E-Books Document Imaging's "Sexiest" Offering Yet

Technology is sometimes referred to as "sexy." Often, it is this so-called sex appeal that brings massive numbers of people to want to use and buy a certain technology.

Perhaps the most obvious example of this, from history, is the Macintosh computer. Apple made something beautiful, and people other than computer nerds began to want computers.

Something similar may be happening with the e-book, as it pertains to document imaging technology in general. As the Amazon Kindle and Sony Reader are enabling people to read e-books in a convenient and pleasurable way, more and more people are seeing document imaging as a major technology of the present, and of the future, too.

This Wall Street Journal story waxes poetic about some of the cultural changes this change in perception may cause. From a business perspective, the rise in e-books should cause more managers to incorporate document imaging into their office environment.

Now that Danny in cubicle seven has that cool Amazon Kindle thing...

Banks See (And Save) Big Money By Document Imaging

Along with the government, financial institutions are at the forefront of document imaging usage. The fact that banks are so heavily using document imaging is a strong statement: namely, you know document imaging technology is good when it's being used to handle money.

Bank of America, for instance, has fitted out many of its ATM machines with special check reading imaging software, erasing the need for deposit envelopes.

Wells Fargo, meanwhile, a longtime document imaging adherent, is offering records management as a service to its customers. Hoping to scan and store documents such as W-2s and loan documents, Wells Fargo wants to be more involved with customer paperwork, and. thus, customer money.

Other organizations are using document scanning to instantly deposit paper checks, without having to physically run them in to the bank. This is not only convenient, but when the amounts involved are large, instant deposit can enable an organization to gain more interest on its money.

In short, banks are at the center of the continuing mainstreaming of document imaging technology. The future is here, and it's showing you the money.

Document Imaging Industry on the Spot, Under the Gun As Government Begins E-Health Records Push

A famous man once said, "He to whom much is given, much is expected."

The sentiment well sums up the privilege and the predicament of the document imaging industry as the biggest document scanning project in the history of the world gets underway: the government push for electronic health records.

Billions of dollars will be spent on the billions of paper documents waiting to be scanned and brought into the digital realm. The project is huge, and totally dependent on successful implementation and use of cutting edge document imaging technology.

Opportunity, yes, but also danger.

On the one hand, document imaging services are going to see a lot of dollars. On the other hand, document imaging companies are going to face immense pressure if not everything goes as smoothly as planned (which, of course, it won't).

Populists will no doubt rail against "pork barrel spending," if certain projects or parts of projects turn out to provide less benefit than anticipated. More perilous yet, document imaging providers must take extreme care not to put sensitive medical data at risk of theft or misuse.

Suffice it to say the document imaging industry has its work cut out for it over the next few years, as electronic health records go from an ideal to a real thing.

The good news for business users of document imaging technology is that, faced with such a daunting task, document imaging companies will have to work hard to improve and perfect these technologies--which should benefit everyone, in the long run.

Document Imaging: Envision the Ideal, Then Get to Building

Building a company-wide Enterprise Content Management system is a little like building a mansion: it's important to know what you want before you get started.

One of the most valuable "wants" inherent in most digital imaging systems is collaboration. Document imaging and scanning makes collaboration possible by bringing hard copy documents into the digital realm, where they can be viewed and manipulated by multiple users in multiple locations.

This ability is obviously necessary for large corporations that operate globally, but it can also be a huge benefit to smaller companies. When people can work together without being together, more work can be done with less expense.

Cut out airfare, FedEx, and hotel costs, and you have a leaner, meaner company. But the key is to cut out those costs without losing any benefit, in terms of effective work getting done.

By naming out exactly what you want to accomplish with a document imaging initiative before committing to any large purchases, you can know what type of mansion you want to build.

Here is a white paper from AIIM that may help you to envision the final vision of your ideal document imaging solution.

Make Earth Day Count With a Full Day of No Paper

April 22 is Earth Day, and a whole lot of people are doing a whole lot of things to commemorate it. Disney is releasing a new movie called, appropriately, "Earth." In New York City's Central Park, adults are teaching children how to plant and water seeds. Something called a "bike-powered blender" is being introduced at an event called "Miami Goin' Green."

Meanwhile, President Obama and Congress are working on climate change legislation that will hopefully help companies create less pollution, and surely keep lawyers and accountants busy trying to navigate the bill's inevitably mind-boggling complexity.

For the office manager who doesn't get Earth Day off and isn't one for gimmicks, think about doing something simpler, more concrete, to make the Earth a better place:

A full day with no paper.

Use document imaging and scanning technology that's already in your office to create, at least for today, that mythical "paperless office." Enjoin coworkers to join in, and evaluate how close your office is to that mythical one.

Look for document imaging strong points in your system. Perhaps your multi-function printer is working like a dream.

Look for document imaging weak points in your system. Perhaps your ability to scan large format documents isn't up to par, and it's time to consider outsourcing some document imaging needs.

Instead of hugging a tree, save a tree.

In a decidedly business-like fashion.

Document Scanning That Respects People's Privacy

A major obstacle standing in the way of widespread adoption of document imaging technology is concern for people's privacy, with respect to certain documents that contain sensitive information.

Tax records, for instance, have social security numbers and financial information that no one wants to see show up in Google search results. Companies that possess such sensitive documents are hesitant to digitize these records for fear of lawsuits.

Fortunately, document imaging companies, and the industry as a whole, have taken measures to address these valid concerns for privacy protection. Specifically, major advancements have been made in a process called "automated redaction."

As explained in this article by industry expert Chris Riley of technology consulting firm Living Analytics, automated reduction can be a very simple process.

In the example of tax returns, for instance, social security numbers usually appear in the same areas of the page, tax return after tax return after tax return.

Other jobs are more complex, of course, and document imaging companies may be consulted to help handle that complexity.

But for standard forms, automated reduction can help companies gain control over sensitive information, even while making use of advanced document imaging solutions that can revolutionize record management. Solutions are out there.

Government Agencies Lead the Pack on Document Imaging Solutions

Once upon a time, the Internet was just a figment of the U.S. government's imagination. The Defense Advanced Research Project, or DARPA, developed the initial technologies that eventually turned into the Internet we now know.

Today, something similar may be happening with nascent document imaging technologies. Because while corporate America and even small businesses are increasingly using document scanning and imaging solutions, government agencies are making huge strides as well.

With so many vital files in need of reliable backup, it's no wonder that government needs document imaging like nobody's business.

The biggest example of this is the push for electronic medical records. But government entities are also using document imaging to improve police department procedures, as well as the procedures used by the IRS and even some welfare agencies.

Contrary to the government's reputation as a stodgy has-been lagging far behind the private sector in adopting dynamic new technologies, the guys in the gray suits are creating some of the most advanced document imaging systems around today.

Document Imaging Going Mobile, and Quick

Jarad Carleton of research firm Frost & Sullivan recently released a substantial and insightful white paper on the topic of "distributed capture," one of the most important aspects of document imaging now, and only growing more important by the year.

Carleton starts his paper, promisingly, with the hard-headed business realization that simply buying new stuff is not what smart businesses do. Rather, they harness their existing technology and then integrate the new stuff into a system that includes old stuff.

Distributed capture, though, is about much more than making old machines work with new machines. It's about people being able to work remotely as effectively as if they were working in the office.

Currently, working remotely is popular and entirely possible--unless you work with paper-based processes, such as those that require signatures. In real estate, for example, couriers are still common, transporting documents from the office to the client and back again.

The same goes for insurance, and the same goes for accounting.

But this reliance on paper is slowly changing. Carleton does a brilliant job of describing how and why, and how and why you may want to consider taking document imaging with you everwhere you go.

Think About Security Before and During the Document Imaging Process

Although the process of scanning paper documents may seem like the epitome of an innocuous activity, it's actually an area of the business world that is fraught with legal concerns.

The medical profession is the most famous example of this dynamic, in the form of the HIPPA laws, which regulate the retention and movement of electronic health records. Compliance with this set of regulations can be bafflingly complex. People have to take classes on how to comply.

It's no wonder that digital health records are not a reality in the great majority of American hospitals and doctor's offices.

The medical industry, while it may be the most famous example, is not the only example of the legal concerns inherent in the act and process of document imaging and management. Law offices, real estate firms, and tax preparation companies all face similar concerns.

Once that paper goes into that black box, it can end up anywhere if you're not careful.

For this reason, it's absolutely essential that a document imaging solution contain a strong security component. Document imaging service providers specialize in making sure that moving paper into the digital world doesn't mean losing all control of where that information goes.