Classify Collate Cross-reference Index Distribute Retrieve Report Control

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1 Overview If you need to manage project or contract records, respond to customers or clients within agreed SLAs, demonstrate compliance with standards, and find reliable information quickly and easily then has been designed especially for you. has been developed to bring clarity and order to the untold volume of communications that flood our desks daily on modern contracts. is different because if you don t have time to collate and classify all of the information, can do that for you. With minimal configuration will process any type of communication (letters, faxes, , twitter, instant messages) and automatically classify the content. is not limited to just correspondence records, it can be used for any document that can be stored digitally including documents completed by hand such as allocation sheets, time sheets, safety checks and, with speech to text conversion, even recorded conversations. identifies key attributes including company, location, sender, addressee, date, reference and subject. uses a set of specially created glossaries to identify content type and key words or phrases. analyses the content to identify particular tags, e.g. Project IDs, Car Registrations, Stock Numbers, Dates, Telephone Numbers. Figure 1. Time-line View displays selected information as a chronological sequence. uses these data to build cross-references and indexes that allow it to provide unique visual query tools for users, see examples (Right). Using this information, combined with some simple rules, can be used to distribute the document(s) to the relevant parties and create workflow activities to manage appropriately timed responses. can operate as a standalone tool or can be integrated into your current systems. Figure 2. The Relationship View presents a unique perspective. Coloured lines of varying thickness indicate the type and strength of links between items. has been built using the very latest development tools and is designed to take advantage of the recent trend towards high resolution wide screen displays.

2 Classify Manual classification of each document can be a time consuming, laborious, and, if carried out by many individuals, open to considerable variations in the interpretation of relevance and importance. is able to read text, and for scanned documents it has a sophisticated in-built OCR (Optical Character Recognition) engine that will identify and recognise text within a scanned image. analyses each document to identify relevant content. This content is used to classify each document and is identified in the following four ways: Figure 3. The OCR engine processes each character to convert the image to text. Fixed Attributes are defined elements that are expected to be found within document. e.g. sender, reference, date, author, subject. Fixed attributes can be defined independently for each document type. Glossaries are used to identify key words and phrases within the text. There are built-in glossaries for Engineering, Commercial, Health and Safety, Insurance and General Business as well as specialist interests including Maritime for off-shore activities, Environmental and Endangered Species for Highways maintenance. Custom glossaries can be defined by the users, for example a contract glossary with references to contract schedules can be very useful. These glossaries can contain thousands of words, phrases, synonyms and abbreviations. Project Identifiers are labels for specific activities within Figure 4. The Attributes and Associations side-bar displays attributes, tags and key words for the selected.document. the project or contract. These include for example, works order number, scheme number, WBS code and incident reference. These can be imported into from existing management systems (e.g. ERP, CRM, RMMS). Tags are used for any other (non-specified) identifiers contained within the documents, such as dates, telephone numbers, car registrations, waste codes. includes built-in filters for many predefined Tag types, additional filters can be created by the user to capture information such as merchandise or catalogue codes from suppliers. completes in just a few seconds what might take a several minutes to achieve manually, the classification is accurate and consistent. Figure 5. Forms for manual (and assisted) entry methods are still available. There may be occasions where the human eye (and brain) are still required and for this provides forms for manual data entry, it also includes an assistant to improve speed and reduce errors.

3 Collate is designed to manage not just the attributes, key phrases, project identifiers and tags, but also to manage the storage and security of the documents and to manage and record actions taken. The user can choose what, where and how, but by default will store: - the whole document in its native format (e.g. TIF, PDF, Doc, MSG) the entire document text (Header, Body, Footer) the attributes, key phrases, project identifiers and tags identified automatically processing and/or those from manual processing for scanned documents will create and store a searchable indexed PDF document These will normally be stored securely in the database but the system is designed to be flexible. If you prefer, you can to store your documents separately. supports conventional folder storage and third party content management systems such as MS SharePoint, as well as cloud based storage and collaboration services. Figure 6. An example of a storage hierarchy. The approach to attributes, key phrases, project identifiers and tags differs considerably from other document or content management systems. Many of these systems allow the user to create extended document properties (meta-data) to hold this information but the potential is rarely used because it is complicated to configure and difficult to enforce and maintain. There are three very important differences to the way that manages these properties. maintains a catalogue of each attribute, key phrase, project identifier and tag found with a reference to the date and to the target document(s). This: o helps the user by making search extremely fast and more relevant o allows the user to see at a glance other documents that have the same characteristics o provides the user with a directory of existing terms and the number of matching records prior to selection There is no reliance on a user to input this information, reads the entire text searching for predefined text and patterns. Most content management systems suffer from a lack of reliable meta-data because users are too busy, or not sufficiently consistent, to maintain the records. can process a document making thousands of comparisons in just a few seconds. The way that data is stored enables it to adapt to changes to the reference data such as the introduction of new Tag types or the merging of keywords. On addition of a new Tag, or the merger of synonymous keywords, will update any existing records that are affected by the changes. This process is essential to maintain conformity but is often omitted in other systems.

4 Cross-reference As processes each document it builds a data table of the attributes, key phrases, project identifiers and tags found. This data is not just stored with the document, the information is cross-referenced with all existing documents to identify relationships between them. The type of link is used to rank the relationship in ascending order of importance: 1. Reference (includes sub-references and Title/Subject) 2. Project Identifiers 3. Tags (tag importance is linked to the tag type and can be set by the user) 4. Keywords Multiple links add strength the relationship and to the ranking. recognizes special references such as Our Ref and Your Ref. uses these references to build a hierarchical model of related documents. Figure 7. Simple correspondence hierarchy, letters are linked by reference. If these references are found within the text of other documents, they are considered sub-references and will also be added to the hierarchy. The title/subject attribute of a document is also used to determine inclusion in the hierarchy. In the real world the relationships are less simplistic, a fully linked thread might cover dozens or perhaps hundreds of letters, s, faxes, invoices, even court documents. manages these complex links and makes it easy for the user to understand and navigate (see Retrieve). The cross referencing is not limited to only references and subjects. also cross-references the keywords and tags so that these can be used in the retrieval process if appropriate. This cross-referencing function is automatic and requires no user involvement, whereas to manage this process manually would be difficult, if not impossible, to achieve. It is this cross-referencing that enables to provide the expert search results and unique data visualisation tools. Figure 8. Reference links are not always simple, multiparty conversations are commonplace. The cross-referencing process is carried out across all documents, letters, s, Twitter, reports, timesheets, method statements, non-conformances, etc. If relationships exist will identify and record them.

5 Index When dealing with hundreds of thousands, if not millions of records, the time taken to access information is critical. Efficient database design is vitally important and a key part of that design is indexing. Speed is essential but more importantly the results must be relevant, has been designed to ensure this by the selective classification of the content. All database tables have carefully designed indexing methods to manage not just the attributes, key phrases, project identifiers and tags but also the cross-references. Most of the tables incorporate multiple indexes to allow the database to select the most appropriate index(es) for any user defined query. It is these indexing methods that enable super-fast targeted data retrieval. As part of the indexing process keeps a record of how many times a tag, key phrase, or attribute has been found and crucially the date of the relevant record. This time related reference aids analysis during the retrieval process by indicating the currency of the information returned and can also be factored into the ranking process. There may be occasions where a user needs to frame a general enquiry that encompasses the entirety of the documents text or to search for an exact text match that is not contained within the standard indexes. For these situations also includes full text search. In addition to the specific indexes, the entire text of each document (header, title, body, and footer) is included in a separate special index. This type of index allows the use of lemmatization or stemming and proximity methods to assist in both searching and ranking. Stemming is the reduction of words to a single stem on which the words are be based e.g. a search for run would also return running, runs, and ran. Stemming allows inflectional forms to be included in the search results. Proximity is used to improve the quality of the query outcome by limiting the search scope or ranking the results to terms that are found close together within the text. While the full text index significantly broadens the scope of potential search terms and it should be used with caution as it is prone to identification of false positives. This is a general search problem and is not specific. It is included within to provide a contingency for use only when the optimized indexes yield no results. What is Full Text Search? Most systems today provide what is known as full text search. The user can enter any search term and the system will produce a list of results, sometimes these are ranked by the search engine. To deliver this the systems index each individual word (excluding the, this, then, if, of, when etc.) and the location of each word within the text. This is the basis of search engines that are used on the internet and on the face of it they are very good. What isn t obvious to the user is the enormous optimisation effort invested by the vendors or the vast quantity of historical search data on which they are based. Even the best search engines get things wrong, some things are almost impossible to find because the optimisation is not focused on the specified term. In other areas there are too many results to be useful. Full Text search in the corporate environment often fails to deliver its potential because there has been little or no optimisation and there is insufficient search history with which to develop appropriate models.

6 Distribute Distribution of information can be a time consuming activity, especially with correspondence items, it is also prone to error as the selection of recipients is usually based on the judgement of the individual responsible. Misdirected business letters and key s not appropriately forwarded can create serious delays. offers alternatives to manual distribution that can be tuned meet business and individual requirements. Targeted distribution is driven by analysis of the document content and directed to individuals for information or action according to a set of preconfigured business specific rules. This ensures consistency and accuracy, and removes any subjectivity in the distribution process. can apply hundreds of individual rules in less than one second, the distribution process is not delayed by waiting for a user s decision. Where an item requires action the nominated individual will receive notification of the assignment and the time period associated with the task. The task will be tracked to completion and if necessary reminders are sent to the task owner, if appropriate the task can be escalated to another user. Completed and incomplete tasks can be monitored easily and included (if required) in management reports. can also be configured to initiate workflow processes in other systems. Customers using existing content management systems such as MS SharePoint can continue to do so without any change to existing procedures. Figure 9. distribution process. Subscription based distribution puts the end user in control allowing them to request information on areas of specific interest. This might be as granular as a specific attribute or as wide as an entire glossary. Users can subscribe to a subject in much the same way as they choose to follow a topic on social media. Subscription based distribution can be especially useful for: o o o team leaders who want to keep on top of any team communication with clients or supply chain partners project managers who want sight of all project correspondence and commercial managers concerned about potential claims Both Targeted and Subscription distribution are fully automated and offer the choice of receiving a link or the full document (useful for off-site users) as well as providing the associated meta-data. maintains a comprehensive record of the distribution and associated tasks.

7 Retrieve Search is an intrinsic function of. The system has been specifically designed to make information retrieval not just fast but also relevant and informative. The database has been constructed to build connections and relationships that enrich the search process and provide users with coherent results even when the user has limited information with which to search. provides unique visualisation tools to assist the user in understanding the results of any query regardless of content type (letters, faxes, s, tweets, reports). gives the user complete control over the search scope allowing them to: begin with crude or unrefined criteria and then alter the scope according to the results start with specific criteria and expand the scope if necessary adjust any scope by a combination date range, content type, attribute, tags, key phrases The user can choose the way that the results are displayed. This can be a simple list or one of several specialist views unique to, two of which are the Time-line and the Relationship views. Time-line View Icons indicating the type of document are arranged in chronological order across the screen. Placing the mouse pointer over an icon will reveal information about the item, double clicking the item will open the file in a new window. Relationship View As with the time-line view icons are used indicate the type of document but this view shows any relationships that exist between the documents. Figure 10. Time-line View displays selected information as a chronological sequence. The relationships are shown by colour coded links to indicate the rankings identified by the cross-referencing process. There might be several relationships between two items, where this is the case the link colour is determined by the highest ranked connection. References Project Identifiers Tags Keywords The line thickness is used to indicate the strength of the link. For example, a single reference link is a high red rank, if there are other links through tags or keywords the line thickness will be increased proportionally to indicate increased link strength. Figure 11. The Relationship View presents a unique perspective. Coloured lines of varying thickness indicate the type and strength of links between items. The user can control the relationship view by selecting the type of document and the depth of relationship. Depth is a measure of how far removed the relationships are and can be set for each document type. This depth control is important because it is often useful to see distant reference relationships. Queries can be saved by the user future use as well as being set as alerts. A search alert will notify the user when new items that match the criteria are processed.

8 Report Formatted Reports Traditional formatted reports are available either on-demand or can be scheduled by the user. uses Microsoft SQL Reporting Services which enables the output of reports in many formats including PDF, Excel, and HTML. Standard reports include periodic performance data such as: monthly receipts e.g. complaints/compliments FOI requests received and completed Client correspondence outstanding replies These reports provide options for grouping by office, department, individual, and also allow for further customization as required. Microsoft SQL Reporting Services can be integrated with Microsoft SharePoint to allow automatic publication of reports to an existing intranet or extranet. Alternatively, the report queries can be exported to any third party report generator. Figure 12. Example Monthly Correspondence Report Dashboard Reports Data can be presented via specific dashboards or linked to third party tools such as Business Objects and MS PerformancePoint. Figure 13. Graphs and charts in a comprehensive range of styles as well as a variety of dials and gauges. A popular example is the BuzzCloud. This tool which has its roots in social networking can be applied to almost any result set. BuzzCloud performs a textual analysis and displays weighted results. Use BuzzCloud to: see what communication topics are trending across an organization or department identify the prominent text within a document or group of documents help to further filter your search results Figure 14. BuzzCloud sample. Ad hoc Reports has a number of built-in query tools that make it easy get fast, real-time, information. All of these allow the user to save the results in a range of formats (.xls,.txt,.pdf,.csv,.xml,.doc, etc.).

9 Control Whether you are looking for a solution to handle contractual and quality assurance records, correspondence and , administrative and financial paperwork, or all of the above, can help you maintain control. can ensure compliance with contractual obligations for: records management communications process management of distribution and response performance reporting can save time and cut costs by: reducing the time spent classifying, collating and distributing information reducing the storage and management cost reducing time spent on information retrieval The power and simplicity of can be exploited for legacy documents as well as your current records. Historical data stored on paper can be converted to digital format and processed like any other record. Figure 15. Participants View displays a circle of individuals, teams or departments particpating in discussion on individual documents or all documents returned in the results of a query. Some of these controls can be achieved with alternative products but only is designed to encompass all record types and formats. The opportunity to combine all mediums of communication enables to add an extra dimension to the conventional form of information management. can report on discussions that span multiple platforms, i.e. formal correspondence, , social networks and speech. Examples might include: complaints about services through various mediums from members of the public incident management where verbal exchanges with third parties represent a very high percentage of salient communication project management where internal communication can be as significant as formal correspondence Another specific characteristic is the use of attribute data to provide alternative perspectives to the retrieval process. In addition to the TimeLine and Relationship views which were described earlier is also able to provide: - Participants View, which identifies all of the people involved in communication on the specified subject, ranked according to the extent of involvement (see Figure 15) Spatial View, which uses a mapping service to display results by their location Spatial Query allows the user to use an interactive map as part of the query definition Who s Talking is a tool to analyse communication patterns between individuals, departments, clients, suppliers and sub-contractors

10 Technical can be installed and operated on a single stand-alone or networked PC or it can be installed on a server and operated by multiple users over a network. Hardware We recommend a minimum PC specification of Intel Core i5-5257u Processor (3M Cache, up to 3.10 GHz) 4 Gigabytes RAM 1 Terabyte SATA Storage Dedicated Graphics Adaptor Server configuration requirements will need to be assessed individually taking account of the number of users and the anticipated daily data volumes. Like most software performance will be improved by additional RAM memory and faster disk access. can be configured to make best use of tiered storage if this is available. Operating System can be installed on MS Windows Desktop Version 7 and above or MS Windows Server 2008 and above. has been developed using the latest development tools from Microsoft and uses the.net and will require installation of the MS.Net CLR (Common Language Runtime) libraries, these are usually installed by default with the latest versions of Windows. Database requires an MS SQL Server database, which can be installed locally on the PC or on an independent server. supports MS SQL Server 2010, 2012 and 2014 in all available versions (Express, Standard and Enterprise). NB Full Text Indexing is not available with some versions of MS SQL Server, will continue to work but this functionality will not be available. OCR (Optical Character Recognition) can be configured with or without OCR. This is necessary only if you need to convert images to text and this facility might already be available within your organization. OCR functionality is licensed separately and is dependent on platform, data volumes, and the number of users. Security includes a robust password protected security model that manages access to the application and restricts data access according to configurable levels of authorization. Optionally can be configured to use MS Active Directory or MS SharePoint authentication.