DOCFLOW EPROCS: correspondence tracking

DOCFLOW EPROCS Protocol & Correspondence Tracking Nowadays, companies’ official communications have reached high volume levels and the multiplicity of the channels makes their management very complex.

While in the past such communications happened only through the mail and rarely through the telegram, today’s transmission channels have multiplied including telex, fax and e‐mail.

Controlling all the channels has become more and more difficult; on the other hand, the laws regarding the documents conservation have not changed, thus the current interpretation impose the conservation of the originals received and the copies of the ones transmitted.

This system makes the procedure really complex: it is more and more difficult to preserve information coming in in the electronic format and escaping from the current procedures oriented to the paper format documents management in the companies.

The huge amount of incoming and outgoing documents in the companies has to be managed in a complete way, in order to:

Check the incoming documents Check the outgoing documents Be sure not to lose the documents Know the position of the original document Be able, if necessary, to destroy the paper (with the AipaDocs module) Check the internal and external communications flow Ensure the documents confidentiality Fulfil the obligations imposed by the civil code regarding the documents conservation Fulfil the obligations related to the privacy law

FUNCTIONAL COMPOMENTS eProcsCT ensures the following:

Acquire the documents from the different sources Index the documents for a rapid search based on a defined pre‐classification Numerate the originals if in paper format Classify the originals in a file in order to consent a convenient processing

Assign the documents by users competence and knowledge Store the originals if not destroyed

DocFlow Italia Spa - Centro Direzionale Milanofiori strada 4 Palazzo Q8 20089 Rozzano MI Tel 02 57503366 Fax 02 57503369 marketing@docflow.it www.docflow.com

In the basic version, the system manages simple flows of approval and assignation; the advanced version manages all the processing with complex workflow, including the entire life cycle of the document and of the generated dossier (file).

The process flow is generated using a specific designer application: it consents to indicate the process status, the involved actors and the conditions to be verified in order to produce a duty transfer.

Every time that the conditions comply (i.e.: approval, temporal threshold overcoming, etc.) the system provides for the role resolution by establishing the subjects qualified for the next steps.

The choice of using roles instead of people prevents a change in the procedure description anytime that there are variations among the staff.

The users that have to carry out an action, are advised by a notification through e‐mail and find the file to be evaded on their virtual “desk”.

Besides, the tool can be used for the forecast of the work load, for the number of evaded files, of the ones in process and of the frozen ones.

Furthermore, the company can create simulations in order to determine appropriate organization measures.

FUNCTIONALITIES

The basic functionalities of the system are:

Protocol Marking Acquisition Association Classification Assignment Deletion Discard

PROTOCOL

It is the basic function providing the fill in of the incoming or outgoing document description chart.

Useful data to be introduced for the search are: date and time of record, protocol number assigned by the system, dispatcher and recipient, object of the document and number and description of possible attachments.

At the end of any single operation of the protocol cycle, the appropriate user for the next operation will be designed, along with possible short commentary notes, unless different set up.

The user indicated in this phase will visualize the document in his/her job area list and will be able to proceed to the required step. Once the operation concluded, the author of the previous step will receive a notification.

MARKING Marking operation consists in putting the pressmark related data on the received paper format document.

Data are printed either on the document directly or on a label that will be stick on the document.

The system manages: Printer pens • Stickers • Endorser •

The marking can be done before or after the acquisition in order to visualize or not the pressmark on the document image.

If the user does not acquire the marking, the system provides the apposition of a watermark on the image, a sort of an electronic stamp with the pressmark data.

Such “stamp” can be stored with the document or restored only at the moment of the visualization.

ACQUISITION This program allows the document acquisition from a scanner, a file, an e‐mail or a fax.

The scanning operation can be done singly for every document, with a scanner linked to the work station, by acquisition batches with high velocity automatic scanner or by external scan centres.

The program manages the primary documents as well as the attachments.

ASSOCIATION It provides for the association of the document dossier to the pressmark data; as well, it provides for the file transformation into PDF format in order to assure the future reading from any work station.

The document file origin can be from scanner, from fax, from mail, from file, etc,…

DocFlow Italia Spa - Centro Direzionale Milanofiori strada 4 Palazzo Q8 20089 Rozzano MI Tel 02 57503366 Fax 02 57503369 marketing@docflow.it www.docflow.com

Apart from the document converted in PDF format, the program also stores the document in its original format, in order to allow the signature check whenever the document is digitally signed.

CLASSIFICATION The classification consists in assigning the document to a dossier according to a classification plan decided by the board. A classification plan can be defined for every protocol record The dossiers opening and closing is allowed only to the users having the authority for.

The dossiers can contain other dossiers and thus be of any level number.

The dossiers can be: • of general nature (document category) • by object (physic or juridical matter) • by typology of represented act (duty instructions, deliberations, etc.)

• of proceeding nature (practical) • by procedure or matter

The general nature file is a static container, whereas the practical nature file “moves” among the organization units.

The dossiers can be opened at any time. Documents can not be inserted in closed dossiers and the dossiers can be broke down into sub‐dossiers or integrated.

The file constitutes the treatment unit, and a document inserted in a file inherits its properties as well as the assignments, the permissions and the confidentiality levels, unless differently specified.

ASSIGNMENT The assignment “confides” the document to be treated to a department or to a single employee.

The assignment operation provides for the notification concerning the occurred assignment through e‐mail and provides for the necessary permissions needed by the assignee/s to treat the document.

The assignment can be by competence or by acknowledgement. The assignment by competence gives the competence to another organizing unit,

whereas the assignment by acknowledgment only consents to access the documents in read‐only format.

The assignment can be rejected by the assignee for different reasons: in this case, the document goes back to the previous assignee “desk”.

The rejection is accompanied by an explanatory note concerning the motivations.

The assignee that has visualized the work to be done notifies the system.

If the assignee does not proceed with the work within the prescribed time, the system will notify the operator that gave the assignment.

ANNULMENT Protocol documents can not be modified or deleted, therefore, in case of error, the documents have to be annulled: annulment operation provides for the visible marking of the document as annulled.

The annulment is notified to the assignees and has to be operated by qualified users.

DISCARD After the closing of the dossier and the period of conservation as by law enacted, the documents have to be either destroyed or transferred to another archive (i.e.: the Record Office). The system manages the maintenance period and keeps the “discard register” to manage these operations Besides the operations previously described, the system consents a series of duty operations, such as: • Operations log • Registers opening and closing • Electronic signature • Time stamp • Signatures verification • Signed files visualization • Emergency Management Copy on no rewritable supports • Electronic hash • Controlled printing • Archiving • Email integration • Organization chart • Access control and Cryptography

DocFlow Italia Spa - Centro Direzionale Milanofiori strada 4 Palazzo Q8 20089 Rozzano MI Tel 02 57503366 Fax 02 57503369 marketing@docflow.it www.docflow.com

ARCHITECTURE

The whole solution is totally web based and does not require complex management by the company IT department.

The solution is modular and thus consents to be tailored activating only the needed functionalities without overloading the system and easing end‐users learning. At the same time, the application can be extended with specific plug‐ins that increase the offered functionalities.

Modules composing eProcs.CT

Protocol: it provides for the generation of progressive numbering according to multiple registers.

Document management: it consents the document and the data archiving.

Consultation module: it allows the access to the documents.

System management module: it allows the maintenance of the reference tables for all the system components.

Electronic signature: it enables the electronic signature, the hash code calculation and possibly the document cryptography according to the regulations.

Printer spool acquisition: documents printed from other systems can be automatically captured and converted from the printing spool. An optional graphic overlay can be combined with the text to generate the final document.