Document Management Software - Welcome to FileHold

FileHold software is the affordable, feature rich, fast track to the paperless office

FileHold manufactures document management software and sells it directly and through a worldwide network of Partners. FileHold keeps the Total Cost of Ownership low by going to market via the web and delivering implementation and support using modern web based technologies.

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FileHold offers two products:

FileHold Express: for up to 10 users that can run on the free version of Microsoft SQL Express: Download the FileHold Express Datasheet

FileHold Enterprise: that scales to thousands of users and millions of documents: Download the FileHold Enterprise Datasheet

FileHold document management software is built on the Microsoft .NET framework Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) model. The main subsystems of FileHold communicate with each other via web service calls. These web services are available to third parties to provide easy integration with other enterprise solutions and productivity applications.

Go directly to important sections of this web site:

• Attend a Webinar FileHold Demonstration
• Learn How to Buy
• Become a Partner
• View Sample Screenshots
• Take a Video Tour
• Ask for an In-house Trial
• Read Case Studies and White Papers
• Meet some FileHold Customers
• Get help Writing an RFP
• Learn about the FileCare Program to protect your investment
• View the on-line help documentation

Document Management Software Features Summary

• Version control: Every version of every document is uniquely numbered to prevent accidental overwrites and deletions.
• Document scanning: FileHold document management software ships with scanning software to support over 300 different scanner or MFC types.
• Document Archive: Retain document, data and usage history needed to stay in compliance with SOX, HIPPA etc.
• Full Text Search: Find what you need based on Powerful Full-text and Tag Based search.
• Microsoft Office integration: Direct access from FileHold to Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint and Visio.
• Microsoft SharePoint: Install as a Web Part of SharePoint.
• Workflow: Route documents to co-workers for approval or comment using mark up, sticky notes and annotations. Track who has approved which version of a document.
• Web interface: Document Management Software that works where you work.
• E-mail notification: Users are alerted to electronic documents needing their attention.
• Document Filing: Easy to use controlled document tagging ensures documents are classified for recovery.
• Intuitive: Document management software that mimics your current office filing structure.
• "FastFind": integrate powerful FileHold search with any windows forms application.
• Out-of-the-box Security: Pre-configured roles for Read Only users, Publishers, Librarians & System Administrators.
• Service Oriented Architecture: supports thousands of users, millions of files.
• Web Services API: Provides flexible integration with existing back office systems.
• Redaction - The ability to securely "black out" sensitive information from any document.
• Mark Up and Annotations: Make sticky notes and messages on documents with opening them.
• CAD viewers: View CAD and other formats without the native application.
• Auto Document Numbering - The ability to automatically or manually apply document control numbers to documents.
• Matter Centric Filing: Automatically add searchable metadata or "tags" to documents that are associated with the same subject matter.
• FileHold Reporting: Many built in reports that give administrators information about the usage of FileHold by document version and users.
• SQL reporting Services tool set: A tool set to enable users to develop custom reports using the Microsoft® SQL Server 2005 Business Intelligence (BI) Development Studio.

Document Management Software - Introduction

Resources on Document Management Software

The following is an overview of the Document Management software in general. If you are looking for the FileHold product documentation, best practices and how to resources on how best to use FileHold software, click here.

An Introduction to Document Management Software

Document Management Software provides a foundation for the computerized management of electronic as well as paper-based documents. Management activities around documents may include the capture, collaboration, creation, editing, control and distribution of scanned and electronic documents. Document management systems are becoming more important as it becomes increasingly obvious that the paperless office is an ideal that may never be achieved. Instead, the goal is to create a system that can handle paper and electronic documents together. The major pillars that support a company's document management software strategy are as follows:

• Document Capture - There are two ways in which documents are added to the system. Typically paper based documents can be quickly scanned and imported into the system in an inexpensive and easy manner. Users working with files that are already in electronic format will also add documents directly. The volume of documents captured depends on the working environment and can range from a handful of documents to thousands per day in high capture environments.
• Document Repository - The electronic document management system provides long-term, secure and reliable storage for documents. The software must accommodate changes to: documents as they proceed through their lifecycle; growing volumes of documents; and the ability to carefully limit access of documents to specific users or groups.
• Document Lifecycle Management - While stored in the document repository this includes managing the captured files as they go through their lifecycle. This is a particularly key component to any paperless office software system. Multiple revisions of a document must be tracked with users needing the ability to rollback to previous versions as required. Check in and checkout facilities are needed to ensure consistency of documents and prevent overwrites from occurring.
• Document Indexing - The library indexing system should create an environment in which a Library Administrator - responsible for organizing documents on behalf of the company - can quickly specify where documents are stored and can control the vocabulary used when categorizing the documents for later retrieval. The use of controlled vocabularies and managed thesauri - which are typically specific to the company that is using them - are essential for ensuring that files can be efficiently retrieved in the future.
• Document Search - The document search system should allow users to easily find the right documents by searching using indexing values based on a centrally controlled vocabulary of terms or free text searching against an index that has been created based on the text contained within the document. Searching via either means should make finding documents very easy and accurate with a limited number of zero or too many returns.
• Document Access Control - A good document management system will allow for the tight access control for different types of documents stored, and the locations in the document repository in which users and groups can access. To prevent documents from being accessed by outsiders they should be encrypted to ensure all access occurs via the paperless office software interface.
• Document Management Workflow - Electronic document management software typically includes a workflow model for certifying and electronically signing documents. Document workflow's are usually created on an ad-hoc or with a template driven process. Workflow solutions can be implemented with autonomous clients which users mostly work with or as a background service that controls the information and document flow, without requiring a front end client.

2. Document Management FAQ

The following Document Management software FAQ is intended as a resource for the general public and contains answers to questions we are frequently asked. Use the following link to go to the Document Management FAQ

Document Management Glossary of Terms

Are you confused by all of the different terms that are used when describing the above tools & technologies? The Document Management Glossary will help you wade through the industry jargon.

Document Tagging, Classification & Filing Best Practices

Document Management Software provides a framework for which users can store and classify documents. The centralized management of a controlled document tagging vocabulary and structured filing environment are required to ensure that documents can be quickly retrieved at a later date. Once defined, end users are limited to adding content in a structured way that facilitates fast retrieval and is in-line with the best practice of the organization. The following topics are covered in this series of best practices.

Document Management Software the Key Elements to the Paperless Office

Creating a structured document management system can be a challenging task. FileHold document management software is easy to use and follows common sense practices that make it easy. The following describes the five Key elements from hierarchy design, document search and retrieval to user and document security.

1 - Designing the Document Filing Hierarchy - Central to the usability of document management software are features that enable users to find information.

In unstructured environments such as a shared network drive, the tendency is for the document folder hierarchy to be too shallow or too deep. This prevents users from browsing the system efficiently. Studies have shown that:

• For every level that a folder-file hierarchy is greater than 5 levels it is exponentially more difficult to browse to locate documents as users are forced to drill deeper and deeper into a nested series of folders.
• For hierarchies that are too shallow; (files stored in less than 3 levels deep) forces users to scroll down long lists of folders to arrive at relevant information. To read a white paper on hierarchy, click here.

Hierarchy is a proven concept. For years businesses have used filing cabinets to organize documents to at least 4 levels with Cabinets, drawers and folders filled with files. FileHold documents storage provides a hierarchy that models the real world with Cabinets, Drawers, Categories and Folders.

In FileHold document management software, the creation of the Cabinets and Drawers is centrally managed by library administrators. Users are forced to select down to at least 3 levels before filing can occur. The document management software also controls the depth at which folders can be added ensuring that filing beyond 5 levels doesn't occur. The resulting document filing framework is optimized for browsing by all users for both document and records management scenarios.

2 - Defining a Document Tagging (Metadata) Vocabulary - Tags associated with documents act like library cards helping users to compare and retrieve documents without opening the actual file.

Defining a document tagging or metadata vocabulary requires an understanding of different types of documents the company needs to manage and the essential information associated with each document type. The task of managing a tagging vocabulary is usually the document librarian or library administrator (in larger organizations) or business/ department managers in smaller companies.

For example, many financial departments use Document Management Software to track Invoices, Purchase Orders and Checks. Each one of these document types has a unique tagging profile associated with it. An Invoice document profile may contain Invoice Amount, Invoice Date, Product Name(s) and Customer Name.



Some tagging (metadata) elements are common to many document types. For example, the Customer name tag is typically common to Invoices, Purchase Orders (P.O.) and Checks profiles.



The Document Management Software must allow for the creation of a tagging vocabulary framework that allows for different types of documents each with their own tagging profile. The system should be flexible enough to allow tagging to occur quickly by end users and should support;

• Tags that users complete by entering a text, numeric, currency or date value.
• Pick from a list of pre-defined values. For example a pick list may contain a pre-defined list of company products, customer names or company departments.
• The ability to set individual fields as required to be completed when tagging a document as a user is adding a document thus ensuring a minimum information requirement are captured. For example when adding an Invoice document users must tag the document with an invoice number and have the option of tagging the document with the invoice date.
• Ability to define tags across different types of documents. For example the Customer Name tags can be used for the Invoices, Purchase Orders and Checks document types.
• Ability to tag documents en-masse with the same value. For example, users should be able to associate a customer name tag value to a group of 20 invoices at the same time.

The size of the organization and the volume of documents should dictate how granular the library administrator should make each document type. A company with relatively few financial transactions per month may have a document type called 'Sales & Billing Documents'. Within this type a pick list may be defined further classifying this document to be a Invoice, Check or Purchase Order. Conversely, a company that conducts thousands of financial transactions a month would create separate document types to track for Invoices, Checks and Purchase Orders. Each of these would have their own document tagging profiles.

FileHold document management software allows library administrators to create a controlled tagging vocabulary containing tagging profiles that satisfies all aforementioned requirements. Over time, new document profiles can be added or existing ones edited to meet the changing needs of the organization.

3 - Adding Documents to the Document Management Library Users must be able to specify storage location and document tagging information for each document.

Once the document filing environment and tagging standards are configured users are then able to add and tag new documents to the library. When adding, editing or checking in documents to the Document Management Software, users first select the area (or folder) where they want to store the document. They then proceed with tagging the document by selecting the type of document it is before completing the tag profile for the type of document selected.

FileHold document management software supports the ability for users to specify storage location and document tagging information for each document. Contributors can then quickly specify authorization rights for the files they are adding.

In some cases a part of tagging includes the ability to link the document to other documents stored in the library. This ability (sometimes referred to as the creation of compound documents) adds another dimension to the document classification from strictly tagging to making logical relationships between documents based on user experience and business context.

User defined document linking when used correctly can dramatically improve search performance as related files to be retrieved that are associated with other documents. FileHold document management software supports the ability to create document-to-document relationships resulting in compound documents.

4- Document Searching and Retrieval - The time savings from improved search performance adds directly to the bottom line

The ability to retrieve documents quickly using full text searches or the tags associated with a document is a key benefit derived from tagging. To ensure quick and accurate document retrieval, Document Management Software Systems require the following capabilities:

• Ability to search using the document tag values. For example, searching Invoice document profiles for Invoices where customer name field = ACME Cooling Co.
• Search across different document types with the same document tag value. For example, searching for all types of documents that; a) have a Customer name tag and b) the value of this tag = ACME Cooling Co.
• Ability to view documents linked to the document if such relationships exist. For example, searching for and finding an Invoice and viewing all related files to the Invoice including Purchase Orders and Checks.
• Full Text document searching for keywords or phrases contained within the file. The first Key Element in the full text searching occurs as the Document Management Software builds an index of text strings extracted from all stored documents. To avoid impacting system performance, indexing is performed as a background task often at pre-scheduled times. To identify words and phrases in a document, the index engine runs it through a filter. Once complete users can search for words or phrases in documents using the index directly.

For example: FileHold Document management software filters allow you to index common file types including Adobe Acrobat, Microsoft Office, Lotus, Corel, Mark-up Language Files and more. The extracted words and phrases are added to the index with pointers to the document that they were located in. This index is then searchable by end users via the full text search engine.

FileHold Document management software provides complete document tag and full text search capabilities for fast and accurate searching and retrieval of documents. Search-in-search capabilities allow their users to refine search based on previous search results. Search results also contain links to related documents allowing users to quickly display documents linked to the one you are viewing.

5 - Document Security and Authorization - in unstructured work environments authorization controls are neglected resulting in all users having unrestricted access to all documents.

FileHold document management software provides system authorization control that covers all classification and retrieval activities in the Document Management Software. System authorization can be broken down into two interrelated activities: 1) controlling access to documents 2) controlling the extent to which a document can be utilized. For example 2 different users may be authorized to access to the same purchase order document but one user has read, add, edit abilities and the other is given "read only" access.

Another challenge exists in the delegation of authorization control to administrators and end users. If administrators manage both controls they quickly become bottlenecks as they must control authorization for all content being added. If end users handle both activities document security may be compromised as users may be given edit or delete privileges to files in the system that they should only be able to read. Document security and authorization becomes even more critical in extranet situations when non-employees need to be restricted to what they can see and do when accessing company files.

The most effective blend of Authorization control is a split between administrators and content contributors with contributors controlling access to the documents and administrators controlling read, add, edit and delete access to the system.

In FileHold document management software administrators maintain system level access controlling which users / groups can read, add, edit or delete content. Content contributors then control which users can access the content they add to the system. This extends to Document retrieval, ensuring that users can only retrieve content they are authorized to retrieve.

Summary: FileHold is the fast track to the paperless office. To learn more about your specific needs contact .