NetBase Systems		Home
			test drive
			about us
			facility overview
a kcr company      IT services, software support and electronic document management on-line, on target			contact us

            -How do I send you my paper documents?                                            

        >Indexing in detail

        >Storage in detail

· Cost Savings

· Accessibility

· Gaining Competitive Edge

Back to Top

 

· Accessibility - It often takes two or three days for a large organization to retrieve a paper document, especially if it’s stored off-site. Digitally imaged data can be accessed in seconds. This means

o Faster turns of documents needed for accounts receivable

o Better and faster responses to customer inquiries

o Higher productivity from administrative support staff

· Retrievability - The ability to access stored documents and perform any one of the following:

o View.... quickly search for any field on the document

o Print… a single page or entire document

o Copy…copy documents or fields to a clip board and use them in other applications

o Share...download the view and reports to a LAN drive for multiple user access

o Email...attach a report to a message and send it to any recipient or group, as needed

o Fax…share with anyone capable of receiving a fax – direct from your PC

· Security – Files cannot be misplaced or lost, pages cannot be misfiled. Think about what it costs to find a lost file or missing page.  Research has shown that the average company either loses or misfiles one in twenty documents!

· Implementation Cost - There is no up-front capital cost because you are engaging a service on a pay-as-you-go basis that is less than the cost of an employee.

· Ongoing Administrative Costs – Don’t exist because the only functions taking place at your site are retrieval and distribution, neither of which requires any specialized hardware or software to be purchased and maintained.

· Space Savings – You no longer have to devote large amounts of space to file cabinets, boxes, etc.

Back to Top

 

How do I Cost Justify Electronic Document Management?

These Cost Justification Guidelines will help you quantify the specific areas that impact your company's operation:

Filing Time (What is the labor and overhead cost?)
* Number of documents filed? Labor time to file?
* Number of retrievals? Labor time per retrieval?
* Number of new files created? Labor time?
* Re-filing after retrieval? Labor time?

Physical Space
* Cost of storage/floor space?

Access
* What are the current access keys (indexes) used to find documents?
* What is the value of being able to retrieve by other keys?
* How many people need access, how often and how fast?
* Where do old files with long retention go?

Document Integrity
* How often are documents lost or misfiled?
* What is the cost to try to find or reconstruct them?
* What is the cost of critical lost documents?

Document Security
* What is the cost of poor/inadequate security?

Copy Costs
* How often and at what cost (labor and machines) are documents copied?
* What are the mailing and distribution costs?

Customer Service
What is the benefit and inherent cost savings to your company and your customers if documents can be:
* instantly accessible to view, fax or print?
* safe (never lost or misfiled)?
* secure (access controlled)?

Did you know?
* 90% of corporate memory exists on paper.
* Of pages that get handled in the office, 90% are merely shuffled.
* The average document gets copied 19 times.
* Companies spend $20 in labor to file a document, $120 in labor to find a misfiled document, and $220 in labor to     reproduce a lost document.
* 7.5% of all documents get lost, 3% of the remainder get misfiled.
* Professionals spend 5-15% of their time reading information but 50% looking for it.
* There are over 4 trillion paper documents in the U.S. alone, growing at a rate of 22% per year.

Source: Coopers & Lybrand

            Back to Top

A digital picture of a document is Captured using a computer and scanner. It is similar to making a photocopy, except that the copy is left in an electronic format. Information is then assigned to the electronic page so that it can be retrieved later (Indexing). This information might be as simple as Last Name and Social Security Number if the pages pertain to an individual, but can be anything you use to find filed documents in a filing cabinet. That information goes into a database. Next, both the electronic page and the information are Stored. Storage can be accomplished on a variety of media, but the most common is magnetic backed up by optical (CD, DVD or Optical Platter). This type of storage can legally replace actual paper documents in most instances (see below). Once stored, the pages are available for Retrieval upon demand and can be Distributed as needed by printing, fax, or e-mail.

            Back to Top

Capture in detail:

Paper document capture can happen one of two ways: either at your site, done by you or one of your people, or by us. If we do it for you, we prefer to work at our site (and will transport your documents for you) but, if absolutely necessary, we can provide mobile capture services. It may be best to combine these options. For example, you capture ongoing document traffic, and we handle backfile.

With the availability of very low cost, high capability scanners, accomplishing this task internally has never been easier or more cost effective.  Indeed, with scanner throughput speeds of 20ppm, many departments or organizations can complete the capture operation in a matter of minutes per day, and the device handling this costs less than $1,000!  At the end of the day, you simply send the images captured to us on our secure FTP server (it's easy, and we'll help you set up the process), we load them into storage, and they're available to you the next morning.  We can even give you real-time, as you go, capture and viewing, if that’s required.    

The most widely used file type is .tif, an industry standard format that can be accessed by most viewers. We can also provide image files in the ever-popular PDF format. If you currently have another software system in place, we can export those images and index values so you are able to view all of your files seamlessly.

Capture can also include reports printed from mainframe systems, AS400 systems, and NT environments. This type of data is termed COLD (Computer Output to Laser Disk). Instead of maintaining stacks of greenbar, reports can be captured without scanning, indexed automatically, then processed, distributed, and viewed from the same application as paper images. This almost always produces a huge ROI. We can receive your data several different ways: 3480/3490, zip or jazz disk, email, or secure FTP transmission. We are happy to discuss and advise the best options for you.

How do I send you my paper documents?

Your documents come to us in one or a combination of the following ways:

• You scan and index the pages at your site and transmit the resulting electronic files to us either at the end of the day or in real time
• Our courier service performs a regular pick-up and drop-off service
• Documents are delivered via Fed-ex, UPS, or another form of delivery where package tracking is a standard
• Freight transportation managed by either you or us

We are very flexible as to where and how we perform our conversion services, so just ask us.

Back to Top                                

Back to "How does Electronic Document Management work?"

Indexing in detail:

If you don’t index, you won’t be able to find the documents you are capturing. Think of a huge dumpster with thousands of pieces of paper in it. If you had to find one particular page, it would be nearly impossible. That’s why, in the paper world, you use file folders with information on the tabs. The same principle applies to Electronic Document Management. You assign information to captured documents and use that information to find them when you need them. This all happens in a database that is constructed in a fashion that makes sense for your internal retrieval processes.  For example, if you typically find files by last name and social security number, that's how the database will be set up.  It’s all electronic, and there are lots of ways to get this done. Again, either you can do it or we can, and we'll help you set this all up.

The key to an effective index is making sure you include all of the "need to haves" and limit the "nice to haves".  You want to be able to find documents quickly and with a minimum of hassle, but you don't want to prolong the indexing step by keying a bunch of information that simply isn't necessary.  If you want to maintain full control of your documents, you can capture them internally and have us index them.  This may add a day to the time it takes to get them up and available to you for electronic retrieval, but it also relieves you of a potentially cumbersome task.

Drawing on our years of experience deploying and initializing systems across a tremendous variety of sites, we can advise you on how best to manage this component of the process.

        Back to Top                            

        Back to "How does Electronic Document Management work?"

Storage in detail:

Once you’ve captured and indexed, wherever that happens, we take over. We store and maintain your electronic files ready for you to use whenever you need them. If capture happens at your site, you simply send us the electronic files once per day via a secure FTP transmission (we’ll set that up for you so it’s a one-click process).  If we do the capture and indexing, we upload your documents to the viewing system daily.

We use the latest and most advanced storage technology available – RAID 5 and 6, backed up with optical media. If you wish, we can even provide you with a backup copy of your files on the medium of your choice. In short, your files are safe, secure, and available 24/7 via our encrypted internet link.

There is absolutely no limit to the number of documents you can store.  We have customers with inventories exceeding 5 million documents (and growing!).  If your documents have a set retention period, we set up an ongoing purge process that keeps you from paying to store and view obsolete documents.  As always, because needs vary, we tailor the solution to your requirements.

        Back to Top                            

        Back to "How does Electronic Document Management work?"        

Retrieval and Distribution in detail:

These are the payoff steps in the process. You want easy to use, hassle free access to your documents, and that’s just what we provide. If you can use the internet, you can easily find and view any document in your inventory from any internet connected computer, any time!

We can make your search page look virtually any way you want it to appear, from very simple to totally customized.  As many fields as you want, oriented in the way that makes best sense for you.  Your people simply type some information into a search field and proceed from there.  If enough information is provided to define a unique document, it will display.  Otherwise, a "hit list" will appear with all documents that satisfy the query.  From there, you can refine the query further or simply click on one of the documents presented in the hit list to view it.

Once a document is displayed, several options are available.  You can rotate, magnify, reduce, look at a specific area of the document in a magnified view, darken or lighten the page, etc.  The page can be masked electronically to conceal confidential or sensitive information.  It is important to note that any view changes made do not affect the original page file as stored.  The page you see is loaded to your workstation, and the original file never leaves our server.  This insures absolute document integrity.

You can distribute retrieved pages via e-mail, print, or fax - either in their original form or marked-up as needed. You can cut and paste into word processing documents.  In short, you can do just about anything you want with the image…except change or alter the original document.

What kind of special software do I need?

None! Because you are utilizing the power of the internet, all you need is a browser (like Microsoft Internet Explorer).  All of the complex functions required to render the correct image back to you upon demand reside on our servers. To facilitate image viewing and manipulation, we provide an automatically downloaded plug-in with your first retrieval which then resides on your PC for use as needed.  That's not an absolute requirement if you prefer other image viewing software, but in most cases it's the easiest and fastest way to view your documents without anything else having to happen.  

Think about it. WE are responsible for all product improvements, updates, patches, security, and operation. At your end, all you need is an Internet connection and a PC with a browser running. Click on the icon we provide to access your documents, furnish a valid user name and password, and you’re off and running.  See for yourself.  Go back to the Home page and click on "EDM Test Drive".  

Back to Top                       

Back to "How does Electronic Document Management work?"

 

Any document in your inventory.  Any time of day or night.  From any location with an internet connection (office, home, hotel, airport, etc).  That's the ultimate in Electronic Document Management.  Can you do EDM yourself?  Absolutely.  But think about it for a minute.  Is it worth going through the capital cost, learning curve, and ongoing task sets associated with the additional hardware and software required for an in-house system?  When you consider the cost of these components, and know that anything you buy new today will be obsolete in a couple of years as technology advances, doesn't it make sense to limit your investment in hardware and software as much as possible?  Instead, you can control a portion of our vast capacity and enjoy the cost benefits of our huge infrastructure.  We deal with scores of customers and own hardware / software scaled to meet the demands of all of these various organizations.  We allocate a portion of that capacity to you.  Because we buy in large quantities, we don't pay as much per unit as you would, and pass these savings on.  Moreover, you don't have to worry about ongoing maintenance, upgrades, backups, and security issues.  We handle all of that because the infrastructure resides in OUR facility, not yours.

The facility is covered by the latest in fire protection with a Kidde FM200 Dry Fire suppression system especially designed for computer environments and houses an industrial HVAC system for guaranteed climate control.  A 48-volt battery and DC distribution system with generator backup ensure the system is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  The data center features considerable expansion space for our growing needs.  Along with the thousands of square feet of expansion space, plans are in the works to add even more bandwidth via the site's backbone connection to the Nuvox Southeast Network.  Click HERE to see our Facilities Overview page.  Use your "Back" button to return to this page.

Our site and infrastructure are protected by best of breed hardware and software.  We employ a number of different processes to insure that your data is both safe and secure.  Because we do not publicly exist as a document repository, we are not a high profile target for specific documents.  So if someone is trying to steal a document from your organization, they won't find it at your site.  They would instead have to know how to reach us, have a valid user name and password, and know how to search for the document they wanted.  After all of that, we would still have their session logged in our database by both u/n-p/w AND originating IP address.  Contrast THAT with someone making an unauthorized copy of a paper document in your office!  

• ANY retrieval from our site requires a valid user name and password.  
• Every access and attempted access is logged by IP address AND u/n-p/w.  
• Your user name and password control the documents you are permitted to retrieve and view.  
• Documents, when requested, are sent to and temporarily cached in our FTP server, then removed once sent before security is compromised.
• We employ 128-bit encryption when needed to protect sensitive or confidential information.
• We constantly monitor server traffic to guard against hacking.

            Back to Top

Are Electronic Documents Legal?

The Best Evidence Rule

Federal and state best evidence rules generally provide that, subject to certain exceptions, parties must introduce into evidence original documents in order to prove the contents of those documents[1]. When the contents of a document are at issue, the document itself is a more trustworthy indicator of its contents than is a description of those contents by a third party. The Best Evidence Rule assures that a trier of fact is provided the least fallible evidence from which to render a decision.

Some evidence, however, is deemed trustworthy enough to have been excepted from the Best Evidence Rule. Business records, those items created, kept or compiled in the regular course of business, are among the class of generally trustworthy documents. Business records exception statutes typically grant reproductions of business records meeting certain threshold reliability requirements the same status as original documents for evidentiary purposes.[2]

Federal Law

The Business Records Act[3] provides (in pertinent part, emphasis added):

If any business, institution, member of a profession or calling, or any department or agency of the government, in the regular course of business or activity has kept or recorded any memorandum, writing, entry, print, representation or combination thereof, of any act, transaction, occurrence, or event, and in the regular course of business has caused any or all of the same to be recorded, copied, or reproduced by any photographic, or other process which accurately reproduces or forms a durable medium for so reproducing the original, the original may be destroyed in the regular course of business unless its preservation is required by law. Such reproduction, when satisfactorily identified, is as admissible in evidence as the original itself in any judicial or administrative proceeding whether the original is in existence or not....[4]

[1] Fed. R. Evid. 1002; Ark. Code Ann. § 16-41-101 (Michie 1999); Ga. Code Ann. § 24-5-1. et. seq. (1999).

[2] Ark. Code Ann. § 16-46-101 (Michie 1999); Cal. Evid. Code §§ 1531, 1550, 1551 (Deering 1999); Col. Rev. Stat. § 13-26-102 (1999); Ga. Code Ann. § 24-5-26 (1999); (Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 16 § 456 (West 1999).

[3] 28 U.S.C.A. § 1732 (2000).

State Laws

Arkansas

Arkansas has enacted a statute addressing the admissibility of photographic reproductions of original documents.[1] It provides (in pertinent part, emphasis added):

(b)(1) If any business, institution, member of a profession or calling, or any department or agency of government, in the regular course of business or activity has kept or recorded any memorandum, writing, entry, print, representation, or combination thereof, of any act, transaction, occurrence, or event, and in the course of business has caused any or all of the same to be recorded, copied, or reproduced by any photographic, . . . optical disk, or other process which accurately reproduces or forms a durable medium for so reproducing the original, the original may be destroyed in the regular course of business unless its preservation is required by law.

(2) The reproduction, when satisfactorily identified, is as admissible in evidence as the original itself in any judicial or administrative proceeding whether the original is in existence or not.

California

California’s Evidence Code addresses the admissibility of reproduced documents in section 1550 as follows (in pertinent part, emphasis added):

A nonerasable optical image reproduction provided that additions, deletions, or changes to the original document are not permitted by the technology, . . . or other photographic copy or reproduction, or an enlargement thereof, of a writing is as admissible as the writing itself if the copy or reproduction was made and preserved as part of the course of that business....[2]

Section 1551 goes on to provide:

A print, whether enlarged or not, from a photographic film (including a photographic plate, microphotographic film, photostatic negative, or similar reproduction) of an original writing destroyed or lost after such film was taken or a reproduction from an electronic recording of video images on magnetic surfaces is admissible as the original itself if, at the time of the taking of such film or electronic recording, the person under whose direction and control it was taken attached thereto, or to the sealed container in which it was placed and has been kept, or incorporated in the film or electronic recording, a certification complying with the provisions of section 1531 and stating the date on which, and the fact that, it was so taken under his direction and control.[3]

Section 1531 states (emphasis added):

For the purpose of evidence, whenever a copy of a writing is attested or certified, the attestation or certificate must state in substance that the copy is a correct copy of the original or of a specified part therof, as the case may be. [4]

Colorado

Colorado provides for the treatment of business records submitted as evidence as follows (in pertinent part, emphasis added):

If any business, institution, or member of a profession or calling or any department or agency keeps or records any memorandum, writing, entry, print, or representation, or combination thereof, of any act, transaction, occurrence, or event and in the regular course of business has caused any of the same to be recorded, copied, or reproduced by any photographic, . . . optical disk, or other form of mass storage, electronic imaging, electronic data processing, electronically transmitted facsimile, printout, or other reproduction of electronically stored data, or other process which accurately reproduces or forms a durable medium for reproducing the original, the original may be destroyed in the regular course of business unless held in a custodial or fiduciary capacity or unless its preservation is required by law. Such reproduction, when satisfactorily identified, is as admissible in evidence as the original itself in any judicial or administrative proceeding whether the original is in existence or not....[5]

Georgia
The Code of Georgia, in section 24-5-26, provides the following (in pertinent part, emphasis added):

Any photostatic, microphotographic, photographic, or optical image reproduction of any original writing or record made in the regular course of business to preserve the writing or record shall be admissible in evidence in any proceeding in any court of this state and in any proceeding before any board, bureau, department, commission, or agency of the state in lieu of and without accounting for the original of such writing or record, if such reproduction accurately reproduces or forms a durable medium for reproducing the original.[6]

Maine

Maine’s version of the Business Documents Act provides (in pertinent part, emphasis added):

If, in the regular course of any business . . . , there is kept or recorded any memorandum, writing, entry, print, representation, or combination thereof, of any act, transaction, occurrence or event, and in the regular course of any business . . . , causes any or all of the same to be recorded, copied or reproduced by any photographic, . . . optical disk that is not erasable or other process that accurately reproduces or forms a durable medium for reproducing the original, the reproduction or copy, when satisfactorily identified, is as admissible in evidence as the original itself in any judicial or administrative proceeding whether the original is in existence or not....[7]

[1] Ark. Code Ann. § 16-46-101 (Michie 1999).

[2] Cal. Evid. Code § 1550 (Deering 1999).

[3] Cal. Evid. Code § 1551 (Deering 1999).

[4] Cal. Evid. Code § 1531 (Deering 1999).

[5] Col. Rev. Stat. § 13-26-102 (1999).

[6] Ga. Code Ann. § 24-5-26 (1999).

Conclusions

It should be possible to furnish a document that satisfies the pertinent portions in each of the above statutes, in order to provide a general assurance of admissibility. A universally admissible digitally reproduced document should:

• Be prepared in the regular course of business;
• Be recorded in the regular course of business;
• Be recorded by some process that either:
• Be recorded in a non-erasable optical format that does not permit additions, deletions, or changes to the original document: and
• Be accompanied by a Certificate containing the following information:
• The copy produced is a correct copy of the original, or specified part thereof;
• The date that the copy was created;
• The name of the person under whose direction the copy was created; and
• A statement that the copy was created under the direction and control of the person so named.

            Back to Top

· Aid litigators and support staff in finding needed documents in seconds rather than the hours and days

· Alleviating the time-consuming tasks of collection, preparation, scanning, coding and text conversion

· Allowing litigators and support staff to spend their valuable time on legal activities rather than acting as file clerks

Back to Top

 

Absolutely.  We have a module that allows you to continue to utilize legacy applications residing ANYWHERE.  We simply link to that application via an icon, and when document image rendition is needed, one click brings the appropriate page or pages to your screen.  This makes Electronic Document Management the NetBase way a true document library independent of the specific application it is supporting.  That's simpler and less expensive for everyone!  

When you do a deal, you generate a paper file.  One or more pages from that file may be needed in several places within the dealership at any time.  By scanning and storing the files electronically with us, you make these paper documents available to anyone in the organization with access to a computer and the need to see them.  Prep, F&I, and overall sales transactions are the primary business process points that benefit most from EDM.  In addition, overall dealership administration (accounts payable/receivable and HR) typically generate a lot of paper and can easily be converted from chasing files all over the building to simple retrieval at any computer with an internet connection.  

File security is an increasingly important consideration.  You may have sensitive information about individuals with whom you do business, and you are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of that data under the terms of the now-in-effect Gramm-Leach-Bliley or GLB Act.  [Info on GLB HERE]   File cabinets are inherently non-secure, even with locks.  Once a file is out of the cabinet, it is available for anyone to see, read, copy, or take.  With NetBase Electronic Document Management, NOBODY retrieves a file without a valid user name/password combination. NetBase also provides an audit trail that logs every session, its originating IP address, the user name/password, and the activity that occurred.  That way, if you have an internal problem, you can identify the miscreant and take appropriate action.

                    Back to Top

Using COLD technology, information and documentation required for electronic billing can be gathered more quickly and efficiently. This provides a faster turn around for payments from insurance companies because all of the information is now in a digital format (per HIPAA) and can be transmitted to an insurance company electronically.

How do I get started?

It's amazingly simple.  Because we know as much as we do about all of this, we can make the transition from paper to Electronic Document Management very smooth and hassle free.  We begin by determining the nature of your application, its quantity, and frequency of retrieval.  We then help you arrive at the best and most cost effective capture and indexing schema, and you're ready to go!  Typically, startup takes anywhere from a day to a week, depending upon the factors identified above.  Because we strive to make the front end of the process virtually invisible to you (no new employees or in-depth training required), there is little impact on your ongoing business flow and the benefits are felt immediately.

Simply contact us via any of the methods provided at the page link below, and we'll be in touch promptly.  We look forward to working with you!

              Back to Top                                 

                    CONTACT US