Filing new documents — even electronic ones — can be a mentally exhausting process, especially when a large number of different documents are involved. This process can be made a lot simpler using a document management software like GLOBODOX which offers users multiple features to quickly and easily file new documents, even if they are not adapt at using document management software. One such feature is Watch Folder.
How GLOBODOX’s “Watch Folder” feature enables easy document filing
The Watch Folder feature offers GLOBODOX users an easy and almost automatic way to file documents. Even users who only have basic knowledge on operating a Windows computer — such as knowing how to copy-paste files and navigate through folders — can add documents to GLOBODOX without even having to open the application. Following are a few scenarios in which the Watch Folder feature can be valuable to businesses:
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Watch folders is helping novice users file documents
Morgan and Co is a large accounting firm that deals with dozens of different clients on a daily basis. And in the process, the firm generates hundreds and, sometimes, thousands of documents every week. Each of these documents is very important and needs to be stored in a well-organized manner to be easily retrieved whenever needed. And to achieve this, the firm uses GLOBODOX document management software.
Using GLOBODOX’s option to define different document types, the firm classifies its documents based on their content as a ‘Bill’, ‘Invoice’, ‘Contract’, ‘Receipt’, ‘Balance Sheet’, ‘Cash Flow Statement’, ‘Tax Report, etc.
Each of these documents has a different set of metadata. For instance, the document type ‘Bill’ will have associated metadata such as ‘Date’, ‘Payment mode’, ‘Client’, and ‘Amount’. Similarly, a Tax report has metadata like ‘Client’, ‘Year’, ‘Audited by’, ‘Date generated’, ‘Due date’, ‘Filing frequency’, etc.
These documents are also stored in different folders on GLOBODOX for further classification. The firm also creates a stack for each client it has, which helps the accountants to quickly find and retrieve all the documents related to a specific client when needed.
Whenever a new document needs to be filed, it must be filed along with all the above information in the right metadata fields. Firstly, the document must be classified as one of the multiple document types, based on its content. Then the metadata must be entered accurately in each field and then each of these documents must be added to the right folder or stack on GLOBODOX.
However, Sam, the office assistant who is tasked with handling all documents at the firm, is not very well-acquainted with the firm’s complex system of classifying documents. He also isn’t very well acquainted with computers. He only has the basic know-how of using a Windows system, such as navigating through different folders and copying or moving documents between hard drive locations.
But thanks to GLOBODOX’s Watch Folder feature, Sam doesn’t have to know anything more. He can easily file new documents without having to go through the entire process of entering metadata and choosing the right stack on GLOBODOX. In fact, he doesn’t even have to open the GLOBODOX application to file new documents!
Using the Watch Folder feature, the office administrator can create a folder that can be constantly “watched” by GLOBODOX. Any document added to the folder will be automatically saved to GLOBODOX. The administrator can assign the folder with a default destination profile to automatically classify the document into a specific document type, stack, and folder. Similarly, the administrator can also tell GLOBODOX to monitor multiple folders for multiple document types.
For instance, the administrator creates folders named “INVOICE”, “BILL”, “RECEIPT”, etc. and assigns them different destination profiles. He can also place these folders within different folders for different clients.
So, the documents saved to the folder named INVOICE can be saved as an Invoice document type, and those saved in BILL will be saved as a bill, with all the relevant metadata extracted from the document itself using the Zone Maps feature. The Zone Maps feature of GLOBODOX allows users to specify areas on documents that can be scanned to extract metadata.
Thus, all Sam has to do is copy or move the document to the specified folder, and the document will be automatically saved in GLOBODOX as the right document type and in the right stack. The documents are saved with relevant file names to help Sam find the right folder to copy them to.
For instance, a DOC invoice for a client named AZ Corp. can be saved as ‘AZ invoice.doc’ This tells Sam that the document must be copied to the subfolder ‘INVOICE’ within the folder ‘AZ’. And due to the Watch Folder configuration for that specific folder, the document will be saved in the stack named ‘AZ Corp.’ and as a document type ‘Invoice’.
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Watch Folder helps in saving documents directly from other applications
You can use the Watch Folder to save documents generated by other applications directly to GLOBODOX. For instance, if Morgan and Co. uses a CRM application that automatically generates reports in the XLS format and the internal accounting team wants to retain the spreadsheet in GLOBODOX without changing the format, they can easily do so using the Watch Folder function.
All the administrator has to do is set the destination folder for the CRM application as a folder to be watched by GLOBODOX. They can also set a destination profile as per their requirements to specify the folder, the stack, document type, and other instructions for saving the files. Using this method the accounting team can store the document in the XLS format.
Another way GLOBODOX can be used in conjunction with other business applications is to initiate workflows and expedite business processes. For instance, say Morgan and Co’s CRM system automatically generates bills that need approval by multiple senior partners before sending to clients.
To do so, the administrator or one of the users can configure GLOBODOX to watch the folder where the CRM automatically saves newly generated bills. A destination profile can be given to the folder, which automatically assigns the document to Jane from the billing department. Jane can then initiate a workflow where the bill is sent to the different partners for approval and gets automatically emailed to the respective client after gaining
the requisite approval. -
Filing documents using TWAIN incompatible scanners
Morgan and Co, like many other businesses, use a Fujitsu ScanSnap scanner due to the ease of its use even for the most technologically uninitiated. However, the Fujitsu ScanSnap series is not TWAIN compliant, which means it does not have a driver that enables it to communicate with other applications such as document management software.
Thus, in most cases, the scanner cannot be used to directly add documents to an organization’s document management software. But Morgan and Co don’t face that problem. That’s because they have GLOBODOX’s Watch Folder feature.
All the administrator had to do was set the Scanner’s Save Destination folder as a watched folder. Thus, any document that is scanned by the company’s scanner gets automatically added to GLOBODOX and assigned to a clerk who then files the document as required.
Thus, Watch Folder is a must-have feature for any organization like Morgan and Co., which requires extensive document management functionality for a user base of varying levels of tech-familiarity. And Watch Folder is just one of many GLOBODOX features that enable even the most novice users to use powerful document management functions without any training. This makes GLOBODOX one of the most user-friendly document management software in the market, despite being packed with a host of industry-standard capabilities. Now that you know how Watch Folder can simplify document management for you and your team, you can see it in action by downloading GLOBODOX for free right away!
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