Store these files on a network drive combined with Microsoft’s search engine technology, and every word of recognized text across all files can be searched for quick retrieval. The search engine’s index is separate from the image file yielding very fast searches. But the OCR results and metadata remain in the image file and move with it.

All this can be automated as well. In the current release, MODI allows software developers to use its capabilities within their own programs. Simply scan a document at your copier or desk; MODI performs OCR, stores it your network; and indexes it. Or a developer could create a program that performs OCR on existing TIFF image files that already exist in the organization. Many of these capabilities can be found in Adobe’s popular Acrobat (PDF) format, dedicated OCR programs like OmniPage, or sophisticated and expensive document imaging systems. MODI’s inclusion in the Microsoft Office 2003 suite makes it a comparatively inexpensive solution. MODI’s flexibility allows each organization to create a custom solution to match their particular business needs and processes at lower costs than other imaging solutions.

The tools to manage digital images are maturing, lowering the hurdles and increasing the value for more and more organizations to go “paperless.” Not only is it important to have the digital “picture” but also the capability to quickly sort and search through this mountain of information. Uncharacteristically, Microsoft seems to be flying under the radar with this software, but Microsoft Office Document Imaging can play an important role in solving the challenges of this new digital dilemma.

Matt Daniel works on imaging solutions and applications development for SAGE. To learn more about SAGE’s solutions for the paperless office, please contact Matt at mdaniel@sagesol.com or call 202.659.9390.