ABBYY has announced an integration of the Fujitsu ScanSnap N1800 network scanner into ABBYY FlexiCapture 10, enabling simple one-button scanning of  paper documents directly into business processes such as accounts payable (AP) and Human Resource (HR.

From the touch screen of the Fujitsu ScanSnap N1800, a user simply selects the document type corresponding to an internal business procedure or departmental workflow, directly triggering the processing of a document.

The network scanner automatically sends the scan to ABBYY FlexiCapture where relevant metadata is extracted and the document is treated according to the workflow and business process rules. After successful processing, the documents along with the business information can be transferred to downstream systems such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) or human resource systems.

Workflow processes can be designed according to company approval procedures and access rights. Sensitive records such as invoices and personnel documents can be protected by an authorisation system so that they remain confidential and can only viewed by users with sufficient access rights.

For example, an employee from the finance department can scan invoices directly into the appropriate workflow, whilst the personnel department can automatically send employee files to relevant HR processes or send contracts directly to the legal department. And none of the parties can access the other documents in that process.

The new integration streamlines the process of filing scanned documents in searchable formats and preparing them for archiving, parallel to any business processes which have already been triggered. Documents can be easily scanned and converted to search formats or prepared for deposit into document workflow and archiving systems.

Companies benefit from clearly defined metadata which enables employees to locate and check documents and passages at any time. This is not only critical in meeting compliance guidelines, but also in making business processes more transparent and efficient.