Nien-Ling Wacker, the founder, of Laserfiche, said she invented the product to, “act as an auxiliary brain, so that the user could immediately find whichever document they needed.” Regardless of all the slick, new features such as AI and workflow⸺this concept, also known as findability has remained as the core functionality of the software. Findability refers to the ease with which information can be found. This concept is critical because if you can’t find the document you are looking for, you can’t process, manage, or (correctly) archive it.
Since the turn of the century, the average time to find a document has decreased, but the cost of document handling has not, here are some stats (please check out this article):
Workers spend an average of 18 minutes to find a document.
Document activities account for more than 21% of productivity loss.
Businesses spend an average of $20,000 on document issues.
What else do we know?
Anecdotally, I know that my clients spend quite a lot of time trying to find documents before we deploy Laserfiche. It could take two hours a day or 18 minutes per document⸺because it way was more time than it needed to be toggling between my local computer, my Google Drive, network folders, other applications, and even paper files.
However, no matter how long it used to take, with Laserfiche it takes about ten seconds.
How search should operate
One of the most compelling reasons to use Laserfiche is a federated search. This means Laserfiche has the ability to scan through multiple sources at the same time. These sources can be multiple repositories and/or other systems. This is important because it doesn’t matter where the information lives, ERP, network folders, etc. Laserfiche can be implemented without disrupting the business systems of individual departments.
One keyword to rule them all
The simplest way to employ the power of Laserfiche search is to type in a keyword to find what you are looking for.
Metadata (data about data). Is the thread that weaves through the Laserfiche platform. Metadata is what helps you find precisely what you need with a keyword. It’s what helps you find ‘what’ you are looking for without knowing ‘where’ it is.
Essentially, when a file is saved, the system prompts users to enter information into the template field, amounts, dates, names, type of document, etc. You can even have it perform database lookups to fill in an address.
The result is simple but revolutionary, the file you need. If you need some help or training on search please contact us!
