What Works for Distributed Capture

By Bill Brikiatis

Distributed capture has continued to evolve as part of today’s business processes as organizations work to incorporate paper-based information into digital workflows. As multifunction peripherals (MFP) have made document scanning increasingly available to the “everyday office worker,” many organizations have expanded their capture capabilities beyond centralized production scanning to include ad hoc document capture. The result is an increased number of processes that take advantage of document imaging technology, as well as an increase in the amount and quality of information being included in critical business systems.

Whether a business is implementing a new distributed capture system or making improvements to an existing system, there are some key ways to ensure scanning processes are optimized to meet business needs.

• Utilize existing office infrastructure.
As cost cutting becomes more common due to today’s economic environment, it has never been more important to leverage existing IT investments in new ways. Many offices are already equipped with MFPs, content management systems, and collaborative software. Document imaging systems are capable of leveraging existing investments in MFPs and integrating into existing content management systems, significantly increasing the value of both investments by eliminating the need for paper-based workflows and file cabinet document storage.

• Empower front office workers.
Scanning technology for front-office workers has become much more advanced, while remaining easy to use. Many MFP document imaging systems now provide advanced document services that have long been available in production scanning software. One example is automated image enhancement where the document is automatically “cleaned up” with de-speckle and de-skew technologies so that optical character recognition (OCR) will make significantly fewer mistakes. Another is bar code file naming, which reduces the need for data entry at the MFP. These technologies can be implemented with little or no action taken by the office worker.

• Scan documents directly into the repository at the MFP.
I like to call this “one and done.” If a document can be saved to the repository directly from the MFP, it removes the extra step of having to return to a desktop to insert a scanned document into the system. Removing half of the process every time a document is scanned provides dramatically increased productivity and time savings for the everyday office worker.

• Automate security procedures.
For some organizations, business security takes a higher priority than others. Advanced security features of MFP scanning software now include full audit trail capabilities, allowing organizations to track when every document was scanned, by whom, what was scanned and where the documents were sent. Documents are now more secure in digital workflows than they could ever be in a manual process.

Bill Brikiatis is Director, Corporate Marketing for eCopy Inc. (www.ecopy.com).