Services > Importing Data > Electronic

The performance and acceptability of a document management system depends largely on how quickly and easily documents of many different types, from a wide range of sources, can be imported into the system.

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Electronic Documents: MS Office, CAD, and other PC files

DocuWare offers several methods of importing files. Drag them into DocuWare baskets with a mouse or use the Import menu. DocuWare is able to monitor any folder in the file system and can import files recently saved there, either into baskets or directly into file cabinets. All the file information can be used to categorize and index the files. This information can be entered automatically or manually and stored with the files. DocuWare has a special add-in for Microsoft Office applications which transfers documents directly from Word, Excel or PowerPoint into DocuWare baskets or file cabinets. Similar functions are offered by third-party providers for other application programs. The DocuWare TOOLKIT also makes it easy to integrate your own storage functions. All files are imported unchanged, in their original format. DocuWare allows you to specify which program is used to display and which to edit each file type. By default, DocuWare displays documents in its own viewer and uses the operating system settings for editing. As an alternative, documents can be filed by printing them with the TIFFMAKER function. Printing from the original application using TIFFMAKER generates a true and unalterable TIFF or PNG image from the print data stream and stores it in the DocuWare file cabinet. With documents of the same type, such as quotations or logs, the categorization and index data is read directly from the document and used to store the documents completely automatically.


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Enterprise Report Management

DocuWare can be integrated in any business solution by means of universal functions and interfaces. In-house documents such as outgoing invoices, journals, reports, and other lists are archived by DocuWare fully automatically. It imports them either using the Windows operating system’s print data stream and TIFFMAKER, or by importing printer spool files from mainframe environments, using the optional COLD/READ module. Print data is stored in individual documents, while the index data is extracted and stored in the file cabinet. Optionally, DocuWare can also overlay forms and letterheads. Legacy data, or data that must be retained for access in the future for legal reasons, is imported by DocuWare automatically. If the data is needed at a later date by the original system or an analysis tool, DocuWare exports it in its original format and with the original file name. DocuWare also offers special modules for seamlessly integrating the SAP R/ 3 product family and accessing R/ 3 documents — even without the SAP system. It also provides certified interfaces to Navision and many other ERP systems.

E-mail

The ever rising tide of e-mail can also be easily stored. DocuWare does this either in a separate e-mail repository or stored together with other thematically related documents on the basis of common criteria. DocuWare can import e-mail from Microsoft Outlook and Exchange, and also optionally from Lotus Notes/Domino. Sender, recipient, date, subject and other mail information is used for automatic indexing. Names of persons and companies are supplemented with information from address books and other databases. Archiving can be done either fully automatically or with confirmation and/or correction by the user.

Organized Storage

DocuWare lists all documents, regardless of origin, together in the same document pool — “file cabinets“ — according to standard criteria. This applies to business documents (whether scanned or created in your own data processing system), correspondences, drawings, images and all kinds of documentation as well as e-mail and Microsoft Office files.

Open standards for documents and index data

Document files are saved to the file cabinets either in their original format or as TIFF or PNG images using the TIFFMAKER printer driver which comes standard in DocuWare. A metafile in XML format is saved for each document file. It records markups, electronic stamps, signatures and a duplicate of the index data for each document. The main storage location for index data is a relational database linked to the document files. This ensures that all documents can be retrieved easily and enriched with a full text index if required.

Automatic filing

DocuWare offers various methods of automatically integrating index data from external sources such as text files, databases, and address books, which facilitates correct indexing. Some of these options are standard features while others require add-on modules.

Demand-led storage systems

DocuWare file cabinets store documents through their life cycle: from the moment they are imported or created, through editing and processing, to record retention requirements. It supports all the main storage technologies: simple hard-disk and RAID systems, CD, DVD and WORM in manual or jukebox operation, plus content addressed storage (CAS) and storage area network (SAN) solutions. The Integrated Hierarchical Storage Management (HSM) ensures that documents are automatically transferred to the most suitable storage medium according to their current status, e.g. how often they are accessed or on the basis of legal requirements.

Autonomous file cabinets

All or selected documents in a file cabinet can be read from a CD or DVD, without there having to be a DocuWare client or software on the user’s computer to display the documents. This allows you to distribute catalogs, lists and technical drawings easily on CD/DVD to customers and vendors who do not have an installed DocuWare system.

If you would like a free quote, please call (415) 877-4292 or email us at info@echoglobal.net.