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April 29, 2005

Data entry got you pulling hair?

Who likes doing data entry? If you say yes you're either lying or you're weird :)

One of the common obstacles we have to overcome in implementing EDM systems is making data entry (required for structured indexing) as painless as possible. There are a few different ways to do this.

If you have an existing system that already contains information on the paper you are scanning then we can probably integrate with that system. The user performing indexing only needs to know a key field for something being scanned such as a PO number. Optix can then go and lookup other information on this document, such as vendor name, and populate that data automatically.

Zone OCR is another way to obtain data from the scanned pages. Information is 'read' by the OCR engine from certain parts on scanned pages and then populated into the index.

Barcodes are very popular in certain industries. If a lot of your forms have barcodes on them we may be able to glean some information from these barcodes to help index documents in the system. Optix also has the ability to create 'patch cards'. These are custom barcodes that are printed on a sheet by themselves and inserted between documents being indexed. They can also contain indexing information and speed up the process.

If these won't do the trick you can go for some more specialized solutions from companies such as Kofax and Captiva. These products can integrate with Optix and make your staff's lives much easier.

April 29, 2005 | Comments (0)
Posted by Sarel Botha

April 28, 2005

Put a little Albert Einstein in the sauce.

Sometimes we are asked to build complex systems and as a "techie" I want to use the computer for everything. However, there are times when it makes more sense to have a human make a decision instead of trying to compute one. Albert Einstein said "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler." Building a system that can do all your work for you probably isn't feasible anyway, so think about how you can make the computer do the heavy lifting. Instead of making a thousand copies and pushing paper everywhere, try and envision a system where the documents are automatically delivered to the right people at the right time. Don't expect that a computer can read your chicken scratch notes in the margin. Do expect that the people you are collaborating with will get information they need. When the business processes change you need to have a system that is flexible. In the lifecycle of a business the way you do things this year are different than how you did them last year, and next year will probably bring new regulations. Companies grow and reorganize all the time so make sure you have control of the system and can modify the workflow. Optix has a great graphical editor for building process workflows. Drag-n-Drop, Click, Move, Add and Bam!!! The business process is up to date for the next new thing.

April 28, 2005 | Comments (0)
Posted by DocuVantage

April 27, 2005

You signature is required here...

Suppose you have a workflow process and scanned images of various forms come to you for review. Optix keeps an audit trail of when you opened the item from your worklist and what you did with it. But, did you know you could have Optix insert your signature on these images? Maybe later in the workflow you need to have these images faxed back out with your signature on them. We can help you setup an easy to use system that lets you apply your signature exactly where you need it on the scanned images.

April 27, 2005 | Comments (0)
Posted by DocuVantage

April 21, 2005

Optix Flexibility

Optix really is very flexible. We are currently making some enhancements to a system that stretches the Optix flexibility to a maximum. The platform for this system is Windows and the DBMS is SQL Server.

In this system, Optix workflows route scanned documents through the company, from person to person. Along the way people get help with their work from a custom "workflow helper" that looks up and displays all the information needed to process items. Workflow helpers are custom written applications that tie seamlessly into the workflow process and allow us to perform additional automation. The system is also integrated with an accounting application at multiple levels.

We can integrate with Optix using its Java API, C API and Queue and Workflow helpers. We have also exposed a subset of the API via XML-RPC. This opens up the integration possibilities to a host of other languages.

April 21, 2005 | Comments (0)
Posted by Sarel Botha

April 20, 2005

Hey Mister, you got a shortcut for that?

If you have started using Windows XP on your desktop here is a quick tip that will make you a little more efficient. Instead of navigating layers of program-menus to find applications you frequently use, just pin them to the Start menu. The Start menu is split into two sections by default. The lower section is built dynamically based on the applications you most use. The upper section can be easily customized by right clicking on any shortcut and selecting the option called "Pin to Start Menu." Of course if you use the same applications everyday they are already in the Start menu so what is the point of all this??? Well in my job we never seem to work on the same thing three days in a row so it is handy to lock certain applications on the menu so they don't move around... plus, once it is pinned you can memorize that keyboard shortcut and know that it will always start the same application. On my computer I can start a new Putty session with a quick Ctrl-Esc-P-Enter.

April 20, 2005 | Comments (0)
Posted by DocuVantage

April 19, 2005

Get a grip on your cybersecurity.

With the number of high profile data thefts lately, it appears Congress is now stepping up and proposing solutions. Identity theft is big business with estimates at 2.5 Billion a year to consumers, banks and credit card companies. If you don't have a handle on your "cybersecurity" you better get it figured out. One proposal is the mandated disclosure of security breaches. That could be very embarrassing and open you up to lawsuits.

April 19, 2005 | Comments (0)
Posted by DocuVantage

April 18, 2005

Malicious software abounds!

Almost nine million blogs! That is the latest estimate given by the blog-watching service Technorati. With all that noise how do you find anything useful? They are easy to setup so anybody can start one. Once you find something interesting how do you know it's true? BBC News is reporting that blogs are just the latest source for criminal activity. Fake blogs with malicious software just waiting to be clicked! You better go make sure your virus scanner is up-to-date!

April 18, 2005 | Comments (0)
Posted by DocuVantage

April 16, 2005

AIIM Industry Study Reveals High User Satisfaction With ROI from Scanning and Imaging Technologies

Key Survey Findings:

Scanned Images are a Core Part of Critical Business Processes.
One of the major insights from the survey is the ubiquitous nature of scanning in core business processes. Even in processes with potential exposure-contract negotiation, handling of confidential information, dealing with government agencies, and responding to litigation-scanned documents play a critical role. For many organizations, this has simply evolved as the technology has matured, and has often occurred at the department level rather than enterprise-wide. Organizations are now thinking through the implications of this evolution, and are attempting to put more structure around the management of scanned images.

Scanning and Imaging Satisfaction is High.
Over three-quarters of those surveyed-and an even higher percentage for larger companies-report that the ROI of their capture implementations met or exceeded their expectations. The awareness of this success is not limited to the IT staff. Regardless of the primary function within the organization, there is a high degree of satisfaction with implementations of scanning and capture technologies.

Users Are Increasing Their Spending on Imaging and Scanning Technologies.
Significant numbers of users, of all organizational size, anticipate growth in their capture spending in 2005. Two trends bear greater examination. First, the number of users expecting to increase spending on multi-function peripheral devices-these are for the most part casual users of capture technologies, but represent a target audience with significant up-sell opportunities. The second trend is the expectation of increased spending on those elements of a capture solutions that "surround" the scanner itself-forms processing software, service and maintenance agreements, and outsourced services.

The Key Business Driver for Users is Efficiency.
In organizations of all sizes, the fundamental business driver for capture technologies is greater efficiency and process improvement. This is not to say that compliance concerns are unimportant-they are significant for mid-sized and large organizations-but successful solution providers cannot rely on compliance concerns alone to selling capture technologies.

For the complete article please visit http://www.aiim.org/article-pr.asp?ID=29587

April 16, 2005 | Comments (0)
Posted by DocuVantage

April 15, 2005

Versioning in Style

If you produce code you _NEED_ revision control. Whether in your spare time or for your work. We use CVS. It's an old classic version control system that just works. If you use CVS and use Windows on your desktop then I suggest you check out TortoiseCVS. It gives your old CVS repository a shiny new point and click interface that's integrated right into Windows Explorer.

http://www.tortoisecvs.org/

There is also an SVN (Subversion) flavor for those of you that have made the switch.

http://tortoisesvn.tigris.org/

Now you have no excuse for not versioning your code.

April 15, 2005 | Comments (0)
Posted by Sarel Botha

April 14, 2005

Invaluable to Development

Everybody that's ever done development on *nix knows what diff is. It allows you to see the difference between 2 files or directories and makes it very easy to create patches. We use another tool called Beyond Compare that uses the same concept but adds a great interface to it. It can compare code and is smart enough to ignore differences such as whitespace.

We've used in quite a few different scenarios. It's useful for comparing the database schemas in 2 different systems. Or, if you have to copy _a lot_ of files from one system to another you can generate a list of all files and their sizes (or even md5sum if you're that paranoid) and run a compare between the 2 systems.

TortoiseCVS even integrates with it, but that's another post.

See more at http://www.scootersoftware.com/

April 14, 2005 | Comments (0)
Posted by Sarel Botha

April 13, 2005

Cool database tool

We support and develop on a variety of relational database systems. Recently we came across this cool tool called Aqua Data Studio. It has a clean interface and handles Oracle, MSSQL and MySQL (and several others). Check it out Aqua Data Studio.

April 13, 2005 | Comments (0)
Posted by DocuVantage

April 12, 2005

Linux just makes good sense

Now is the time to migrate. You can dump that old expensive Unix server and move to a faster linux box. Hardware just keeps getting cheaper and faster. It's getting to the point where you can put in a new linux box every year instead of paying maintenance. If you just plan on putting in a new server every Christmas then you busy (slacker) admins can't be too far behind on maintenance. If you are stuck running a Windows server I'm sorry!!!

April 12, 2005 | Comments (0)
Posted by DocuVantage

April 11, 2005

Played with CSS lately?

Browser based applications have their drawbacks but sometimes it is amazing what a few hours of code can produce. With the open nature of web technology we can customize a business application to have a clients own look and feel. Played with CSS lately? It's a great way to transform a stock website into something that fits right into a corporations existing applications. A little javascript for glue and you can integrate right into the current HR or AP system.

April 11, 2005 | Comments (0)
Posted by DocuVantage

April 08, 2005

EDMS unleashed...

This blog will highlight some of the cool things we have been working on lately. Speaking of highlighting we have added a great feature to our web based interface. By grabbing the coordinates output by a third-party OCR engine we have been able to highlight the words of the query wherever they show up in the document image. Kind of the same idea as when you view the cached results from a Google search.

April 8, 2005 | Comments (0)
Posted by DocuVantage