About a year ago I decided to scan EVERY document that comes into the office. Then we organize ALL documents (scanned, internally created word processing, spreadsheets, emails sent and received, faxes, etc.) using Worldox. The resulting efficiency is simply stunning.

When I need any document from any file, it's in front of me on screen in seconds. No looking for the file, and then trying to find the document IN the file. A documentary chronology is displayed in seconds. All my handwritten notes and file memos are simply ... there. All the emails, all the attachments ... there. If I want to see JUST pleadings, just the court Orders, just my notes, etc., for a given client, the display promptly shows them.

Because I (quite easily) put in the system the last 10 years work on the hard drives (not scanned documents, but the internally created word processing documents), old documents that may be useful templates (that I had forgotten all about) suddenly reappear in a search. In seconds, not minutes. An old client that we did work for 8 years ago, but can't remember details? Just do a Worldox search of his name. Can't find the license number for the software purchased last year? No problem. Need a template for a separation agreement? It displays 30 possible templates, along with the client name, ordered by creation date. Every time I turn around another use suggests itself.

I'm now developing a database of forms and research. We are starting to keep our office records on Worldox. (Where do you manually file this purchase order, invoice, office procedure, manual, etc.? Just scan it, profile it with a selection of "key words" and throw it away. It's never lost, if a good backup system is in place.)

Our system: 4 currently configured PC's running XP Pro (for myself and two full-time employees) connected to a Windows 2000 server; a couple Visioneer scanners with a 25 page document feed, a Ricoh copier/printer/scanner for most larger scanning jobs (our only copier, which we lease), and we use www.gotomypc.com so a paralegal and I can work from home (or anywhere else with Internet access) by full access to ALL Worldox profiled documents. Internet access is through a DSL line. Key software includes: Microsoft Office, Worldox, Adobe, and Paperport.

The only negative I see: you have to train staff to scan and correctly profile EVERY incoming document. And you need to be willing to occasionally scan at your desk the short documents. But that's not as much a burden as it sounds, if you now have immediate access to ALL documents.

Originally posted by attorney David Umbaugh and published in the July 7, 2004 issue of the TechnoLawyer.com newsletter