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When it comes to Laserfiche metadata, are you taking advantage of all the features available to you? In this month’s issue we sit down with Kyle Knebel, Consultant and Trainer at CDI, to discuss the types, importance, and value that metadata brings to Laserfiche. Laserfiche metadata consists of several pieces of information that ultimately improves searchability and eases data accessibility within Laserfiche. In this article, Kyle highlights how you can leverage your metadata to improve your system. What is the importance of metadata in Laserfiche? Metadata includes, “Fields, tags, Links, and templates” Kyle shares, “they are important tools to identify entries in Laserfiche. This information makes it easy to search for entries. They also provide information to be used by automated workflows that route entries or involve user interaction.” What is a Field in Laserfiche? Kyle explains, “Just like a book in a library has a title, it also has an author, publishing dates, a publisher name, a Dewey Decimal Number (a Library filing code), an ISBN number (unique book number), and other information. In this way, you can find books in a library based on many different sorting criteria. Each of these criteria can be thought of as ‘Fields.’ You may have heard of the term ‘Index value,’ which is really the same thing. It is a single piece of information that can be set on an entry in Laserfiche, either on a document or a folder. This field information stays with the entry. Field data makes it easy to find a Laserfiche entry based on that single field value or a combination of field values and text (where appropriate).” What are Templates and how do you choose what information is on a template? According to Kyle, “A template is a collection of similar or related fields. You can create a template for any purpose, for example, 'client files' where you track the client name, client email address, client phone number, and advisor name. Or, you could create a template for accounting documents with an invoice number field, purchase order field, check amount, check date, check number, net discount, and other values.” He tells us, “Laserfiche administrators can create any number of templates in the system, and each template can contain any combination of existing fields. The best practice is to limit the number of templates based on department needs, business processes, or special filing categories. We typically see a maximum of about 30 templates in a given repository. However, the Laserfiche system has no upper limit. It becomes a practical matter for users, rather than a system limitation. If there are too many templates, you could consider applying Template Security so that users only see the templates they need to see/use.” How do you determine which documents or folders should have metadata such as fields and templates applied? As we see the value in templates, Kyle explains, “There are two fundamental reasons to use metadata. One is for search, and one is for Laserfiche Workflow automation. Typically, we first consider metadata for document search and retrieval. Secondarily, we consider metadata for routing and business processes via Laserfiche Workflows.” Why would a person use just fields instead of templates? Kyle says, “Sometimes a single field may be used because it’s not needed on every single entry and may be unique to that particular entry. For example, you may have a ‘Workflow history’ multi-value field assigned to an entry by Laserfiche Workflow. This way you can set a workflow activity to assign history notes to the text field as to what actions have been completed to the entry.” Is there a way to quickly determine what metadata or template information is applied to a document? Kyle describes, “One of the easiest ways to see metadata on an entry, without having to open the Metadata dialog box, is to add columns to the ‘Contents Pane’ in the folder browser. The benefit of adding the columns is that it allows you to see all the information about the documents at once, helping you easily identify missing details. You can also open the document viewer and see the metadata for a particular entry from there, if needed.” What are tokens? “Tokens are a placeholder for a value; like a user’s login name, or today’s date, or the parent folder’s name of the current entry. The actual token value is replaced when the entry is saved,” Kyle shares. “They allow fields to be dynamically populated with details. These are popular for use with Workflow; allowing retrieval of information from Laserfiche Forms or a database, for example.” When should tokens be used? Kyle suggests, “Tokens are best used when you want to let Laserfiche fill-in field values when naming new documents when scanning or using Snapshot.” He says, “They are ideal for email imports since Laserfiche provides unique email-specific tokens when using Outlook Import. Email import uses unique message tokens found on emails only. Here’s a sample template using email tokens. This template and the fields need to be created in Laserfiche before you can use it. However, once built, if you apply the template to an email message, its message properties will be filled in on the template.” How do you determine the proper formatting of a token? “A token is usually formatted in the pattern: %(Token), for example, %(Date). Kyle describes, “In Laserfiche version 8 or version 9, tokens looked like this: $token$. However, anyone using version 9 and above should be using the newer %(Token) format.” Can you give some examples of how to use templates and tokens? A versatile feature, “Tokens can be used in fields as default values in the Laserfiche Client, both Windows and Web, Laserfiche Workflow, Quick Fields and Snapshot,” Kyle shares. “Tokens can be used when scanning, including Web Scanning.” “Tokens can be used in Snapshot.“ “They can even be used in Microsoft Office.” How do you update metadata if information changes and can the updates be automated? “Once the token is replaced with an actual value because the entry change was saved, the metadata will not change on its own,” says Kyle. “However, you can use Laserfiche Workflow to make updates to the value in a field. Laserfiche Workflow is an automation tool that allows Laserfiche administrators to find entries and run activities against them, such as changing a field value, or applying a template, or even reading the field values to rename the entry.” Quick search and retrieval of documents, along with consistent naming conventions, or simple report generation, are all benefits of using Laserfiche metadata. The available metadata tools have many possibilities, determine which of them are helpful to you. For help setting up Laserfiche fields, templates, configuring tokens, or finding other ways to use metadata, contact the CDI Consulting Team.

When it comes to Laserfiche Security, it is essential for repository access to be configured correctly for users to perform their tasks. This article discusses several steps that can be taken to optimize the overall effectiveness of your Laserfiche content security. Laserfiche Security best practice suggests it is helpful to concentrate on keeping the all-around infrastructure simple. It is recommended to work from the repository root folders largest toward the smallest document level and fine-tune, as needed. Where to Begin? Here are some simple tips to get you started: Begin by logically configuring your users and groups as if you are setting up the repository from scratch; if you have an existing system, you will want to run a security report to understand the current security situation. Determine feature rights, privileges, and entry access rights. Determine what security features are needed. Test and correct as necessary. Groups Vs. Users There are benefits to setting Laserfiche Security at the group level as opposed to the user level. The users will inherit security from the group. Group configuration advantages include: Easy setup and low maintenance going forward Increased consistency Laserfiche repository groups can collect a variety of users Useful for Windows/LDAP groups that don’t align with Laserfiche use cases perfectly Helpful for testing When creating groups, consider the types of users that you have and how you want to group or separate users for security purposes. Groups are often set based on roles or department. In some circumstances, users will need to have security set at the user level; examples include: Personal folders Folders with special security needs Distribution of privileges Core Security When administrators are configuring security for the repository, three questions are commonly asked. 1. Who - Which users and groups have access? It is important to remember that users inherit access from groups they belong to, and in a well-designed repository, most security is set at the group level. Additionally, many security settings for a single user are combined. 2. What - What can they do? The individual access rights determine what operations are possible. Examples: Browse – See but not open folders and documents Read – Open folders and documents viewing contents and metadata Modify contents – Make changes Additionally, the permitted or prevented actions are specified with the following settings: Allow - users can perform the action Deny - user is prevented from performing an action Blank - user can perform the action if they have inherited the right from higher in the tree; if not, they can’t 3. Where – What portion of the repository will the rights will be applied to? It’s worth noting that every document and folder does not need separate security rights applied. The best practice uses inheritance propagate rights downward and scope to allow administrators to determine how far to propagate the right. Repository relevant security that all administrators need to be aware of include: Entry Access Rights – Refers to direct access to documents and folders within the repository. When configuring entry access rights, it is beneficial to plan and determine the configure setup that requires the least amount of manual configurations. Recommended best practices for setting entry access rights include: Establish rights on folders, not documents Configure your repository to take advantage of inheritance Use scope to determine how far down the tree the rights should extend Keep configurations to a minimum Feature Rights – Tools available to specific user or groups;, giving administrators the ability to allow or deny actions across the entire repository. Users are required to have both the relevant feature right and the appropriate access right to perform the actions. Privileges – Privileges grant administrative power; granting a wide-range of abilities. These privileges can override other security when the user is granted the Manage Entry Access Privilege, which allows the user to browse the entire repository. Privileges are not required for standard tasks such as filing, viewing, and modifying documents. Security Deployment Considerations While User access is a critical component of effective security administration, securing your network environment and automation factors is also key. Cover the basics by locking down and encrypting file in Windows, you will want to include: formatting Volume locations Databases Search index files Another important component is ensuring secure communications between components. Using other supplemental methods to help support your security plan include supplemental security items like: Security tags - Referred to as point security and is used to “hide” a document. Access to a document with a tag applied is only available to users that are granted access to the tag. The tag follows a document through the repository and overrules other security including privileges. Template access rights - Administrators can deny Read access for a template to hide the template or hide its fields on entries with that template even if those fields have individually been given Read access. Fields that appear outside of the template on an entry are not affected. Template access rights are often used for user convenience (showing only relevant templates). Field access rights - The Write Metadata entry access right controls who can edit fields on specific documents. However, field and template access rights can be used to make exceptions for specific fields or templates. Volume security - Volumes store copious amounts of information including images, text, and electronic files on the hard drive. Volume rights control access to those components of a document. The default security settings are usually enough but can be adjusted if the need exists. Test, Test, Test Finally, as security measures are being configured, test your progress. Setting up security by Groups is very useful for testing. Additionally, testing as you implement helps verify that your ‘broad strokes’ approach worked properly before handling exception cases, and will help you pinpoint any security features that maybe misconfigured. Remember that access rights take effect immediately and everything else requires a logout/login. If you want to see the security configuration at any point, run a security report. These reports allow for easy spot checking and rights reports, which are great for troubleshooting or auditing purposes. This can be an extremely useful tool to help administrators understand a repository that they have just inherited. In summary, a comprehensive look at your current security practices or implementation plan will help you identify and address any issues, allowing you to achieve a Laserfiche system that operates with top notch security. Final key takeaways include: Leverage scope and inheritance for simplicity Work from largest to smallest Set general rights and increasing granularity Start small, test and then expand Use the fewest number of features to do what is needed We hope you have enjoyed this article. If you need assistance configuring your Laserfiche system security, please contact the CDI Support Team.

When it comes to convenience, Laserfiche Forms offers ways to make your daily operations easier using a customizable dashboard. In this month’s issue, we sit down with Kyle Knebel, Consultant and Trainer at CDI, to discuss how to build a dashboard using Forms. Laserfiche Forms is a versatile solution that not only allows users to submit forms but use its features for creating a functional dashboard. As organizations require increasing access to numerous sites and resources, having a strategic interactive visual display can improve overall efficiency across departments. In this article, Kyle highlights what the “Forms Dashboard” is, how it is built, the benefits of use, and more. What is the “Custom Forms Dashboard”? Kyle explains, “Since the primary purpose of this forms capability is to present quick links to other Laserfiche Forms or even just web sites, you can call it a ‘Dashboard.’ However, Laserfiche Forms does have a specific kind of Dashboard, called an ‘Operational Report,’ found in the Reports section of Laserfiche Forms. See the example shown below.” What are the differences between the types of dashboards available in Laserfiche Forms? Laserfiche Forms offers different types of Dashboards. Kyle details what each offer: 1. “Operational Report - This is a pre-built report that Laserfiche Forms 10.4 (and other versions) provide for each Business Process that you build in Laserfiche Forms. It shows metrics for particular forms, including tasks completed or overdue. It also shows the time each task has taken and can help identify bottlenecks, whether it is at a specific department, user, or stage in the process. 2. Performance Report – Before version 10.2, Laserfiche Forms also generated a pre-built reporting module that described the amount of time that tasks within a business process were taking, although this has now been wrapped up into the single ’Operational Reports’ found in Forms 10.4 3. Landing Page - A ‘Landing Page’ allows the Forms Administrator to provide quick links to Business Processes available in the system. Laserfiche forms will generate a thumbnail image that can be clicked to launch that e-form. 4. Custom Dashboard Form – This is a single form with no submission or routing to users yet provides quick links to any web URLs needed. It differs from the pre-built reports in that you build this ‘Dashboard’ as a Form within a Business Process. At CDI we’ve built a ‘Dashboard’ Form that provides our staff with links to many of the business applications and Laserfiche forms that we use daily.” Is the Dashboard easy to set up? According to Kyle, “Creating a Dashboard Form within a new Business Process is very simple. It consists of a Form and a Custom HTML field. All designed within the Business Process, like any other form.” How dynamic can a Forms Dashboard be? “A Forms ‘Dashboard’ page,” Kyle tell us, “Can be modified, but it’s not truly dynamic. An administrator would have to modify the HTML in the Custom HTML field to add or change the links therein.” What are the benefits of building “Forms Dashboard”? While there are some benefits to building a dashboard, Kyle says the most significant advantage is, “Having a Forms Dashboard gives end users a quick way to gain access to the applications or forms. Initially, at CDI, the dashboard was created to fill the need for a single location to store a growing list of form links, in addition to other resources. The dashboard quickly fulfilled the need to provide the links our teams needed to complete their jobs more efficiently.” What considerations should be made when creating a Forms Dashboard? CDI recommends three key considerations when planning and maintaining a Forms Dashboard. 1. Maintenance – The dashboard is made up of mostly HTML, so it requires updating semi-frequently, so ensuring time for maintenance is an integral part of planning. 2. Ease of Use – Ensuring dashboard ease of use for the end-users. Consider what would be their ideal view as a homepage is essential when organizing the page. 3. On-boarding – For someone new to the organization the dashboard can be a fantastic resource. It can be overwhelming keeping track of sites and URLs for a new employee. Why would an organization use a Forms Dashboard instead of just a webpage? “Using a Dashboard provides an excellent way to organize and consolidate links to applications and webpages based on processes used by departments, people, or even categories,” Kyle shares. What kind of tracking does it allow? Kyle explains, “A Forms ’dashboard’ does not have any tracking, since it is not an actual form, but simply a way of providing links to other Forms, other applications, or other websites.” What are some top tips for designing a custom Forms Dashboard? The top tip we can suggest, Kyle says is to “have someone skilled in the use of HTML for website design on staff or easily accessible to create this dashboard.” Can you share how CDI uses the Forms Dashboard? “At CDI we’ve built a ‘Dashboard’ Form providing our staff with links to many of the business applications, and Laserfiche forms that we use daily,” Kyle describes. “We also used the Page Break field to create the tabs at the top of the form, allowing us to separate content relevant to each department.” CDI focuses on discovering and sharing intuitive ways to make your job easier using Laserfiche tools like the Dashboard. If you would like more information on starting or building a dashboard for your organization contact the CDI Consulting Team today.

The new features in Laserfiche Forms are sure to enhance the way your office gets things done. This article details the new user-friendly and time-saving improvements that 10.4 delivers. These updates make designing business processes and using Laserfiche Forms even more appealing. Promotion Tool Ensuring reliability with a process is an essential step to successful user buy-in and adoption. Therefore, thorough testing of a process is critical when it comes to the implementation of any new solution. The new promotion tool allows designers to master their processes before placing them in a live environment; working out any glitches before going live. Once the operation is accepted, administrators can transfer the process from a test environment into the production environment seamlessly. Simply import the exported business process onto the production server. This updates the necessary values to make the switch. Copy and Paste Eliminate reconfiguration with easy to use ‘copy and paste’ features. This allows the flexibility of reusing already configured process elements. The copied elements remain in a hover state once copied, allowing for easy placement. The copied items can be used within the current business process or put onto another business process. Rich Text Field Are you looking to do a better job at branding your organizations forms? The new Rich Text options allow for bullet points, text styling and the ability to include links in submissions. Bulk Approval Perform an action on multiple tasks of the same type for the same user simultaneously. Email Teams Are you tired of adding one email address at a time? Now you can set up an email service task to contact an entire team. Make managing contacts simple by managing email lists as a group rather than individuals. Multiple Payment Gateways Create multiple Authorize.Net and Braintree profiles in Forms to give users additional payment options. These new payment options are configured directly from Forms, and once configured, will enable you to choose the preferred profile within the designer. Data Maintenance System Administrators can now manage and maintain Forms database size easily with new automated features and configurable settings. These new options include retrieving instance data from completed processes after a specified number of days, removing instance statistics from completed processes, or removing uploaded files from the Forms database. User-based Team Management Now you can quickly view a list of users and the teams they belong to, and conveniently streamline your team management by adding individual users to multiple teams. Also, assigning security roles to various teams is another option. Dynamic Form Selection In previous versions of Forms, you could only assign a fixed form in a user task; meaning many different process paths had to be developed to account for different scenarios. Dynamic Forms selection now allows users to use variables to choose a form. The value of a variable can determine which form is used and will allow for a more fluid process design. Location Now users can add a geolocation field to a form. The data collected will become the location property for the form which is stored in the repository. The Web Client and App use the location data to allow users to view and search for forms on a map. Timeout Timeout options are now available. Timeout allows Forms to disconnect a user after a specified amount of inactivity. Built-in prompts are available if the user wants to continue the session. Administrators also have the option to allow auto-saving of work-in-progress. Take advantage of all the new functionality now available in Laserfiche Forms. If you are considering updating to the latest version and would like more information on Laserfiche Forms 10.4, please consult with the CDI Support Team today.

Are you up to speed on the latest Laserfiche Tips and Tricks? The CDI Consulting Team has put together some of their favorites that are sure to improve your experience. Read on to discover ways that you could increase your Laserfiche effectiveness. 1) Star Your Favorites For documents or folders that you use frequently but don’t want to have to search for or navigate to all the time, you can add a star and those items will show up at the top of your repository! Just navigate to the file or folder and either right-click and select add star or click the button on your toolbar (after it’s added). Now your frequented documents and folders appear at the top of the navigation pane, making access quick and simple. Are you looking for another shortcut to the starred content? You can also add the star to your toolbar. Click the drop-down arrow next to the blue question mark, then select Customize. Select the Commands tab. And DRAG the star anywhere on your toolbar. 2) Metadata Report Generator The metadata report generator is a quick way to inventory your data or quality control check your template information. It will give you as much or as little information as you need quickly. This reporting feature allows users to create “ad-hoc” reports within a range of time or from a single type of document to get a high-level granular makeup of their repository. If the user is diligent, it’s usage could include functions like bank reconciliation and account matching. Once you have selected the folder with the information you would like to report on, follow the next steps to generate a report: Step 1: Click on Tasks Step 2: Generate Report Step 3: Choose Metadata Report Step 4: Click Ok 3) Keyboard Shortcuts Shortcut keys are a well-known but frequently forgotten feature. They can be especially helpful when entering metadata or testing workflows. You can even assign customized shortcuts for the ones that works best for you. Common Shortcuts include: · New Document = Ctrl+D · New Folder = Ctrl+N · Spacebar = Enters today’s date in a date template field · Delete = Ctrl+Alt+T 4) Save Column Layouts Configure your columns in different ways based on the information you would like displayed on the screen. Once you have a view created, you can save it. You can create and save multiple views based on your needs and switch between views, as desired. Create your Column View with these steps: Step 1. Right click on any column Step 2. Choose More Step 3. Place Check-marks next to each item you wish to see Step 4. Click Ok Step 5. Click and Drag the columns into the order you want to see. 5) Web Client iframe Tab Did you know you can add iframes to the details pane in the Laserfiche Web Client? Access another Laserfiche application, web application, or external website from the details pane in your Laserfiche Repository. For example, this feature can be useful for organizations that store tracking numbers for shipments. You could create a custom tab for the carrier’s website using that field value as a token. The carrier’s website could open and use the token information to find the shipment details quickly and conveniently. *Note: The user must have the Manage Repository Configuration Privilege to use this feature. Here are the steps for configuring this feature: Step 1. Click Options Step 2. Click Display to view available settings Step 3. Click Add to add the new tab Step 4. Enter a new tab name Step 5. Enter the URL and make selections Step 6. Click, ok. Now the new tab is ready to use. 6) Create Custom Quick Searches The Web Client makes it super easy to share Custom Quick Searches with other groups of users in your organization. You simply click “Apply to the following group,” and they get access to the quick search! No more export/import of attributes for Custom Quick Searches! 7) Web Client Security Reporting Tool Previously, the Security Reports were only obtainable in the past with a special tool, such as the CDI security reporting tool. This is no longer the case because the security properties report is now included with the web client. The Web Client also offers additional options when compared to the desktop client. It can generate these reports MUCH faster. The options shown are not currently available in the desktop client. The expanded features include totaling Sums, Max, Min, or Averages for things like document pages. This feature can be useful when creating reports to determine how long an OCR job may take on a given directory. Not only that, but users can substitute these reports for a Laserfiche Workflow generated dataset. For example, if there were a need to export files out of Laserfiche, it would have been necessary to create a workflow to capture all this data, insert it into a data source, then take that data source and make it readable by turning into a .CSV or Excel file. However, users can generate reports like this without Workflow, which can aid in migrating documents from Laserfiche to other applications, or new Laserfiche systems. The Security reporting allows for a simple and more user-friendly way to audit security, and either find holes that need addressing or widen protection if there are frequent issues. For example, if you wanted to determine what users/groups could Modify, Rename, Delete or otherwise affect files/folders in a specific directory in Laserfiche, you could run this report: Below is a sample result of a security report from a test repository: What this tells us is that only the WF and ADMIN users may Modify, Rename or Delete, while the other users do not have this ability. The results are ideal, as those users (in this example) should only have browse and read rights. Now you are well on your way to saving more time with these helpful Laserfiche tips. If you are looking for more ways to save time or improve how you use Laserfiche, contact our CDI consulting team today.

The release of Laserfiche 10.4 offers improvements that make working with documents simpler than ever. The update includes modifications to MS Office document handling, map locations, records management, and more. Here are just a few examples of how Laserfiche 10.4 can improve your workplace: Microsoft Office Documents A convenient new feature in Laserfiche 10.4 is allowing users to access Microsoft Office documents easily from the Laserfiche Web Client document viewer or folder browser preview pane. This new document preview service is available to users without needing an MS Office online account or installation. Another new MS Office feature enables users to create office documents directly from Laserfiche, eliminating the need to produce the documents externally and import it separately. Map Locations Are you looking to link mapped locations to files in Laserfiche? Well, now you can! Laserfiche 10.4 allows users to associate documents or folders to a location on Google maps, Esri cloud maps, or Esri on premises maps. The GPS coordinates and location descriptions are available for each point. The information displays in the details portion of the folder browser or document viewing window. Users can also perform a search using the location. Flexible Records Management New updates to Laserfiche Records Management enable users to gain increased organizational flexibility with records without compromising security or compliance. Changes include cut-off, the time or event that signals Laserfiche a record in retention and retention policies can now be assigned directly to entries in the repository. The ability to place holds on any entry in the repository, regardless of its record status, is another new feature. Users can assign a single hold or multiple. They can also include a name and due date allowing for quick retrieval of documents. Administrators can quickly view entries with holds on the management page. Web Client Updates The latest improvements are making the Laserfiche Web Client more user-friendly. Some of these changes include: Folders are displayed in color when a template is applied. The document templates appear along the side of the document name. The save or update button, now closer to the action completed, is easily visible when the user makes changes in the document viewer. The new name for the metadata tab is called "Details" and can be minimized or rearranged as desired by users. And, you are now able to view media files without leaving the Laserfiche document viewer. While this article highlights some of the changes and new features available with the Laserfiche Windows and Web Client, be sure to check out the Laserfiche support site for additional information. If you are interested in updating your Laserfiche System, please contact the CDI Support Team or fill out Update Request Form to get access to all the latest features.

Thank you to all who attended Empower 2019 both in-person and through live-stream. It was another successful year, with over 4,000 attendees from around the world, this conference did not disappoint. The event brought Users and VAR’s from all professional backgrounds to network and gained new insights into Laserfiche product features, new trends in business process automation, customer success stories, and the release of Laserfiche 10.4. If you attended the event, we hope you had a chance to stop by and connect with us at the booth. It was great to see so many of you. Not only is Empower a great place for Laserfiche Users to learn and network, but the CDI staff also takes full advantage of all that Empower has to offer. With that, here are the CDI staff’s top Empower Conference “takeaways”: Looking to expand, “Laserfiche Avante will now support subscription licensing, so adding blocks of education and community users will be supported. Laserfiche Rio will support SAML authentication protocol.” – Patrick Welsch, President of CDI “One of the most exciting things I saw was the new automation features available for Records Management in Workflow. They are going to make Records Management so much easier!” – Jessica Welsch, Consulting Director “I am excited about the ability to embed forms into Web Access, such a useful tool for so many of our customers.” – Candice Schafer, Project Manager “My favorite part about Empower was meeting our customers and learning about the innovative ways they are using Laserfiche and integrations from CDI to streamline and improve their business processes.” – Michael Mathys, Development Director “I think one of the best things I learned was the ability of the LF directory server to have a Security Token Service out in the DMZ allowing you to use windows authentication from the outside without having to expose the internal servers.” – Mike Richardson, Support Director “I enjoyed the advanced search and syntax class because it introduced a lot of tips and tricks. I learned the most efficient ways to get to documents and files when your not sure what you are looking for. Also, a new feature I cannot wait to use is the all-inclusive homepage!”- Shaun Williams, Project Manager “I enjoyed learning about the upcoming changes for 10.4, especially licensing since it will benefit many CDI customers, as well as the updates to forms allowing rich format text.” – Jenn LeMere, Account Manager “I found that utilizing Forms in conjunction with Workflow to be truly compelling. It’s a robust business processing engine that can run in tandem with or replace multiple applications to reduce IT resources, duplication of effort and staffing once fully deployed and optimized.” – Gerard McMahon, Account Executive “I found Empower to be an incredibly exciting, unique, and valuable experience.” – Stephen Krutzfeldt, Business Process Consultant “The thing I love most about Empower is that it’s a melting pot of all the best ideas and most passionate users. You can learn innovative ways to get the most out of the software you have, and solve problems you didn’t think possible.” – Zach Hanson, Account Manager If you would like to check out some of the content from the conference this year, the Powerpoint presentations will be available on the Laserfiche support site in the next couple of weeks. If you have questions about any of these topics or would like to learn more, make sure to reach out to us. Also, if you attended Empower 2019 and had insights or questions that you would like answered and featured in a future article, please email them to marketing@citiesdigital.com. We would love to hear from you.

Automation is a hot topic for many customers, more specifically learning how to get Laserfiche components to work together. A question our support team gets asked frequently is how to connect Laserfiche Forms and Laserfiche Workflow? In this tech bite, we will discuss two recommended methods for getting workflow and forms to interact Method One – Storing a completed form in the repository to initiate a workflow. We will use the example of an employee review process to illustrate the first method. The process begins in Laserfiche Forms, a user completes the form, and as a final step in the forms business process, a service task is assigned. The storage of the form and final step of the forms process is where we will focus. The Save to Repository service task allows us to take a completed form and save it as a TIFF or PDF to Laserfiche. After identifying the connection profile for the repository, the user has the option to specify the storage location, file format, and template information to be applied to the completed form. For this example, the completed review document uses the HR-Employee Files template. This service task also allows the user to designate any metadata to be pulled from the form and populated in the template’s fields. The appended fields for Process-ID and Submission-ID are required when you want to send a form into Laserfiche, but then have workflow run on that form and retrieve the collected data from the forms process. For the Employee Review example, when the completed form is stored in Laserfiche, a workflow monitors a location. The starting rule states when a document is created in the specified folder, start the workflow. In summary, the process begins with the service task submitting a form into Laserfiche. Then the starting rule monitors the location where a workflow will start once the document is filed. For users to see real value from this process, the key is to collect Process ID and Submission-ID of the forms instance. Here are some helpful tips when implementing this first method if you want Workflow to perform additional tasks with the form besides merely storing it. Retrieve Field Value Activity – Your workflow will need to start with this activity. It will point to forms and grab the Process ID and Submission-ID of the forms instance for use within the workflow. The Process ID and Submission-ID must be input upon storage so that workflow knows what to reference. Retrieve Business Process Values – This activity will allow you to specify the information from the form that you retrieved the with Process ID and Submission ID. Method 2 - A Laserfiche Form is submitted, and a Laserfiche Workflow initiates from within Forms. This method uses the Workflow Service Task in Laserfiche Forms. Once the Workflow Service Task is added, configure by merely specifying the workflow name. This workflow needs to use the Retrieve the Business Process Variables activity, but unlike method one, there is no need to define the business Process-ID or Submission-ID because this workflow starts from Forms. Beginning in Forms means that Workflow already knows which instance it needs to refer to when collecting the information. This method is used when the workflow doesn’t deal with anything directly in the repository. Some use case examples might include: Updating information such as a database from the completed form Triggering an email notification Creating a folder structure Once the form is submitted, start the workflow. It’s a simple process. An example to help illustrate this method is updating account information in a CRM such as Salesforce. A Client Update form could be filled out, upon submission a workflow kicks off and pulls the data from the form. Using the CDI Update Salesforce workflow activity, the information will then be updated in Salesforce. There are many ways that these applications can operate together. Forms is an easy and intuitive way to gather information and pass information into Laserfiche. It is a great way to curate the experience for the user. You can hide fields, show fields, get fields dynamically, easily collect information and facilitate a process. If you are looking to start using these versatile tools, the Consulting experts at CDI can undoubtedly start helping your organization save valuable time and resources.

Are you interested in ensuring proper handling of your records in Laserfiche? Consider starting the new year using Laserfiche Audit Trail Reporting. In this article, CDI Consultant and Trainer, Kyle Knebel, goes in depth on the features, benefits, and some real-life examples of how companies are generating reports using Audit Trail today. Audit Trail is an important component of the compliance program that organizations have put into place. Tracking user actions within the Laserfiche repository and discovering how to generate reports is key to a successful implementation. Learning more about the solution is a great place to start our conversation with Kyle and find out all that Audit Trail offers. What is Laserfiche Audit Trail? Kyle explains Audit Trail as a “Laserfiche reporting tool that allows one to track and report on activities that happened in a Laserfiche repository.” Can you describe the differences in the Audit Trail Editions, and how to choose one? When evaluating the various editions of the solution, it is best to determine which will meet your organization's needs, Kyle describes: 1. Starter - If you need basic regulatory compliance, this is your best choice, and tracks success events of ALL users. The reporting module is the same as all other versions of Audit Trail. The only limitation is that you can’t report on failure events. 2. Standard - Allows reporting on events on per user or group basis, and you can report on both success and failure events. 3. Advanced - Includes all the features in the Standard edition, but adds the ability to track security changes and any searches performed by users in a repository. How granular can you get with the reporting? There are many ways to tailor the reporting features to your individual needs. Kyle says, “Not only can you report upon Event Classes, but you can also select specific events within that class. For example, there are 17 primary Event Classes, each with numerous sub-classes. If one were to look at the ‘Entry’ Event Class, it contains 33 sub-classes. You can check all of them, or just a few, for your report.” How do you create a detailed audit report? Kyle tells us, “Creating an Audit Report is as easy as selecting the event type(s) you would like to see by checking the boxes in the Event Type panel. The results grid will automatically refresh to display the matching information.” What are the most popular audit reports performed on Laserfiche systems? Kyle says that the most common reports are: 1. Entry Creation 2. Entry Deletion 3. Pages Created 4. Session Logins 5. Records Management Activity Does Audit trail require a separate database? “Yes,” Kyle shares. “Audit trail uses a separate MS SQL or Oracle database; which is configured during initial installation. This database is different from your Laserfiche repository database. All reports are generated from this database for the set date range(s).” Can you explain how watermarks work and the benefits of using them with Laserfiche Audit Trail? Kyle explains that “Group Watermarks are available in Advanced Audit Trail. You can add watermark text to the group, configuring it in the Laserfiche Administration Console. These choices will then be available in the client when you download or email a document. You can leave the default (the first in the list) or select a different watermark text. When exporting a document, by email or download, you will have an additional area on the download dialog box to choose the watermark. The Windows Client gives a simple pop-up when downloading or emailing. Select the Group Watermark text you’d like to use, and it will be applied to the document. The Web Client has a slightly different dialog box: Since you are now tracking exported watermarks, you can use Audit Trail to report on them, as well as a filter on different Watermark text values.” Who has access to Audit Trail and the reporting features? According to Kyle, “Audit Trail reporting can be accessed directly on the server by a user who has local server administrator privileges, or any Windows Domain users who have been permitted to access the Audit Trail site. Permissions can be allocated from the Permissions tab found in the Audit Trail Configuration utility.” Are there any caveats to using audit trail? The only real caveat Kyle describes is, “If Audit Trail was not licensed with your initial installation of Laserfiche, and you later decide to add Audit Trail, you will only be able to audit events starting from the date of the installation forward.” While the needs of each organization vary, there are definite advantages to implementing a solution like Audit Trail for tracking activities for compliance and maintaining a secure solution. If you would like more information or help with configuring your Laserfiche Audit Trail Reports, contact the Team at CDI.

Information transparency is an increasingly popular trend. The availability of technologies like ArcGIS® linked with Laserfiche® Document Management allows municipalities to capture, manipulate, analyze, and display data conveniently on a map. The interactive web maps provide data in context and real-time, allowing municipalities and businesses to deliver better services to their customers. For example, information about city initiatives, plans, and programs – from public works issues like potholes and light outages to crime and fire data, are available from within Laserfiche® and can be seen directly on the map via Laserfiche® WebLink or Web Access. What is the ArcGIS Integration by CDI? The ArcGIS® Integration allows for seamless interaction between the ArcGIS® interface and the Laserfiche® Repository. The integration enables users to upload documents to Laserfiche® directly from the ArcGIS® interface and view/upload or edit any related files based on permissions. The map populates indicating which features have documents associated with them in Laserfiche®. The reverse is also true when configured properly Laserfiche® users can view documents in Laserfiche® and see the related map layer in a custom metadata pane within Web Access. What features and benefits does the integration provide? The integration boasts features that promote continuity and convenience for organizations using both ArcGIS® and Laserfiche®. The benefits that the integration provides include: Documents on the Map –Users can quickly and easily pull up an exact location on the ArcGIS® map, highlight the associated feature, and view Laserfiche® documents without ever leaving the application. Radius Search - The integration can conduct a radius search for documents. The map author needs to add the "select" widget to the map which allows the users to draw a circle to select the features on the map within the radius. Connection profile options - allow users to connect and view information in different ways. Read-Only – This option uses a read-only WebLink connection to view Laserfiche documents from the map. Read-Write – This option uses a read-write Web Access connection to create, edit and view documents or attachments for specific map features. An integration layer must also be configured to display folders, not documents. Secure – Credential specified allows users with the appropriate permissions to access the content layer from ArcGIS® through the repository. Upload documents - to Laserfiche® directly from ArcGIS®. Protect editable layers - Organizations can provide access and protections for editable layers within ArcGIS®. The new secure layer access works by requiring users have appropriate credentials to view or edit any layer content. New Integration Feature for Laserfiche® allowing Inside Access – Data from ArcGIS® is displayed on a map within Laserfiche® Web Access 10.3 or newer and includes information about the records associated with that specific map item. Examples of this feature include property files, street centerlines, water mains, fire data, election data, and public utilities to name a few. The integration links both documents and folders and places them on the map through template field data, not just geo coordinates. Configure a custom metadata pane for ArcGIS® related documents. Limit map details to specific folders within the repository. As long as there is a template field that matches the property data, the integration allows users to link to any layer that exists in ArcGIS with the associated information. View Secure Layers - Easy access to documents via secure connections, based on specified permissions. Now users can view Secure Layers requiring credentials to access information within the ArcGIS® layers. Allow users to view these secure layers with a read-only profile and eliminate the fear of changes to the ArcGIS layers. Previously, only public layers were visible with the integration. The ArcGIS® integration provides a variety of benefits that improve daily efficiencies for organizations making information more readily available. It may be time to put your documents on the map and increase transparency across your business. Contact the CDI Team to learn more about this innovative solution.

This article illustrates troubleshooting and resolutions for common issues encountered when using document scanners. Issue #1: Scanner Doesn’t Turn On Check the scanner power and USB cables to ensure secure connections. Issue #2: Scanner Drivers Missing or Outdated When scanner drivers are outdated, it may prevent proper function of the scanner. If the drivers are not current, the most recent scanner drivers are available on the Canon or Fujitsu Support Websites. It is essential to make sure that you have the exact model name of your scanner to ensure you get the proper drivers. *Please note that for some scanners the drivers are actually on the scanner for download (plug and play). Canon Scanner Drivers Link Fujitsu Scanner Drivers Link Issue #3: Paper Jams and Feed-Errors Some scanners will display an error code when a paper jam occurs. If a paper jam occurs while scanning take the following steps to clear the jam. The first step is to open the scanner lid. This action is what triggers a reset for the scanner. Even if the paper has been extracted without opening it, you will still need to open the unit to restart. Remove any documents remaining in the feed tray. Pull the open lever and open the front unit toward you; this will vary slightly by scanner model. Remove the jammed document. Close the unit, gently pushing up on both sides until it clicks into place. Some units will require pushing down. Then continue scanning. If a double feed or other feeder jam occurs, clear the jam using the steps described above but also clean the scanner rollers and fan the paper before loading. If you are still having issues, the rollers may need to be replaced. Issue #4: Insufficient Memory If the scanner settings are configured to use a large amount of the computer's memory, scanning may stop if there is insufficient memory. This issue will vary based on the computer’s actual memory size and criteria set in the scanner settings. The more scanner setting options selected, the more resources required. Scanner settings that use a lot of memory include: Color Mode (24-bit) A large page size (i.e., legal, or scanner max) A high resolution 600 dpi Moire Reduction is On Prevent Bleed Through/Remove Background If space is limited on the scanning computer and the error appears, exit the application, adjust the scanner settings (decreasing the resolution or page size) and try scanning again. Issue # 5: Streaks and Splotches Are your scanned images coming through with undesirable white lines or streaks? There could be dust, dirt, correction fluid or glue on the scanner glass. Clean both sides of the scanner glass and the rollers. It is essential to wipe the glass carefully with just enough pressure to clean the area where the lines appear. If the issue is not corrected with a thorough cleaning, the interior glass of the scanner may be scratched, in which case it is best to contact CDI. Follow these steps to clean your scanner glass and rollers: Open the document feed tray and pull the unit toward you. Use compressed air to remove any dust and paper particles from inside the scanner. Clean the scanning glass. Wipe the glass with a cloth that has been damped with water and wrung out thoroughly, then use a soft cloth to wipe away any residual moisture. Clean the rollers, wipe the rollers using water or a light soapy mixture. Then thoroughly dry with a paper or cotton cloth. *Caution: Be sure to keep diamond rings away from scanner glass. Permanent scratches in the glass can occur. Check out this video to see how. Issue #6: Missing or Skipping Pages If the scanner is missing or skipping pages, there are a couple of solutions that you can try. First, check if your scanner has a feed width button, this button adjusts the thickness of the feeder for the paper fed through the scanner. This setting may result in two issues if the incorrect selection is chosen: 1. Pages are missing - If pages are feeding through, but too many are pulled at once, some pages are missed. Remedy this issue by adjusting the feed width button to the narrower setting and try scanning again. 2. Pages are not feeding - If the pages are not feeding at all then maybe the feed width needs button needs to be adjusted to a thicker setting. If the feed width is not the issue, then see if the skip blank pages setting is enabled. If it is turned on you may need to adjust the likelihood of skipping setting up or down. If you do not want any pages skipped, even if they are blank, then change the setting to duplex to scan both sides of all documents. While scanning issues can arise occasionally, following these simple steps could help you minimize any downtime you might experience. If you have gone through the list and have not found a resolution contact the CDI Support Team for further assistance. Resources: www.usa.canon.com

Do you have piles of forms to be scanned and indexed? Consider starting off the new year automating your standardized forms processing with Laserfiche Quick Fields. In this article, CDI Consultant and Trainer, Kyle Knebel goes in depth on the features, benefits, and some real-life examples of how companies are using Quick Fields today. Quick Fields is a solution often overlooked but is beneficial for many organizations, saving users hours in document identification, capture, and indexing. Learning more about the solution is a great place to start our conversation with Kyle and discover what Quick Fields offers. What is Laserfiche Quick Fields? “Quick Fields,” Kyle tells us, “is a powerful and highly customizable data capture solution that uses automation so that you can identify and capture documents, extract information, sort and index the documents, and store documents in a Laserfiche repository.” Can you describe the out of the box functionality available with Quick Fields? There are extensive options when it comes to the Quick Fields solution. Kyles shares, “Without installing additional ‘add-ons,’ Quick Fields comes with the following Image Enhancements: OmniPage OCR - Obtains text from an image and then stores and associates it with the image. Universal Capture - Captures image files from a computer or network drive. TWAIN scanning - Captures images from a scanner. Laserfiche Capture Engine – Captures images and PDFs from a Laserfiche repository. Text Extraction – Extract text from electronic documents (not from image files). Page Size Identification – Based on the dimensions of a page, identifies and assigns these pages to a document class. Page Removal – Removes a blank page or a specified page (like page 1) from documents.” With so many organizations frequently processing high volumes of forms, can you explain which Quick Fields add-on processes might be advantageous? Enhancing the Quick Fields solution with the following add-ons, Kyle shares, “can significantly turbo-charge the processing volume of structured documents. OmniPage ZoneOCR – This process generates text from a specified area of an image. It does not associate any text with the document. It just reads and gives you access to what it reads in a token. If you want text associated with the document, use OmniPage OCR. Form Identification – This process matches an image being scanned with a master form to determine whether the page should be assigned to a document class. If you need to process many applications that have a distinctive layout, this add-on process can enhance the accuracy of the identification. Real-Time Look-Up – This process allows Quick Fields to take a value (or values) extracted from a document and use it to match information in a third party database. When a match is found, data can be used in Quick Fields for page identification, field population, document naming, and document storage. Retrieve PDF Form Content – When dealing with a PDF form with fillable fields, we can use this process to retrieve some of the form values as tokens. These values can then be used in other tasks in the session, like naming the document, populating fields, or storing the document. Barcodes - Many people use barcodes on slip sheets to identify and categorize documents or use barcodes in conjunction with “Real-Time Lookup” to accurately populate many fields based on a number encoded in the barcode that refers to an item in an external database.” What is the importance of image enhancement features like Form Alignment (formerly called Form Registration) and Form Extraction when it comes to Quick Fields Processing? Kyle explains, “These two image enhancements work together to reposition an image so that it is aligned with a master form and then removes the form outline/text so only the typed user input remains. When used with OmniPage Zone OCR, these three processes make data extraction very accurate.” What new feature is available for users in Quick Fields 10.3? “The new multi-value field group names in Laserfiche 10.3 are supported in Quick Fields and Quick Fields Scanning, allowing users to label the related groups,” Kyle says. Can you give an example of how organizations are implementing Quick Fields solutions for Forms today? “Many of our clients deal with quarterly statements and invoices.” Kyle tells us, “We frequently build Quick Fields sessions to process these types of documents. These installations produce a quick return on investment since it significantly reduces the hours needed to process such documents.” What benefits do organizations receive when implementing a Quick Fields solution? According to Kyle, “Implementing Quick Fields provides benefits like reduced employee time spent on manually indexing and filing documents into Laserfiche and increased accuracy with barcode and real-time lookup. Time spent on quality control of the (already separated and indexed) documents, speeds up the intake of documents and make it easier for staff to do their jobs. Quick Fields makes a painstaking task effortless by automating most of the work.” The functionality of Workflow has expanded over the years, can you share some key reasons why an organization would implement Quick Fields and how it differs from Workflow? Looking at the two applications side by side they are very different. Workflow functions on entries once they are in Laserfiche, whereas Quick Fields processes documents during capture. Kyle says, “Although Laserfiche Workflow does have a ‘Retrieve Document Text’ activity that can be combined with ‘Pattern Matching,’ it’s not the same as the Zone OCR module in Quick Fields. Quick Fields is an excellent solution when used on structured documents that have information in the same place on each document. Invoices are a good example. If you need to scan hundreds of invoices, and have values like Vendor Name, Amount, Date and Invoice number pulled from the page; then Quick Fields is an excellent solution for this scenario.” While the needs of each organization vary, there are definite advantages to implementing a solution like Quick Fields when you have standardized documents. Having information pulled correctly from your forms initially, allows documents to easily trigger workflows and creates an even more expansive use of the solution. If you would like more information on Laserfiche Quick Fields contact the Team at CDI.