So you have built the warehouse and integrated it with your line of business applications. Now what? Well, now you have to go on with your business, which means you are creating and receiving documents on a regular basis. Those documents need to get into FileStar.
FileStar is configured with several easy to use methods of adding documents. Documents can be imported directly to the site, documents can be emailed to our process server one at a time or you can batch scan documents to our secure ftp server. I will quickly explain all methods below.
Importing a document is simple, just scan a document to your local drive or a shared drive, select the Import task, browse to the scanned file, add the meta data and press Go. It is that simple. The key here is to add the meta data and this is where FileStar really helps your business. Adding the meta data is simply the process of selecting the key attributes for the document. We make that easy by having your attributes available in drop down lists if possible or custom configured text, date, amount or type boxes. As we have indicated before, the image files should be tied to and associated with the key business data that it relates too. For instance, if you are scanning a lease document, the image file should be associated with that tenant and tenant ID from your lease administration software. Or if you are scanning an employee file, the image should be associated with the employee number from your employee management system.
For the email option and the batch processing option, there is a common task at the beginning of the process and then the process differs to give flexibility to your workflow. In both cases the first step is to create a bar coded "Control Sheet" that is placed as the first page of the document. This Control Sheet is created using the same basic process as adding the meta data for a document that is to be imported, you essentially select and add all of the relevant information about the document such as document name, document date, account number, etc. However, instead of then importing the document, you print the Control Sheet.
Once the Control sheet is printed and placed as the first page of the document, the document scan be scanned and emailed to the FileStar server address. Once received, FileStar reads the barcode, converts the document to text searchable PDF, removes the Control Sheet and routes the document to the correct location in the system. This is a simple, effective process when you have low volume and multiple users that want to directly add documents to FileStar, but the in-house imaging tools don't have PDF with Searchable Text capabilities.
If you have higher volumes and maybe a centralized scanner, but multiple users, you can have the knowledge workers put the Control Sheets on, but then have centralized scanning by a lower cost employee. All of the documents can be scanned as a single file or several large files so that the scanner does not stop. As long as the Control Sheets are in place and every new file starts with a Control sheet, the process is flawless. Millennia can even provide image QC and additional indexing on the files in this batch processing option. This process can also include an option where you send the documents to us for scanning instead of your group doing the scanning.
Just to reiterate the key advantage of FileStar, there are several ways to add documents to the FileStar Image Warehouse. This flexibility is an advantage to your business because it meets your workflow needs without over burdening your employees. A key component of this process is associating the new documents with the critical business information that will make it possible to find and share these documents.
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