Implementing Mobile Document Capture with IBM Datacap Software

Transcription

1 Front cover Implementing Mobile Document Capture with IBM Datacap Software Whei-Jen Chen Ben Antin Kevin Bowe Ben Davies Jan den Hartog Daniel Ouimet Tom Stuart Redbooks

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3 International Technical Support Organization Implementing Mobile Document Capture with IBM Datacap Software October 2015 SG

4 Note: Before using this information and the product it supports, read the information in Notices on page xi. Second Edition (October 2015) This edition applies to IBM Datacap Version 9. Copyright International Business Machines Corporation 2011, All rights reserved. Note to U.S. Government Users Restricted Rights -- Use, duplication or disclosure restricted by GSA ADP Schedule Contract with IBM Corp.

5 Contents IBM Redbooks promotions ix Notices xi Trademarks xii Preface xiii Authors xiii Acknowledgments xv Now you can become a published author, too xvi Comments welcome xvi Stay connected to IBM Redbooks xvi Summary of changes xvii October 2015, Second Edition xvii Chapter 1. Advanced imaging The business document problem Paper everywhere Business challenges posed by paper Business challenges posed by electronic documents Advanced imaging Components of an advanced imaging solution Datacap components The advanced imaging process Precommittal process Postcommittal process New possibilities blur the boundaries Examples of applications Cross-industry: Automated forms processing Cross-industry: Distributed capture Cross-industry: General business documents processing Cross-industry: Accounts payable Cross-industry: Surveys Government: Tax return processing Healthcare and insurance: Medical claims Banking and finance: Loan applications Transportation and logistics: Shipping documents Chapter 2. Advanced Datacap capabilities Functional overview Multichannel input High-speed production scanners Multifunction printers Remote desktop scanners Mobile devices Fax servers servers File systems Transforming documents into actionable data Copyright IBM Corp. 2011, All rights reserved. iii

6 2.3.1 Document organization and taxonomy Document processing flow Rule processing Advanced image-processing capabilities Automatic document classification Recognition and text manipulation Delivering documents and exporting data Mapping repository document properties using CMIS Exporting to FileNet Content Manager Exporting to IBM Content Manager Exporting to a CMIS repository Exporting to a database Exporting to a flat file Datacap user interfaces Interface productivity features Datacap Navigator Datacap Desktop Datacap FastDoc Datacap Mobile Application configuration Chapter 3. Advanced imaging architecture overview Architecture overview Components of the Datacap system User clients Administration clients Datacap services IBM Content Classification File server Microsoft IIS Database Content repository LDAP IBM WebSphere Application Server Connection to a business application or database Deployment patterns Centralized deployment Distributed deployment Datacap Web deployment Local processing High availability and load balancing Chapter 4. Planning considerations Set goals for the enterprise imaging solution Define requirements for the capture system Using FastDoc or Datacap Studio Selecting the ideal template for your application Document hierarchy Capture processing tasks Capture workflow Capture design considerations Discovering the capture process Gather requirements iv Implementing Mobile Document Capture with IBM Datacap Software

7 4.3.1 Requirements for current capture or document processing environment Processing location requirements Document type requirements Captured data requirements Verification requirements Chapter 5. Designing a Datacap solution Start at the end Obtain sample input Choose your starting point Analyze the images (image enhancement) Analyze the image stream to identify pages (page identification) Handling exceptions Extracting data from the images Getting data that is not on the form Validating the data Verifying the data Exporting the data Configure external processes Chapter 6. Structured forms application Scenario background Configuring the Datacap application Creating a new structured form application Workflow jobs Setting up the document, pages, and fields Configuring rulesets Adding fingerprints Testing your new forms application Chapter 7. Unstructured document application Scenario description Selecting the Learning template An overview of the Learning template The Learning template jobs The Learning template tasks Building the document structure for the MktBankStmt application Configuring the Learning template for the MktBankStmt document structure Configuring the PageID ruleset for the MktBankStmt application Bind the rule to the Other page type in the DCO Configuring the Locate ruleset for the MktBankStmt application Performing the database lookup on CustomerNumber Performing validations The routing ruleset Testing with a validation panel Exporting Wrapping up your project Chapter 8. System scalability, availability, backup, and recovery System scalability, performance, and availability Typical Datacap installation Scaling Datacap Rulerunner Server vertically (scale up) Scaling Datacap Rulerunner Server horizontally (scale out) Contents v

8 8.1.4 Scaling Datacap Rulerunner Server horizontally and vertically Datacap server scaling and redundancy Scaling both Datacap and Datacap Rulerunner servers Datacap Web Server scaling and redundancy Datacap wtm Server scaling and redundancy IBM Datacap Navigator scaling and redundancy Datacap Desktop scaling and redundancy Load balancing of tasks Scaling databases Network share drive Scaling across locations Datacap Rulerunner Single-threaded Datacap Rulerunner Multi-threaded Datacap Rulerunner Sequential and mixed queuing Race conditions Running Datacap Rulerunner in virtualized environments Fingerprint Service Configuring Datacap Rulerunner The Datacap.xml and <project>.app files Configuring priorities and queuing within Datacap Rulerunner Server Backing up and restoring Backing up and restoring Datacap Rulerunner machines Backing up and restoring the Datacap server Backing up the database server Backing up and restoring the Fingerprint server Backing up and restoring the IIS web server Backing up the file share Chapter 9. Export and integration Preparing content for export Formatting data for export Export data to an XML file Formatting documents for export Exporting content Export content to FileNet Content Manager Export content to IBM Content Manager Export content to Documentum Export content to Microsoft SharePoint Export content for upload to IBM Content Manager OnDemand Export content to FileNet Image Services repository Export content to CMIS repository Access control to content repositories Chapter 10. Datacap user experience in IBM Content Navigator Introduction to Datacap Navigator User experience Job Monitor Classify Verification User settings Configuring an application Overview vi Implementing Mobile Document Capture with IBM Datacap Software

9 Datacap Navigator job and task requirements Fixup Navigator job Verify Export Navigator job Navigator main job Defining custom panels Custom Verify task panel External Data Services Chapter 11. Datacap Mobile user experience Overview Considerations for image capture Typical mobile capture use cases Mobile banking Remote workers Mobile capture app configuration Configuring Datacap Mobile Server-side configuration Capturing using Datacap Mobile Capturing in Auto mode Capturing in Manual mode Classification Indexing Submission Viewing captured content Deploying Datacap Mobile Unmodified ( shrink-wrapped ) Software development kit Representational state transfer (REST) Chapter 12. Customizing Datacap Customizing Datacap Desktop Customizing the Datacap Desktop Scan panel Basic Scan panel customization example Customizing the Datacap Desktop Verify panel Basic Verify panel customization example Deeper Datacap Desktop integration Datacap action customization using the Datacap Object API Customizing Datacap ruleset templates Chapter 13. Datacap scripting Introduction The basics of actions How actions are used Type versus ID True or False Three styles Actions can call other actions The include reference and its importance Language choice Getting started Documenting your action Writing an action Writelog The CurrentObj and DCO objects Contents vii

10 A word about variables ObjectType Referencing other objects from DCO or CurrentObj Finding the parent object Finding child objects Chapter 14. Classification and separation Overview Classification process Classification using the Identify Pages ruleset Blank page detection Page source location Bar code recognition Analysis based settings Fingerprint recognition Locate Using Keyword settings Content Classification settings Creating documents Document integrity Related publications IBM Redbooks Online resources Help from IBM viii Implementing Mobile Document Capture with IBM Datacap Software

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13 Notices This information was developed for products and services offered in the U.S.A. IBM may not offer the products, services, or features discussed in this document in other countries. Consult your local IBM representative for information on the products and services currently available in your area. Any reference to an IBM product, program, or service is not intended to state or imply that only that IBM product, program, or service may be used. Any functionally equivalent product, program, or service that does not infringe any IBM intellectual property right may be used instead. However, it is the user's responsibility to evaluate and verify the operation of any non-ibm product, program, or service. IBM may have patents or pending patent applications covering subject matter described in this document. The furnishing of this document does not grant you any license to these patents. You can send license inquiries, in writing, to: IBM Director of Licensing, IBM Corporation, North Castle Drive, Armonk, NY U.S.A. The following paragraph does not apply to the United Kingdom or any other country where such provisions are inconsistent with local law: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION PROVIDES THIS PUBLICATION AS IS WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. Some states do not allow disclaimer of express or implied warranties in certain transactions, therefore, this statement may not apply to you. This information could include technical inaccuracies or typographical errors. Changes are periodically made to the information herein; these changes will be incorporated in new editions of the publication. IBM may make improvements and/or changes in the product(s) and/or the program(s) described in this publication at any time without notice. Any references in this information to non-ibm websites are provided for convenience only and do not in any manner serve as an endorsement of those websites. The materials at those websites are not part of the materials for this IBM product and use of those websites is at your own risk. IBM may use or distribute any of the information you supply in any way it believes appropriate without incurring any obligation to you. Any performance data contained herein was determined in a controlled environment. Therefore, the results obtained in other operating environments may vary significantly. Some measurements may have been made on development-level systems and there is no guarantee that these measurements will be the same on generally available systems. Furthermore, some measurements may have been estimated through extrapolation. Actual results may vary. Users of this document should verify the applicable data for their specific environment. Information concerning non-ibm products was obtained from the suppliers of those products, their published announcements or other publicly available sources. IBM has not tested those products and cannot confirm the accuracy of performance, compatibility or any other claims related to non-ibm products. Questions on the capabilities of non-ibm products should be addressed to the suppliers of those products. This information contains examples of data and reports used in daily business operations. To illustrate them as completely as possible, the examples include the names of individuals, companies, brands, and products. All of these names are fictitious and any similarity to the names and addresses used by an actual business enterprise is entirely coincidental. COPYRIGHT LICENSE: This information contains sample application programs in source language, which illustrate programming techniques on various operating platforms. You may copy, modify, and distribute these sample programs in any form without payment to IBM, for the purposes of developing, using, marketing or distributing application programs conforming to the application programming interface for the operating platform for which the sample programs are written. These examples have not been thoroughly tested under all conditions. IBM, therefore, cannot guarantee or imply reliability, serviceability, or function of these programs. Copyright IBM Corp. 2011, All rights reserved. xi

14 Trademarks IBM, the IBM logo, and ibm.com are trademarks or registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both. These and other IBM trademarked terms are marked on their first occurrence in this information with the appropriate symbol ( or ), indicating US registered or common law trademarks owned by IBM at the time this information was published. Such trademarks may also be registered or common law trademarks in other countries. A current list of IBM trademarks is available on the Web at The following terms are trademarks of the International Business Machines Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both: Daeja DB2 developerworks FileNet IBM Redbooks Redbooks (logo) WebSphere The following terms are trademarks of other companies: Inc., and Inc. device are trademarks or registered trademarks of Kenexa, an IBM Company. Microsoft, Windows, and the Windows logo are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both. Java, and all Java-based trademarks and logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates. Other company, product, or service names may be trademarks or service marks of others. xii Implementing Mobile Document Capture with IBM Datacap Software

15 Preface Organizations face many challenges in managing ever-increasing documents that they need to conduct their businesses. IBM content management and imaging solutions can capture, store, manage, integrate, and deliver various forms of content throughout an enterprise. These tools can help reduce costs associated with content management and help organizations deliver improved customer service. The advanced document capture capabilities are provided through IBM Datacap software. This IBM Redbooks publication focuses on Datacap components, system architecture, functions, and capabilities. It explains how Datacap works, how to design a document image capture solution, and how to implement the solution using Datacap Developer Tools, such as Datacap FastDoc (Admin). FastDoc is the development tool that designers use to create rules and rule sets, configure a document hierarchy and task profiles, and set up a verification panel for image verification. A loan application example explains the advanced technologies of IBM Datacap Version 9. This scenario shows how to develop a versatile capture solution that is able to handle both structured and unstructured documents. Information about high availability, scalability, performance, backup and recovery options, preferable practices, and suggestions for designing and implementing an imaging solution is also included. This book is intended for IT architects and professionals who are responsible for creating, improving, designing, and implementing document imaging solutions for their organizations. Authors This book was produced by a team of specialists from around the world working at the International Technical Support Organization, San Jose Center, in California, USA. Whei-Jen Chen is a Project Leader for the International Technical Support Organization, San Jose Center. She has extensive experience in application development, database design and modeling, and IBM DB2 system administration. Whei-Jen is an IBM Certified Solutions Expert in database administration and application development and an IBM Certified IT Specialist. Ben Antin is the IBM product manager for IBM capture and document imaging products. His has worked with Datacap products for four years and with IBM FileNet enterprise content management (ECM) products for more than 20 years. Ben specializes applying automating and optimizing document processes using ECM technology. He has applied ECM technology in the financial services, insurance, transportation, and government sectors. He holds a degree in Computer Science from the University of Iowa. Copyright IBM Corp. 2011, All rights reserved. xiii

16 Kevin Bowe is an IBM Client Technical Specialist who has specialized in enterprise content management (ECM) for more than 20 years. His experience includes business process re-engineering, system architecture, project management, release and regression testing, development, proposal creation and response, presentations, demonstrations, and hands-on experience with advanced capture and capture products. The majority of Kevin s ECM experience is derived from the IBM FileNet product suite. Ben Davies works on the IBM worldwide team as a Smarter Content Solutions Leader, specializing in imaging and capture. He joined IBM in 2007 and has worked with IBM Datacap since the acquisition of Datacap Inc. in He has built up a wealth of knowledge on the IBM Datacap product through assisting customers and partners around the world on a variety of engagements. Ben has been involved developing ideas and prototypes for new methods of image capture and data extraction. He was a co-author of the First Edition of Implementing Imaging Solutions with IBM Production Imaging Edition and IBM Datacap Taskmaster Capture, SG and co-author of Building IBM Enterprise Content Management Solutions From End to End, SG Ben holds a bachelor degree in Multimedia Computing from Liverpool John Moores University in the UK. Jan den Hartog is an Enterprise Content Management (ECM) Technical Sales Specialist in the United States. Jan has more than 18 years of experience in product management, technical pre-sales, system integration, single-source publishing, and document transformation and migration. His experience, together with time spent in a support role, has taught him how to explain complex technical concepts in a clear and understandable manner. Daniel Ouimet is a Technical Lead for IBM Datacap and Imaging for North America. Dan has over 18 years experience as lab services delivery consultant, delivery manager, technical architect, and presales technical resource for Enterprise Content Management in both US and Canada. Daniel possesses in-depth technical expertise in imaging, compliance, process automation, and content federation solutions. Daniel has published many technical papers and is the co-author of IBM Redbooks publication titled Federated Content Management: Accessing Content from Disparate Repositories with IBM Content Federation Services and IBM Content Integrator, SG xiv Implementing Mobile Document Capture with IBM Datacap Software

17 Tom Stuart is the IBM Executive ECM capture alchemist and is part of the IBM North America Software Advanced Technology (SWAT) team. He is responsible for developing easy-to-replicate techniques that help customers rapidly deploy complex data capture applications, that are likely integrated with other business applications. Tom is also closely involved with refining prototype solutions and has the application developer responsible for IBM Datacap Taskmaster Accounts Payable Capture and the IBM Datacap product Taskmaster Flex. He previously directed the pre-sales engineering activities of Datacap. Tom has a dual background in education and product development. He is widely quoted on technical issues and frequently addresses industry conferences. Acknowledgments The authors thank Patrick Chesnot for his contribution in content and consultation for this book. Patrick is an Enterprise Content Management Product Manager with IBM Software Group US. He has more than 11 years of experience in FileNet ECM product management. He also has more than 22 years in the field of document management, imaging, and publishing systems, where he worked as a product specialist, systems consultant, and project manager. Thanks to the following people for their contributions to this project: Feri Clayton, Enterprise Content Management Director, document imaging, and capture solutions software developer Noel Kropf, Enterprise Content Management Software Architect and IBM Datacap Architect Nirmal K. Mukhi, Solutions Portfolio Manager, IBM Datacap Development Charles F. Wiecha, Watson Conversational Dialog Management, IBM Software Group Wei-Dong Zhu, Enterprise Content Management Solution Consultant, Enterprise Content Management Information Developer Thanks to the authors of the First Edition of this book, which was published in October, 2011: Jackie Zhu Ben Antin Moe Bryan Patrick Chesnot Ben Davies Tom Stuart Michael Vahland Preface xv

18 Now you can become a published author, too Here s an opportunity to spotlight your skills, grow your career, and become a published author all at the same time. Join an ITSO residency project and help write a book in your area of expertise, while honing your experience using leading-edge technologies. Your efforts will help to increase product acceptance and customer satisfaction, as you expand your network of technical contacts and relationships. Residencies run from two to six weeks, and you can participate either in person or as a remote resident working from your home base. Find out more about the residency program, browse the residency index, and apply online: ibm.com/redbooks/residencies.html Comments welcome Your comments are important to us! We want our books to be as helpful as possible. Send us your comments about this book or other IBM Redbooks publications in one of the following ways: Use the online Contact us review Redbooks form: ibm.com/redbooks Send your comments by redbooks@us.ibm.com Mail your comments: IBM Corporation, International Technical Support Organization Dept. HYTD Mail Station P South Road Poughkeepsie, NY Stay connected to IBM Redbooks Find us on Facebook: Follow us on Twitter: Look for us on LinkedIn: Explore new Redbooks publications, residencies, and workshops with the IBM Redbooks weekly newsletter: Stay current on recent Redbooks publications with RSS Feeds: xvi Implementing Mobile Document Capture with IBM Datacap Software

19 Summary of changes This section describes the technical changes made in this edition of the book and in previous editions. This edition might also include minor corrections and editorial changes that are not identified. Summary of changes for Implementing Imaging Solutions with IBM Production Imaging Edition and IBM Datacap Taskmaster Capture, SG as created or updated on October 2, 2015 October 2015, Second Edition This revision reflects the addition, deletion, or modification of new and changed information as described here. New information IBM Datacap Version 9 new features and functions Solution examples Changed information New branding name of IBM Datacap Copyright IBM Corp. 2011, All rights reserved. xvii

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21 1 Chapter 1. Advanced imaging This chapter provides an overview of advanced imaging, which is a set of capabilities for managing the entire document lifecycle, including a document capture solution, case management capabilities, and an enterprise content management (ECM) repository. This chapter includes the following topics: The business document problem Advanced imaging Datacap components The advanced imaging process Examples of applications Copyright IBM Corp. 2011, All rights reserved. 1

22 1.1 The business document problem Organizations today face many challenges in efficiently managing the documents they need to conduct their business. They have the perennial paper problem and the ever-increasing electronic document problem. One challenge is controlling all of the types of media that are required to conduct businesses. Another challenge is ensuring continuity, consistency, and longevity across these media over the entire lifecycle of the business processes. The approach to solving these problems is an advanced imaging solution Paper everywhere The advent of such innovations as , the web, instant messaging, and social media has resulted in more efficient communication and a significant reduction in the need to print information. Despite these technological advances, many companies still rely heavily on paper to conduct a large part of their businesses. Organizations use paper for several reasons: Historical. The organization must deal with existing forms and documents and is unable to mandate the conversion of these paper forms and documents into electronic formats. Sometimes, the number of existing forms and documents make it unrealistic to undertake such a conversion process. Legal. In some cases, legislation has not kept pace with new technology and still refers specifically to keeping paper records (which holds probative value). In other cases, new laws take into account electronic media, but have not yet been challenged in court, which means that the safe option is to keep using paper. Practical. The low-tech portability of paper makes it the best option to reach customers anywhere, irrespective of affordability, access to infrastructure, technical dependencies, or administrative boundaries. For example, many companies that otherwise rely on electronic means of communication for marketing purposes still send correspondence by post to confirm important transactions that require the attention and signature of the customer. Similarly, many customers still prefer to send their official correspondence through registered mail to be tracked by a third party, with the expectation that it will be deemed an official record. Technical. Paper is the ultimate systems integration technology, a variant of the previous reasons. It is common to hear that the best way to communicate with another department within the same company or administration is to print the information and send it out. This is especially true in organizations where record keeping of inbound and outbound communication is available for mail but not across incompatible business or ECM systems. 2 Implementing Mobile Document Capture with IBM Datacap Software

23 1.1.2 Business challenges posed by paper Even though many businesses cannot do without paper altogether, dealing with paper continues to pose several challenges. For example, paper is expensive to store for the long term and to preserve under optimal conditions for business, legal, disaster (flood and fire), security, and safety reasons. Consider the cost incurred in maintaining shelf space, physical filing systems, and cabinets. Such costs also include robotics, temperature, and hygrometric control; fire and flood protection; and, periodically, verifying that the contents have not deteriorated over time or under heavy use. Paper is inefficient, time-consuming, inflexible, and expensive to manipulate in the course of conducting day-to-day business. For example, a home loan or credit card department might receive hundreds or thousands of applications from customers each day. These hardcopy documents must be logged in to their systems and information about these applications must be entered into electronic loan processing systems. Manually handling these applications is inefficient, time-consuming, and prone to human error. As another example, for a particular document, you might have to go to the file cabinet, control who has clearance to access the document, track who has had physical access to it, and flag it as checked out. You might also have to make copies of the document to share with people working on the case or project and write comments on the document to pass on to the next person in the process. In a call center, it is inconceivable to operate this way. Still, for many organizations, productivity and access speed were not deemed critical before. However, they now find themselves in a situation where they can no longer afford to operate in this way as competitive pressures and volumes increase. Physical documents are subject to human error, so they are more easily lost, misfiled, or misclassified and, sometimes, never recovered. Their contents can be misread and entered with errors. Contents can also be discovered or used beyond their authorized purpose. The consequences can be expensive for a business. Most organizations are concerned with compliance. They want to ensure that they preserve the correct documents and discard documents that are no longer needed for the business. They also want to ensure that they purge documents as required after a certain period, as mandated by law, as is the case in some European countries. Although records management systems have long been available to manage physical records, it is increasingly challenging to manage records efficiently as the volumes of records increase. Chapter 1. Advanced imaging 3

24 The information about physical documents is on paper, which does not lend itself to automation and verification. As a result, transcription errors spread, and original mistakes go undetected. Spelling variations and typographical errors in names and nomenclatures cannot be verified and corrected until late in the business process, at which point it is more expensive to fix. Similarly, the business process cannot be automatically driven by the data. As a result, dedicated and expensive labor is required to carry out the low-value activity of routing documents to the next person in the process Business challenges posed by electronic documents In many cases, organizations now use electronic documents in their business processes. For some of these processes, especially those processes that include external cycles with customers and business partners, it is still difficult to implement a solution that relies on one type of electronic media from end to end. For example, it is now common to exchange electronic documents in at least part of the processing of a mortgage loan, from application to closing. However, especially in the case of a brokerage company, the organization might be bound by legal requirements for transacting business in paper format. In many cases, the organization cannot impose too many constraints on its customers and the other parties involved, such as lenders and assessors. As a result, the organization must accommodate many situations. So it continues to accept the receipt of paper documents alongside electronic ones, which leads to the need to handle multiple types of media over the course of working on a mortgage loan. The loan application goes through the following process: The initial loan application form on the web typically feeds into a business database. The form is used to generate an initial loan offer that is sent to a customer on paper or electronically as a PDF document. Preliminary contacts between the broker and the customer generate several messages with attachments back and forth. Additional forms (disclosures, authorizations, estimates, and so on), typically in PDF, are also exchanged. Signed copies must be captured, which leads to printing and faxing or scanning of documents that were originally generated electronically and then sent by . The final loan settlement statement is signed. Each page is initialled by the customer at the formal closing meeting with the escrow officer. Then each page is scanned in and stored as the main document of record. 4 Implementing Mobile Document Capture with IBM Datacap Software

25 As you can see, although this is faster than if it were conducted entirely through paper and postal service, this process can be inefficient. It causes discontinuities in the media (from electronic text to paper to back to electronic image) and communication ( messages or faxes sent back and forth) over the lifecycle of a given document. This challenge makes it difficult to ensure data consistency, control, and reconciliation with the business process and the transactions of the in-house line of business (LOB) systems. These documents are often archived over the long term in a specific, final form. This form must ensure preservation of the formatting and contents across multiple generations of technologies, without needing to use the original application that created it. 1.2 Advanced imaging The challenges described in the previous section align closely with the business objectives many organizations hope to achieve with enterprise content management (ECM) systems, including advanced imaging. Advanced imaging helps organizations manage the documents they need to conduct their operations and meet their business goals more efficiently. It is a comprehensive set of technologies that enables organizations to implement several efficiencies: Reduce or eliminate the external paper cycle as much as possible by limiting or removing the need to print, copy, store, and manipulate paper, and, ultimately, reduce cost. Capture customer input at the source in virtual forms (such as self-service portals and electronic documents) to limit errors, reduce delays and unnecessary steps, optimize processes, and reduce labor. Integrate document processing systems and repositories with LOB systems to reduce the need for paper, reduce errors, normalize data, and minimize labor. Digitize paper documents to feed into internal business processes as early as possible. This objective allows sharing and optimizes the processing of documents downstream, while meeting the scalability and deployment requirements that are typical of large organizations. Automate scanning, classification, separation, and data extraction of paper documents to minimize the added labor cost of scanning operations. Automate the import and conversion of electronic documents and messages by using the same infrastructure as the one used for paper scanning, thus benefiting from the same data normalization and validation rules. Chapter 1. Advanced imaging 5

26 Verify and normalize data against business rules and databases and reduce errors. These types of issues are always more expensive to fix after they spread downstream. Provide flexibility to distribute image-processing operations (from local, to departmental, to central) to use available resources or easily shift them (such as when dispatching resources in disaster areas for the insurance industry). Store, classify or file, and secure content to avoid losses, provide protection, enforce compliance, manage records, and enable sharing. Provide context intelligence to drive automation of the business process and reduce delays, streamlining the allocation of work. Automatically deliver data and documents to users in a context that is the most relevant to the business process, using business process management technology. In addition, balance work loads, track work items, and gather statistics to help manage and tune the business processes and increase efficiency. There are many examples of practical goals that some IBM clients have attained by implementing advanced imaging solutions. For example, a university was able to dramatically cut costs and improve productivity and customer satisfaction. It freed up much of the storage space that was previously occupied by paper archives and streamlined the flow of information in the organization. In making these changes, the university saved significant time for their staff, enabling them to focus more on their priorities. They also improved customer service by providing faster access to customers correspondence. In another example, a state tax department was able to improve its operations while providing jobs to residents of the state. It reduced the labor-intensive work that was needed in scan preparation and fixing data entry errors. It was able to double data entry productivity and achieve accurate reporting on operations and resource utilization. The department can now also access easily any tax return in the system. Of equal importance, the tax department can now use local labor and stimulate low income areas of the state by offering remote document processing positions. As yet another example, a global logistics company reduced penalties and fines by processing shipping documents faster and meeting service level agreements. At the same time the company improved compliance with regulations and reduced overall processing costs and the number full-time employees. 6 Implementing Mobile Document Capture with IBM Datacap Software