What is Laserfiche?

One of the most commonly searched questions regarding Laserfiche is simply “What is Laserfiche?”

What is Laserfiche Enterprise Content Management?

Content. Every organization has it.  Laserfiche helps your people simply file it, find it and share it.

Enterprise content created in one department might need data from another department, for use by another department.

Enterprise Content Management (ECM) is the process of standardizing how this is managed.  When done correctly, an ECM will efficiently manage an organization’s contents and documents within an encrypted system, secure from outside access.

Before we configure your Laserfiche Cloud system, FreeDoc ^® consults with the leaders in Operations, Finance and HR to understand how information flows.  As a Premier Partner recognized for business process improvement, this approach lets your staff to perform more efficiently – by up to 40%!

Get more done in less time.^™

Below, we’ll look at the 3-parts of an ECM cloud system: Capture (filing), Storage, and Retrieval.

Capture  is more than ‘filing’.  Capture is the process bringing content into the ECM – from anywhere across the enterprise.

Documents can be digital files that began as Microsoft Office documents or PDFs.  Documents can also be scanned as image files using a scanner, a network-attached device, or imported as image files or photos.  With electronic forms, documents might begin as an e-form with data entered by a person.  Afterwards, workflow will take over to route the form for review and approval.  Later, the form can be filed as a document for lookup and future reference.

Storage manages security.  This is both the physical security of the technical environment, and also administrative security according to rights.

Documents are identified by metadata (‘data about data’).  Metadata helps a user to find and retrieve a document.  Within the ECM, metadata is like your ‘street address’ or a ‘set of GPS coordinates’.  Metadata tells the software where the document is, who can see it and what they can do with it.  Metadata allows a document to be categorized in a flexible folder structure and organized by department.  It also used for integrating records with other software systems, like accounting programs, ERP’s, POS and HRIS systems.

Retrieval provides access to documents.  Access is managed by the security permissions a user, or a process.  An ECM offers advanced search functionality based on rules of logic.   Laserfiche’s search options go further to search both the ‘metadata’ and the ‘actual content’ detected within a document.  This ensures the correct document is retrieved quickly, even if the document’s metadata is missing a search term applied by the user.

Next, comes integrating that information, file , or record with other systems in your enterprise.  For example, enabling access by someone in accounting allows full review of the ‘back-up’ documents before approving an invoice.

Advanced Functionality

As part of the functionality of Laserfiche Cloud, FreeDoc^® can deliver a number of innovative features to improve internal operations.

What is Laserfiche Workflow?

FreeDoc^® uses Laserfiche Workflow to automate filing and classification, organizing, routing, and archiving of forms, invoices, and reports.

The Workflow offers a visual interface with over 100+ pre-built activities.  Complex tasks that once took hours of staff time can be automated.  In addition, there are pre-built activities for you to send emails, update Word and PDF documents, create and modify Office 365 items, interface with Laserfiche Forms, and more.

What is Laserfiche Forms?

Laserfiche Forms is just what it sounds like, a digital form creation tool.  FreeDoc^® likes to create forms within Laserfiche to run interactive support for process improvement, and routing for approval.  Once complete, the form will ‘auto-file’ itself using the data used to create the form.  Laserfiche Forms can even run on a website portal for access by those non-system users who are outside the enterprise.

What is Laserfiche Records Management?

FreeDoc^® uses Laserfiche Records Management to ensure compliance with state and federal records-keeping requirements.  Our favorite approach is to apply retention using records classification.  This can be built into the indexing process to happen ‘auto-magically’!

Using pre-defined rules, retention policies can be automatically applied to any document.  Notifications can be set to alert Records Managers when a document has reached retention and is ready for disposition.  An audit log runs behind the scenes to create a unified timeline of all relevant steps and actions in one place.

What is Laserfiche Robotic Process Automation?

Laserfiche Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is a cross-platform integration tool that FreeDoc^® can configure to automate routine tasks between your various data systems.

Now What?

Automation alone will not fix everything.  Digitizing a mess only creates a digital mess.  FreeDoc^® can help clean up the messy records, and, streamline inefficient processes.

FreeDoc® can even help reduce old records, and re-organize current records to make these more accessible.

FreeDoc^® can also create a road map to better understand business processes.  Doing this allows you to make good decisions on where to focus your energies.

Who is FreeDoc^®?

FreeDoc^® is an award-winning provider with 26 years’ of ECM experience.

Our first project was Accounts Payable Automation for Microsoft, in 1999.

FreeDoc^® Customers today are US light manufacturers and heavy industry, plus government agencies.

As one of just seventeen Laserfiche Premier Partners in the US, FreeDoc^®  uniquely combines Records Management with Process Automation, System Migration and Document Scanning to help organizations optimize their internal process and better serve their customers.

Interested in hearing how FreeDoc^® can help you?

Call us! (425) 977 – 4222, x. 223.

Let’s have a conversation.