Data collection is now possible anytime and anywhere with compliance-led multichannel capture processes. Markus Pichler, a director at ABBYY, explains why these are becoming more and more necessary to compliance.

Companies across the developed world receive a daily influx of documents from business partners, suppliers and customers. Each day the data tide continues to rise, making it difficult for organisations to keep the massive amount of data under control. To effectively deal with growing numbers of documents, companies must ensure information travels through the right channels and is processed as quickly as possible.

Many businesses have wised up to the benefits of implementing an electronic document management system to create efficiencies and convert the information contained within documents into value-adds. However, for many organisations a data collection system is also essential to meet compliance and regulation requirements.

To meet these requirements, modern document management systems have to adapt to the legislation of different countries and at the same time meet the steady growth of data and documents and changing business needs.

Simpler business processes

Document management systems allow businesses to automate and simplify their processes. It is not only the quantity of data that poses a challenge to business owners nowadays. Managers today receive data from a variety of sources and in several different formats. These all require an error-free 'document and data capture process' that manual forms of entry and archiving simply cannot achieve.

The changing world of work

Today, multichannel capture must play a part in companies' document management strategies. We are moving away from employees being located in one central office. Instead, the modern workforce is typically spread out across branch offices, home offices, working remotely on the road or at a customer's site. With this, document management must evolve to become more agile and scalable (i.e. capable of being used on both a large and small scale according to requirements). The full process - from the scanning, detection and indexing to the searching, processing and archiving of digital images, electronic documents and data - now takes place in increasingly diverse channels. These include scanners, multifunction printers (MFPs), e-mail, fax and the ever-frequent use of mobile devices.

Although physical files are vulnerable to loss, damage or misfiling, the compliance benefits of electronic document management are fast becoming a necessity for regulated bodies with many documents and data legally having to be protected and accessible for several years. It makes business sense to opt for an electronic document management (eDM) solution. It provides secure storage to file away invoices and keep track of payment status. From a legal standpoint, it monitors the approval process of documents such as contracts, non-disclosure agreements and other legal files. It is also incredibly useful in the unlikely cases of eDiscovery investigations that might occur years after the conduct in question.

The flexible cloud

When a company tries to integrate offices at many locations and mobile workers into the business process, document capture and processing is increasingly best carried out in the cloud. This enables companies - and their workforces - to be more flexibile. Web-based technologies such as the cloud or web capture offer the highest safety standards that many organisations require during data transmission which means companies need to offer special security standards to prevent data snooping and protect sensitive data that reaches the hands of third parties.