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DATAMARK recently announced the publishing of a white paper titled - “Backfile Conversion: Best Practices and Considerations for Electronic Document Management." The white paper addresses the issue of converting huge numbers of paper files that businesses and government agencies maintain into digital images which can be used in electronic document management (EDM) systems. DATAMARK Inc. specializes in high-volume digital mailroom management, document processing and management, and bilingual customer contact centers, and also offers business process consulting for a number of Fortune 500 firms and other leading organizations.

Many business and government agencies have already benefited from the adoption of EDM systems that guarantee not only speed, but also improved efficiency, and substantial cost savings, among other such benefits. However, there still exist a large number of organizations which have not made the shift from paper processes to digital workflows. 

These organizations maintain large storage spaces, sometimes warehouses, which are stacked with thousands of boxes containing paper documents which need to be converted into digital images and then uploaded onto the EDM system. These “backfiles” first need to be prepped and bar-coded for the purpose of tracking, and then passed through high-speed, high-volume platform scanners. Once the paper files have been converted into digital images, metadata which is needed for indexing, classification, and search is automatically captured by Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. Alternatively, this can be done manually by data entry personnel.

In a statement, David Peregrino, marketing coordinator for DATAMARK said, “Although the concept is simple on the surface -- scan, capture and upload to a server -- a large-scale backfile conversion project involving thousands of file folders, or millions of pages, is a complex task that requires thorough analysis and planning. We developed this white paper to give managers a solid overview of the planning process, as well as many practical considerations for leading a backfile project to a successful outcome.”

The company is offering a complimentary download of its white paper directly from its website. The link can be found in the “Resources” section of DATAMARK’s website.