The All-In-One Browser-Based Document Management Solution

The All-In-OneBrowser-BasedDocument Management Solution

General Overview of Content Central

Content Central sets the standard for document managementand workflow solutions. Users access and interact with theapplication by logging in using a preferred Web browser, fromInternet Explorer to Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome. Everyoperation occurs within this browser-based interface, fromcapturing, indexing, and retrieving documents to approving anddistributing them.

Take advantage of the many benefits a browser-basedapplication offers, including quick deployment, controlled &logged access, and remote connectivity. Administrators installContent Central on a single Microsoft Windows server oracross multiple servers for performance. After user accountshave been defined, users connect from available Windows,Mac, or Linux computers on the network.

Inside Content Central you can create documents usingPDF-based electronic forms. Documents and other files can becaptured from document scanners, network folders, e-mailaccounts, or user interaction. Content Central convertsscanned images into fully searchable PDF files, and all

Content CentralDocument Management Software

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documents can be retrieved using content keywords and otherindex information based on the type of document. Integratede-mail and fax tools allow you and your team to distributedocuments without requiring external software. A powerfulworkflow engine can manage your information behind thescenes based on system events or schedules.

Best of all, you receive every feature for one affordable price,paying only by the number of users required; there aren't anyconfusing add-on modules to worry about.

Approval Processing

Built in to Content Central is a powerful approval-processingengine, giving you the ability to define an unlimited number ofapproval processes. These electronic processes let you easilymanage the stages of a document's life cycle by automaticallymoving them along workflow paths that you define.

Members of approval processes either approve or rejectdocuments that arrive in their Approval Queue. Theadministrative Approval Queue lets managers view documentsat all stages and provides the ability to approve, reject, andremove any documents in view.

Add one or more users, groups, or document creators to eachprocess, generating stages. Add deadlines and priorities toenhance control over each stage, encouraging or requiringusers to first process higher-priority items. You can createspecial stages for peer review and ad-hoc selection of users asdocuments move from one stage to another. Enable automatede-mail notifications for both new arrivals and deadlines to alertusers when one or more documents need immediate attention.Any type of event can start approval processes, includingdocument capture, changes to field values, or user interaction.Additional workflow rules can be triggered at any stage oraction in a process, such as the arrival to a specific stage or anapproval by the final member.

System administrators can grant permission to designatedusers for management responsibilities over one or more


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processes. Additionally, Content Central maintains a completeevent history for auditing purposes.

Electronic Capture

Content Central accepts files of any type obtained by variousmeans, including user uploads, e-mail accounts, and networkmonitoring.

The Catalog Service, which operates in the background,automatically recognizes content as it becomes available bymonitoring specific network folders and e-mail accounts.

Users capture data by uploading them or using drag-and-dropfeatures of the operating system. Single files can be indexedand uploaded in one step using an intuitive interface. Forgroups of files, a browser-based drag-and-drop feature lets youdrag folders or files from your computer into any accessiblefolder in Content Central.

To complete the process, configured Folder & File Buildingrules can mimic your existing network folder structure. Theserules ensure newly captured documents will be archived usingfamiliar naming conventions.


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Paper Capture

Content Central can capture and process digital images ofpaper documents from most document scanners, includingmultifunction devices (copiers, MFPs) and convenient desktopscanners.

DirectScan lets you capture paper documents using your Webbrowser and any TWAIN-compliant scanner connected to thedesktop computer. The browser-based nature of DirectScanallows off-site document capture, which isn't available in atraditional DMS. Captured documents will be routed directlyinto Content Central for image processing. The CaptureService, operating in the background, converts all scannedimages into fully-searchable PDF files for retrieval.

Barcoded documents, known as QCards, can be printed andused as cover sheets to identify one or more documents duringthe scanning process. QCards help facilitate capturing largebatches of documents by allowing you to scan hundreds ofpages in a single session using one or more documentscanners in your office.

Content Central can also import scanned images of documents(TIFF, PDF, JPEG, BMP, GIF, PNG) that have been previouslyscanned and stored in network folders. Additionally,Java-based applets exist for select multifunction devices. Askan Ademero solutions consultant for details.

Collaboration

Collaboration in Content Central centers around the WorkQueue. Each user's Work Queue can contain one or moreitems of importance that other users may also share. Withgranted permission, you can add documents and other contentto the Work Queue of one or more users and groups in ContentCentral. Users can also add documents to their own WorkQueue. Optional expiration dates can be defined to preventitems from staying in Work Queues for too long. After requiredoperations have been completed, users can either remove ormove documents out of their Work Queue.


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When collaboration activities involve editing content, items canbe checked out before they're edited, and checked in whenedits have been completed, ensuring two users don't makechanges at the same time.

In addition to internal use, temporary access to one or moreitems can be granted to outside users using Content Central'sdocument-sharing feature. Users with the share permissioncan assign items to one or more public users by providing theire-mail address in an assignment dialog. The outside users willreceive complete instructions on how to access ContentCentral as well as the content that's been shared.

Distribution

Content Central contains a number of tools to help authorizedusers distribute documents and other content.

Integrated e-mail and fax features let users route documents toone or more recipients after entering their details or selectingthem from a personal address book. You can provide both asubject and message body to send along with the documents.When sending an e-mail, multiple files can be zip compressedwith a single click.

Along with demand-based e-mailing, Content Central'sworkflow engine can distribute content automatically whenconfigured workflow events are triggered, such as a documentapproval or change to content.

The document-sharing feature provides a secure way totemporarily share information with others. Documents thathave been designated for sharing can be distributed to outsideparties having an e-mail address. Content Central instantlysends instructions containing the information needed toconnect and access the shared documents.


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Editing

Content Central offers multiple ways to edit documents.Because all documents are stored in their original formats,Content Central lets you edit them with their nativeapplications.

The Content Director, a plugin accessed within ContentCentral, provides simple one-click document editing. This toolchecks out a document and launches its native applicationautomatically. After you've completed your changes and closethe application, the revised document is automaticallyuploaded back to the server.

You can also perform an edit manually by first checking out thedocument in Content Central. Once the document has beenchecked out, you can download it, modify it, and upload it backinto the server at your convenience.

Along with editing the contents of a document, tools exist forappending and replacing.

Forms Processing

Using PDF forms, new documents can be generated instantlyin Content Central. These digital forms can be uploaded intoContent Central and used as templates for new documents.They can contain selection lists, field requirements, andembedded calculations to decrease the amount of time it takesto generate new information in your office.

During the creation process, Content Central's indexinformation is automatically transferred to the new document.Conversely, any changes made to index-based data within thePDF form will be reflected in Content Central.

Documents requiring sequential form numbering can begenerated using auto-incrementing numeric fields in ContentCentral. This allows document types like purchase orders andinvoices to be generated with ease.


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Every change is tracked because a new document version isgenerated each time an existing form is updated.

Indexing

Indexing in Content Central is a key component to facilitatecapturing, searching, and more.

Users provide index information before or after the captureprocess depending upon the type of document. Some indexdata can be obtained automatically from barcodes or text foundon your documents.

Index fields exist as text, numeric, or date types. The type offield selected determines the options available, such as thenumber of decimal places for a currency field or the formattingrequirements for an invoice field. Numeric fields can beautomatically incremented as new documents are generated.

Any field can be marked required, preventing users fromcapturing documents before providing important indexinformation.

Along with searching for documents, indexing can be usedduring the capture process to automatically generate folders,subfolders, and filenames, intelligently organizing yourdocument collections.

Integration

Content Central integrates with many software packages, fromaccounting software and project management applications toMicrosoft Office. Information can be pulled from otherapplications during the capture process to make the indexingtask an easy and accurate endeavor. Users can provide as fewas one index field and obtain the rest with a single click. Otherintegration scenarios can be completely automated when theprimary key is obtained from the document in the form of abarcode or text zone.


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Content Central can push information to qualifying applicationsusing workflow rules based on events or schedules. Thedocuments in Content Central can be accessed externally byusers or processes having elevated security permissions, andContent Central operates using the SQL Server databaseengine.

Finally, Content Central integrates with Microsoft Office 2003,2007, and 2010. Documents can be checked out, uploaded,and edited using add-on tools for your Office applications likeWord and Excel.

Packets

A Packet in Content Central is a collection of relateddocuments. Each packet is linked by a common index field. Inan accounts-payable example, a PO number links a purchaseorder, invoice, and check.

You can view an entire packet from any of its individualdocuments. This view reveals whether a packet is complete ormissing one or more documents. Automated workflow rulescan alert you when a packet remains incomplete for a specifiedperiod of time. Other workflow rules can be configured to beginwhen a packet is completed, such as an approval process onthe entire packet.

Along with document grouping, packets provide an easy wayfor related documents to be downloaded or distributed viae-mail.

Search & Retrieval

Content Central gives you a simple, yet powerful way to searchfor information, employing familiar techniques you've used onan Internet search engine. You can find content by searchingfor any word contained in the document even if the original wasin paper form. Content Central also allows you to finddocuments using index fields, such as vendor name, POnumber, or invoice number.


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The Catalog Browser adds file-explorer functionality to yourWeb browser, providing a visual hierarchy of folders and thefiles they contain. You can locate your documents bynavigating through available folders, and any document orgroup of documents can be cut or copied and pasted from onefolder to another.

Best of all, you can access your information from any computeron the network with a standard Web browser. You can evensearch for documents off site when you allow Internet accessto Content Central.

Security

Content Central keeps your information secure, requiring userauthentication with encrypted, one-way password verification.Along with manual additions, you can import users from one ormore Active Directory domains, simplifying the management ofuser account control.

The server can be configured to require users reconnect after apreferred period of inactivity. User-remembering features canbe disabled at the system level, requiring a username andpassword to be entered each time.

Access levels can be defined for each document type in thesystem. A range of configurable permissions exist, includingadding, editing, searching, viewing, and assigning. Add userswith similar access levels to groups, which can be grantedpermissions in the same manner as individual users.

Finally, an embedded system-event viewer lets administratorsaudit the actions taken by any user, including connections,searches, views, and edits.


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Storage

Content Central stores documents and other content in theiroriginal formats, using designated file-storage locations on yournetwork of servers. The folder structure for documents alwaysmatches what you see in the Catalog Browser, and eachversion is stored separately for quick and easy access insideContent Central. These storage locations are maintained andsecured by Content Central services. Users always accessdocuments through the browser-based interface.

You can define retention policies for any document type in thesystem. Each retention policy can be set to a defined period ofyears, months, weeks, or days. Some users with elevatedpermissions can define custom retention policies for individualdocuments. Those that expire are automatically moved out ofContent Central for offline archiving and storage.

Support & Assistance

Ademero supports Content Central with a 24-hour call centerlocated in Central Florida. You can contact support techniciansvia phone, live chat, or e-mail. For added convenience, userscan access live-chat operators directly from Content Central'shelp menu.

Version Control

Content Central maintains a complete revision history for alltypes of documents.

Revisions are divided into groups of major and minor versions.Document additions and content editing generate a majorversion, such as 1.0 and 2.0. Content Central stores aseparate instance of these major versions, which can beaccessed at any time. Users view or download older versionsof a document by accessing a historical view of the document'slife.

Minor versions, such as 1.1 and 1.2, come from other events.


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Document approvals, rejections, and index-field updates arejust a few of the events that generate a minor version.

Workflow

Content Central's workflow engine automates document andcontent-related tasks, handling them in the background. Thisworkflow system increases productivity in your office byperforming routine operations without the need for humaninteraction.

Workflow operations begin with Workflow Rules, which consistof one or more triggers and one or more actions. A WorkflowTrigger determines how and when a workflow rule will begin.Triggers exist for system or user events like a newly captureddocument, a field-value update, or a document's departurefrom a work area. Other types of triggers include the age of adocument in the system, the amount of work in someone'squeue, or a deadline being reached in an approval process.

Workflow Actions do the work after a Rule has been triggered.Many types of Actions exist, from initiating approval processes,to moving content and sending e-mails. You can even launchother applications, a mechanism commonly used to invokeintegration scripts or export documents.

The Workflow Service operates around the clock, processingmultiple events and schedules simultaneously. Content Centrallogs all workflow actions the same way it tracks events comingfrom user interaction.