaranteed to open over time. PDF/A is the standardised version of the PDF format for electronic archiving in document management systems and has ISO 19005-1:2005 code of practice governing it.

What is ePaper ?

ePaper is eDOCuman’s answer to the problem of a bloated, expensive e-records management system based on PDF/A code of practice. Many organisations simply need a way to scan, index, deliver and retrieve documents. The filing destinations can vary based on corporate requirements – published on to CDs or DVDs or Microsoft™ Windows File Server or even on to other DM/ECM applications. By ensuring that each and every document is appropriately labelled, ePaper enhances the storage and retrieval procedures for e-records from destination folders. PDF/A solution mandates the use of metadata as attributes within the XMP block (also known as Document Information Dictionary), to each and every scanned document.As long as your corporate e-records are tagged with the correct information, retrieval (even years later) is simply efficient!

How does ePaper work?

ePaper is a desktop scanning application that enables dedicated operators to scan, index and release litigation-ready images in hierarchically managed folders. The metadata within each document (such as author, subject, keywords and comments) are transported into standard metadata as desired and organised for quick retrieval.Users (knowledge workers) may search e-records (PDF/A files) with the royalty free QuickFind application (which connects to destination folders) and enables to view the images using a free Adobe Reader™.Daily scan, index and release reports are generated regularly to help enforce corporate policy for physical filing and auditing. Thus low cost manpower can be deployed to perform the mundane scanning & indexing tasks, efficiently.

What can I use ePaper for?

ePaper is ideal for daily workflow document scanning. It can help organisations to audit the physical filing system and enable creation of e-records for rapid retrieval. Simply plug it into your corporate filing service and ePaper will assist the organisation with e-records filing tasks.

Where does ePaper keep the PDF/A images?

That’s up to the IT administrator! ePaper, based on metadata values, will automatically create subfolders and deposit PDF/A files with meaningful file names onto the target destinations. ePaper storage is an open Windows™ file system - which you may hook into to create queries of your own.

Does ePaper have an OCR system?

ePaper has an in-built OCR engine for English language capture into the PDF-DID.

How does ePaper support Litigation Imaging?

While indexing operation is performed ePaper creates digital foot prints. It automatically captures the ‘paper-to-electronic’ cross over date and time and registers the entry into the PDF Document Information Dictionary (DID). In the event of modification, new date and time entries are captured into the DID that will provide information for litigation.

What’s inside ePaper? ePaper comprises of a TWAIN compatible scanning sub-system that can work with all kinds of document scanners at its full speed. Batch scanning is an in-built functionality to recognise blank pages and patch codes, de-skew, crop, merge multiple files, split documents and pages and prepare documents for indexing. ePaper is developed on the .NET platform.

Is ePaper expandable?

Yes! ePaper can be expanded as a scanning sub-system for other DMS/ECMS (Open Source DMS-Alfresco™ & Xerox DocuShare™), CRM, ERP and other such applications.

Why should I procure the ePaper?

There are six distinct reasons for investing in ePaper eRM software! Review details on the chart above.

CIO Vs CTO - How many understand the difference?

Information Management (IM) is a specialised function and needs focus. Managing the ever-growing complexity of information flow is one of the top challenges today. Scan-capture sub-systems for paper records, email archiving and metadata correlation techniques are indispensable elements in IM.

Chief Information Officer (CIO):

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CIO is the one responsible for IM. CIO has to ensure that all critical business information have been identified by policies and then effectively managed. CIO role has become critical for CEOs, who are ultimately responsible for failure to comply with laws.

CIO works along side IT, Legal and Audit teams to ensure security, safety and litigation preparedness of all information.

The CIO therefore is a business analyst with good IT understanding who formulates the strategic focus, direction and plans the IM policies for the enterprise.

Chief Technology Officer (CT) or IT Manager

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CTO or IT Manager on the other hand is hardware, software and network oriented job function. They are (also by education), responsible to provide 24x7 infrastructure uptime.

Often, IT Managers are made responsible for IM and the result has never been encouraging for the industry.

Paperless Office Vs Less Paper Office

The Paperless Office Dream:

Edocuman reckons paperless offices are an unattainable dream, especially considering the relative lack of basic document management processes in many organisations. Information blasts in any organisation are virtually uncontrollable. We print more today than we ever did and we appear to be increasing paper output each day. What has happened to the concept of paperless office? The truth is it simply does not exist. And with an ever increasing mountain of data within every corporation, it means that many records remain very much on paper, along with an unmanaged potpourri of electronic documents that cloud the entire process landscape. It's about time organisations understand the reality — 'only less-paper office exist', and then begin the journey into the world of document management.

Despite computers available on every desktop, more space is required to keep papers in their vicinity. The need is to realise and work towards a 'less-paper office'. And the problem in getting towards less-paper office stems from two basic factors:

1. IT Managers are given wholesome document management responsibilities
2. Inadequate education and knowledge of document management imparted

Look at your conventional photocopying machine. It can now distribute copies digitally from the copier panel to selected PCs in the same manner one would photocopy. The recipient gets the copy in the same way as one receives an email. Why then copy and distribute on paper. But this leads to another problem, many companies are simply converting documents without a clear cut strategy to organise them. Documents are scanned, but they're unstructured and orphaned, without any metadata. The documents in themselves may all look the same once scanned with no quick and easy

way to find out where they really belong.

An Intelligent Less-Paper Office Solution:

The key is allowing users to manage their business process more effectively. So that they can enter data, right at the source, while scanning so that the process of scanning itself becomes an intelligent entry point for data. Intelligent Document Scanning solutions embedded in MFPs with advanced imaging and capture systems are smart enough to add the metadata on the fly while scanning the document. It is this capturing of critical document data that can totally streamline the entire document management process. Intelligent Document Scanning is now possible directly via the MFP, with software embedded into the device itself. The software is smart enough to process the data, apply the appropriate tags and rules, sort and deliver it in appropriate secure collections into DM systems.

PDF/A Considerations:

The scanned file require to be PDF/A compliant. The advantages of archiving and storing documents and records in a PDF/A format are many. The primary reason being, PDF/A is an ISO 19005-1:2005 standard that is guaranteed to open independent of hardware and software over 100 years and more. Other image formats such as TIFF, JPG etc does not hold any such guarantee. Further, if PDF/A files are properly created, using Adobe's free Reader it possible to read information held inside the Document Information Dictionary (DiD) thus make the files legally compliant. Capture workflows are built around PDF/A scanning applications for Legal Hold purposes.

To sum up. A less paper office surely exists and to get there without PDF/A the paperless office dream will shatter!

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