Tools for a Paperless Office - A GetApp Review

FileHold Review – A Robust Document Management Tool

Most of the corporate world has yet to realize the dream of a paperless office, with reams of paper often being printed and tossed out each week. While many businesses realize the cost savings that can be achieved through going paperless, electronic document management systems can often be pricey and far more robust than many businesses need.

FileHold provides an easy-to-use document management software that integrates with many of the applications businesses use each day. This FileHold review will look at the application’s basic functionality and recently added features to help businesses determine if it will help them reduce the amount of paper they output each year.

FileHold Review - About the Company

The head office is Based in British Columbia Canada but the company has its software installed all over the world including the United States, China, Australia, UK, Africa and South America. The company has perfected the ability to install, train and support remote customers using web based tools, this helps keep the total cost of ownership affordable. FileHold also has a network of re-sellers that add value to the product and provide local assistance when needed.

FileHold specializes in making file storage and retrieval easier for businesses. FileHold software is designed to manage and audit a document from creation to archival to disposition. Whether an organization is working hard to meet its regulatory compliance requirements or simply wanting to convert file cabinets full of documents to electronic form, FileHold provides the tools to help.

Main Functionality of FileHold

To provide an intuitive experience for customers, FileHold has striven to mimic the Windows interface in its interface. The app uses folders similar to those found in Microsoft’s File Explorer to help users easily organize documents for later retrieval.

What is New in FileHold

FileHold has been in the market since 2005 constantly adding new features. More than 20,000 seats of the software has been sold to a global marketplace. In its most recent release; FileHold, the company has added functionality for today’s mobile user including the ability to capture documents (images) and add them to the central repository from a variety of mobile devices.

The company has enhanced the Document Workflow Review and Approval features, giving users the ability to initiate a variety of review, edit and approval activities. Deskbound and mobile workers have the ability to sign off on each document before being distributed. This is especially important for businesses dealing with Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable documents or time sensitive documents such as legal contracts or business plans.

FileHold also adds a great deal of functionality to make integration with 3rd party products even easier. Free of charge is a fully documented “Web Services API”, plus optional features that give users the ability to search for documents or store documents in FileHold from any other business application.

FileHold provides a solution that can be learned in minutes. Each of its features is guided by its Customer Advisory Group, which keeps the company involved in the document management needs of today’s enterprises.

The Basics: What Does It Look Like?

The interface looks similar to File Explorer at initial login. Clicking on any folder on the left expands that folder on the right.
Double-clicking on a file opens it in the original application. Users can also sort columns by clicking on the header at the top. Using the search bar in top right-hand corner, users can search for specific files by keywords.
Using the inbox, users can manage new files that have been added to the system, whether the file was added by scanner, dragged and dropped from a user’s desktop, or manually added through File-Open. Once the file is added, a user needs only click on “Set Metadata” to add information about that file.
Rules can also be set up to automate the process of cataloging and adding metadata to files as soon as they’re added.
Within FileHold, documents can be saved as favorites. Users can also check documents in and out to prevent one user from modifying a document while another is using it.
With workflow, organizations can set up workflow to send certain documents through reviewers before they are posted in the system.
A reviewer will see a list of all items that need action in the “My Tasks” section. From here, the reviewer can choose a document, review it, and take the appropriate actions.
For approval, users will be required to enter a password which acts like an “electronic signature” to ensure authentication of the approval.
A dashboard gives users the ability to see where a document is in the approval process.

Support Information

FileHold customers are supported through the FileCare program, which includes all product upgrades at no cost and 24/7 support portal availability. Support is typically provided by phone, web meeting software, or remote login but in special circumstances it can also be provided on site. Users are also supported by extensive online documentation, a built in “help” functionality, on line video tours and may contract for custom documentation.

Pricing Information

FileHold has two different versions: Express for SMBs, departments of large companies or for those who would like to minimize risk simply by starting small and grow over time.

Enterprise is for larger organizations that scales to accommodate thousands of users and millions of documents.

FileHold Express has a one-time fee of $3,750, which includes server and scanning software and five user licenses, while FileHold Enterprise charges a per-user fee through volume licensing.

Both versions provide a total of 11 different user roles “Out of the Box”. This gives customers near infinite flexibility to give different users ranging from; “read only” to ”Sysadmin” the power (or not) to control access to and modification of documents.

FileHold Review - The Bottom Line

FileHold is a robust document management software tool that requires a dedicated hardware or Virtual Machine Server, Microsoft SQL and Windows Server. This may be more than small business can provide unless they have critical documents that need to be version controlled and audited in which case they can subscribe to a "Cloud" model provided by several FileHold partners.

For larger organizations, this is a more affordable tool that includes the features businesses seek when dealing with both working documents and those that are being archived and scheduled for disposition.

Ratings: ease of use 4/5, features 4/5, value 3/5