Document capture - only a part of an integrated information management system.

Electronic Document Management Systems

Electronic Document Management Systems (EDMS) represent the convergence of information technologies with document processing, including document storage, sharing documents, archiving and retrieving them. EDMS systems allow documents to be managed electronically more efficiently than they were as paper documents. They also allow for the attachment and management of electronic forms data and other electronic objects associated with business transactions such as audio, photographs and video.

Electronic document management systems perform the following functions:

Digitization (scanning) of input paper or microfilmed documents
Grouping, processing and tracking documents

Indexing images (using recognition technology) and electronic documents
Check-in/check-out services to provide protection against simultaneous updates and overwrites
Version control
Storage for archival
When effective, EDMS achieves the following:
Improves the productivity of the work process
Reduces the cost of the work process
Improves customer service
Reduces document access time and cost
Increases user competitiveness

Electronic document management systems normally organize and maintain digital documents in a cabinet-folder-document-page hierarchy. The cabinet is at the highest level in the document organization hierarchy in which related digital documents are stored. Cabinets are created and used for grouping documents in folders on a departmental or functional basis.

The Evolving EDMS Market

The U.S. markets for EDMS are expected to be robust, but turbulent. The rate of change is increasing as new technologies are rapidly deployed, electronic transactions become pervasive and more ‘document types’ such as voice and video - are created and supplement traditional business documents.

The rate of change is putting pressure on both suppliers and users. Ten years ago, electronic imaging and optical storage were perceived by both users and suppliers as leading-edge, new and exciting technologies and products. To maintain their value, these systems must provide a fast payback and must be developed with the ability to evolve into supporting tomorrow’s business needs.

EDMS technologies have experienced explosive changes during the last decade. These changes are, to a large extent, quantitative rather than qualitative. That is, they are the result of developing existing technologies, expanding them, and integrating them with other emerging technologies into document management systems. This trend is expected to continue. The future will bring greater storage capabilities and improved development tools to manage documents using more powerful desktop computers.

Changes expected to impact EDMS and information access technologies:

• More robust document management software systems that process compound electronic objects as easily as today’s systems process data

• Document management software with embedded workflow that indexes, stores, and retrieves high volumes of complex objects at sub-second rates – meaning that digital videotape and photographs will be available simultaneously with text and printed data in records

• The increasing use of compound documents. Compound documents contain many elements – they can be electronic or visual, and may contain text, photographs, digital video, graphics, or digital audio information. Today, businesses and government organizations are processing increasing volumes of these types of compound documents.

Read more about Electronic Document Management Systems in Today Magazine

Document capture - only a part of an integrated information management system.

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