We use many types of documents in our daily life and to manage them effectively, we need a document management system. Now you would like to know – What is a document management system, and its functions, features, and examples?
Document management is an ecosystem used to store, track, capture, and maintain electronic documents such as word processing files, PDFs, and digital images.
DMS (Document Management System) is used to seamlessly digitize, organize, manage, secure, and categorize business and personal documents, thereby sharing, accessing, securing them anytime in the future and it is easy to edit or modify as well.
What Is Document Management System
Document Management System is used to manage, store, receive and track documents and reduce the use of paper in our daily life and tasks. Most DMS are capable of keeping a record of the different versions created and modified by different users. Most of the time, such systems are based on AI computer programs to manage these digital documents.
Simply put, it is an automated software solution for a document management system to digitize, organize, save, capture, tag, approve and preserve the digital form of your document over a long period of time.
The term document management often refers to a broad strategy for how a business firm manages, stores, and maintains its electronic documents, whenever they need them.
What Are Document Management Systems Used For
A document management system (DMS) is used to organize and automatically digitize, manage, secure and categorize business documents, allowing them to be shared, accessed, edited, or modified anytime in the future becomes easier.
There are many document management systems that go beyond basic functionality to include document-related workflows. There are a ton of other features, add-ons, and capabilities praised by some document management systems, which have led to other names and designations such as intelligent information management (IIM), enterprise information management (EIM), and enterprise content management (ECM).
Which Are The Three Functions Of a Document Management System
The three main functions of a document management system are to Store, Capture, and Distribute Documents. Let us understand how it works.
1. Document Capture From Different Source
The document management system should be such that it is capable of capturing the document at any time from any source, be it papers, document files, CRM applications or reports, emails. So that the document can be indexed for easy finding later whenever you need it. Digital indexing is a method of classifying a document by adding words to its metadata, such as customer information, tags, client order numbers, etc.
2. Correct Document Storage
Document storage is the second most significant part of a document management system. When all of your documents are stored in one central location, it allows all employees or workers who need access to the documents — both static documents that your company maintains on a daily basis, such as invoices, and dynamic such as webpages, forms, and emails. DMS helps to get them quickly and easily at any time.
The main storage platform also helps you protect your important documents from corrupt and malicious intent errors. A document management system usually comes with version control, which allows you to track changes, and even you can set permissions to control who has access to documents. And you can also control who can make what kind of changes.
3. Document Retrieval and Distribution (Delivery)
The third most influential factor in DMS is its ability to quickly, easily retrieve, and deliver documents. A document management system lets you quickly search and retrieve any type of document for a keyword, and this is where the importance of thorough indexing comes in. Using it you’ll be able to send documents any way you need them, such as File Transfer Protocol (FTP), via email, or automating manual business processes and workflows.
What Are The Features Of a Document Management System
DMS is a type of software that provides an automated way to store, manage and retrieve digital images of electronic documents or paper documents. Document Management System Advantage began as a way to convert paper documents into digital documents, which is why a DMS operates as a digital filing cabinet, but nowadays it has many more sophisticated features.
Types Of Document Management Systems
The following are the primary types of document management systems and the ones that are critical to your business operations.
1. Content management system:
CMS is often referred to as web content management, primarily this type of document management system focused on producing, organizing, modifying, and distributing content to users. Content management systems usually have publishing, search, and indexing, functionality. Some of the leading CMSs such as WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal, are developed to organize and distribute a wide range of media and content to their internet users.
2. Cloud-Based System:
The cloud-based document management system is hosted in a cloud server and stores its data information remotely, allowing customers to access the files they need at any time from any type of device. However, there is usually a monthly fee for the service, which can be increased with various security features.
If you are a small enterprise that creates and handles large amounts of data, this may be a good choice for you, it is flexible, scalable, and supports collaboration between different users. Also with the ability to track document volumes and a limited set of user accesses, cloud-based DMS enables remote workforces and gives you a lot of flexibility in terms of security controls and advanced features.
3. Records Management System:
The records management system is concerned with controlling the creation, maintenance, and destruction of records, and is generally associated with management, governance, risk, and compliance. In particular, highly regulated industries such as healthcare, Pharma, use these types of systems. Nowadays every business sector needs an efficient automated records management system to work with sensitive users’ data such as health records, employee records, financial records.
4. Enterprise Content Management:
(ECM) Enterprise Content Management takes content management a step further by concentrating on data as well as the content. These systems keep content in context by integrating components from other types of document management systems such as processes, workflows, business rules, etc.
5. Workflow Management Systems:
Workflow management is the name for process automation and is primarily a management discipline, which focuses on the working mechanism within certain business enterprises and how team members collaborate to accomplish work. WMS or WfMS is a software solutions tool designed to help facilitate common business processes to achieve optimum efficiency.
In addition, workflow management involves work that individuals perform but tasks can also be performed automatically by computer software. These IT systems automate repetitive, content-based tasks for employees, releasing them to focus on other higher-level activities.
6. Document Imaging Digital File System:
Paper still plays a role in some organizations, even in the digital age, where document imaging systems come in these solutions scan, organize, collect, and manage digital images converted from paper documents. Document imaging systems store and manage images from a range of sources and can help easily convert paper files and collateral into digital files.
What Is a Document Management Example
Document Management System (DMS) is the method of storing images of all paper-based documents and electronic documents through software solutions.
Most Popular Document Management Systems
| DMS (Document Management System) | |
| 1 | M-Files |
| 2 | DocuWare |
| 3 | eFileCabinet |
| 4 | PandaDoc |
| 5 | SeedDMS |
| 6 | LibreOffice |
| 7 | WPS Office |
| 8 | Worldox |
| 9 | Dokmee |
| 10 | Ademero |
| 11 | ClickUp |
| 12 | Nuxeo |
| 13 | Alfresco |
| 14 | LogicalDOC |
| 15 | KnowledgeTree |
| 16 | Adobe Acrobat |
| 17 | Microsoft Word |
| 18 | MasterControl Documents |
Why Do Businesses Use Document Management Systems?
Document Management System enables the functioning of a business organization to be efficient, easy, secure, and stress-free. It improves the way processes are performed in an enterprise. And DMS benefits organizations like less storage space, better security, better regulatory compliance, easier to operate.
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