U.S. patent application number 15/140953 was filed with the patent office on 2016-08-18 for verifying authorization to destroy a physical document before destroying the physical document.
The applicant listed for this patent is DocSolid LLC. Invention is credited to David R. Guilbault, Steven W. Irons, Eric R. Lynn.
Application Number | 20160241742 15/140953 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 53798362 |
Filed Date | 2016-08-18 |
United States Patent
Application |
20160241742 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Irons; Steven W. ; et
al. |
August 18, 2016 |
VERIFYING AUTHORIZATION TO DESTROY A PHYSICAL DOCUMENT BEFORE
DESTROYING THE PHYSICAL DOCUMENT
Abstract
A document processing system provides a double check before
allowing destruction of a physical document. A user scans a unique
identifier on the physical document at a first location, receives
verification the document should be destroyed, and places the
document in a container for documents to be destroyed. At a second
location, a user scans the unique identifier on the document and
receives verification the document should be destroyed. The
physical document may then be destroyed.
Inventors: |
Irons; Steven W.; (Phoenix,
AZ) ; Guilbault; David R.; (Scottsdale, AZ) ;
Lynn; Eric R.; (Phoenix, AZ) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
DocSolid LLC |
Phoenix |
AZ |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
53798362 |
Appl. No.: |
15/140953 |
Filed: |
April 28, 2016 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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14507117 |
Oct 6, 2014 |
9355263 |
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15140953 |
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14181940 |
Feb 17, 2014 |
9025213 |
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14507117 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04N 1/00358 20130101;
G06F 40/166 20200101; G06Q 10/10 20130101; H04N 1/00663 20130101;
H04N 1/00864 20130101; H04N 1/4473 20130101; G06Q 10/103 20130101;
H04N 2201/0081 20130101; G06F 21/604 20130101; G06K 9/2063
20130101 |
International
Class: |
H04N 1/44 20060101
H04N001/44; G06K 9/20 20060101 G06K009/20; H04N 1/00 20060101
H04N001/00 |
Claims
1. A computer-implemented method for verifying physical documents
should be destroyed, the method comprising: receiving a first scan
of a unique identifier on the document at a first location;
providing first verification at the first location the document
should be destroyed; receiving a second scan of the unique
identifier on the document at a second location; and providing
second verification at the second location the document should be
destroyed.
2. The method of claim 1 further comprising: a user defining
metadata corresponding to the physical document during a
reservation session for the physical document, where the metadata
includes the unique identifier of a label that is applied to the
physical document and further includes a disposition policy for the
physical document.
3. The method of claim 2 further comprising: providing a
notification that the physical document should be destroyed when
the disposition policy for the physical document that was specified
by the user during the reservation session for the physical
document is satisfied.
4. The method of claim 3 wherein the disposition policy comprises a
default disposition policy.
5. The method of claim 3 wherein the disposition policy comprises
one of multiple default disposition policies that each correspond
to a defined document type.
6. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of destroying
the physical document in response to receiving the second
verification at the second location.
7. The method of claim 1 further comprising: creating a reservation
for the physical document; specifying in the reservation for the
physical document metadata corresponding to the physical document,
where the metadata includes a unique identifier of a label that is
applied to the physical document and further includes a specified
disposition policy for the physical document; applying the label to
the physical document; scanning the physical document to generate
an electronic document corresponding to the physical document;
reading the unique identifier of the label in the electronic
document; linking the electronic document with the reservation for
the physical document based on the unique identifier of the label;
and storing the electronic document in a database.
8. An apparatus comprising: at least one processor; a memory
coupled to the at least one processor; a document processing system
residing in the memory and executed by the at least one processor,
the document processing system comprising: a document disposition
mechanism that schedules disposition of a physical document
according to a specified disposition policy for the physical
document, provides a notification when the physical document should
be destroyed according to the specified disposition policy for the
physical document, and in response to the notification, prompts a
user to retrieve the physical document to a first location,
receives a first scan in the first location of a unique identifier
on the label on the physical document, and in response to the first
scan, provides a first prompt at the first location that verifies
the physical document should be destroyed, receives a scan in a
second location of the unique identifier on the label on the
physical document, and in response to the second scan, provides a
second prompt at the second location that verifies the physical
document should be destroyed.
9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the specified disposition
policy for the physical document is specified in metadata by a user
during a reservation session for the physical document.
10. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the document disposition
mechanism allows a user to define metadata corresponding to the
physical document during a reservation session for the physical
document, where the metadata includes the unique identifier of a
label that is applied to the physical document and further includes
the specified disposition policy for the physical document.
11. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the document disposition
mechanism provides the notification that the physical document
should be destroyed according to the specified disposition policy
for the physical document that was specified by the user during the
reservation session for the physical document.
12. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the specified disposition
policy comprises a default disposition policy.
13. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the specified disposition
policy comprises one of multiple default disposition policies that
each correspond to a defined document type.
14. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein after the first scan the
document disposition mechanism provides a prompt to place the
physical document in a container of documents to be destroyed that
is transported to the second location.
15. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the second scan is performed
by a person who retrieves the physical document from the container
of documents to be destroyed to verify the document should be
destroyed before destroying the document at the second location.
Description
BACKGROUND
[0001] 1. Technical Field
[0002] This disclosure generally relates to processing of
documents, and more specifically relates to disposition of
documents after scanning.
[0003] 2. Background Art
[0004] Computer systems have vastly improved the efficiency of many
modern workers by providing ways to quickly and efficiently
generate and handle electronic documents. Many software tools have
been developed that generate and/or process electronic documents in
various ways, including word processors, spreadsheets, databases,
scanning software, web page development systems, content management
systems, hypertext markup language (HTML), extensible markup
language (XML), etc. It has long been the goal of many people in
the information processing field to realize a "paperless office",
which means an office where physical paper documents are completely
replaced with electronic documents. One impediment to realizing the
goal of a paperless office is the great number of different types
of documents that a typical business receives from outside sources
that must be processed.
[0005] When a paper document is received by a business that is
striving to realize the goal of a paperless office, the paper
document is typically scanned into electronic form. However, in
order for the document to be digitally filed in a structured filing
system, the document must have indexing information added to the
scanned document. Examples of indexing information include:
document type, customer number, contract number, dollar amount, and
other suitable metadata that describes the document. The process of
manually entering indexing information for each scanned document
has been a significant bottleneck in the realization of the goal of
a paperless office. For each paper document that is scanned, a
human operator must scan the document, then manually enter indexing
information to allow the document processing systems to recognize,
store and retrieve the new document. With a company that receives
hundreds or thousands of paper documents each day, this requires a
dedication of significant resources to scan the documents and enter
the corresponding index information. Many companies prefer to do
business by processing the papers instead of dedicating the
resources to adapt their business systems to converting the papers
to electronic documents, then processing the electronic
documents.
[0006] Various systems have been developed to allow a user to more
efficiently enter indexing information for a document. For example,
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,192,165 and 6,427,032 owned by ImageTag, Inc.
disclose systems in which a user creates index information in a
record in a database for a paper document before the document is
scanned, places a label with a unique identifier on the paper
document, then scans the paper document. The system detects the
label with the unique identifier in the scanned image, locates the
index record in the database that corresponds to the unique
identifier, then stores the scanned document with the index record
in the database.
[0007] One problem that has not been adequately addressed is
disposition of the paper document after scanning. Some companies
keep the paper documents in long-term storage even though the
documents are available in electronic form. This practice can be
very costly. Many companies that have invested in getting their
documents into electronic form still do not have a way to specify
disposition for individual documents. As a result, many paper
documents are stored that could be disposed of, increasing the
company's total document management costs due to the archiving of
paper documents.
BRIEF SUMMARY
[0008] A document processing system allows specifying disposition
of a document at the time a reservation for the document is created
in the document processing system. A default disposition policy can
be selected, a different defined disposition policy can be
selected, or a new disposition policy can be created. Quality
assurance processing after scanning assures all needed processing
is performed for the paper document and the corresponding
electronic document. Once the quality assurance processing is
complete, the disposition of the document is scheduled according to
the specified disposition policy for the document. When the
specified disposition policy for a document indicates it needs to
be destroyed, a user scans the unique identifier on the physical
document at a first location, receives verification the document
should be destroyed, and places the document in a container for
documents to be destroyed. At a second location, a user scans the
unique identifier on the document and receives verification the
document should be destroyed. Once the user at the second location
receives verification the physical document may be destroyed, the
user can then destroy the physical document.
[0009] The foregoing and other features and advantages will be
apparent from the following more particular description, as
illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)
[0010] The disclosure will be described in conjunction with the
appended drawings, where like designations denote like elements,
and:
[0011] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a computer system that
implements a document processing system;
[0012] FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of a prior art method for handling
paper documents;
[0013] FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of a prior art method for handling
both paper and electronic documents;
[0014] FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of a prior art method for
processing paper documents into electronic documents;
[0015] FIG. 5 is a block diagram that shows additional details of
the document reservation mechanism 142 shown in FIG. 1;
[0016] FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a first sample document
disposition policy;
[0017] FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a second sample document
disposition policy;
[0018] FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a third sample document
disposition policy;
[0019] FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of a method for defining and
scheduling disposition of a document;
[0020] FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing examples of quality
assurance processing;
[0021] FIG. 11 is a flow diagram of a method for processing
documents that includes steps shown in FIG. 9;
[0022] FIG. 12 is a sample display showing a document reservation
session for a document showing metadata entered by a user for the
document;
[0023] FIG. 13 is a sample display showing a document reservation
session for a document that shows how a user can define a
disposition policy for the document during the reservation
session;
[0024] FIG. 14 is a table showing two default disposition policies
according to document type;
[0025] FIG. 15 is a flow diagram of a method for using the
disposition policy for a paper document when handling the paper
document; and
[0026] FIG. 16 is a flow diagram of a method for verifying a
physical document should be destroyed before destroying the
physical document.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0027] The claims and disclosure herein provide a document
processing system that allows specifying disposition of a document
at the time a reservation for the document is created in the
document processing system. A default disposition policy can be
selected, a different defined disposition policy can be selected,
or a new disposition policy can be created. Quality assurance
processing after scanning assures all needed processing is
performed for the paper document and the corresponding electronic
document. Once the quality assurance processing is complete, the
disposition of the document is scheduled according to the specified
disposition policy for the document. When the specified disposition
policy for a document indicates it needs to be destroyed, a user
scans the unique identifier on the physical document at a first
location, receives verification the document should be destroyed,
and places the document in a container for documents to be
destroyed. At a second location, a user scans the unique identifier
on the document and receives verification the document should be
destroyed. Once the user at the second location receives
verification the physical document may be destroyed, the user can
then destroy the physical document.
[0028] Some background information is now presented to give context
that will aid the reader in understanding the discussion below.
Referring to FIG. 2, a prior art method 200 represents how paper
documents have been handled in the past in companies who have
defined policies for handling paper documents. A paper document is
received (step 210). The paper document is then filed in the
appropriate file (step 220). Note the term "appropriate file" in
method 200 refers to a paper file folder stored in a filing cabinet
or other suitable storage system for paper files. At some point the
document is determined to be inactive (step 230). For example, in a
law firm, the paper document can become inactive when a file for a
particular matter is closed. The final disposition of the paper
document is determined (step 240). When the final disposition is to
shred the document (step 250=SHRED), the document is shredded (step
260). When the final disposition of the document is to keep the
document (step 250=KEEP), the document is stored in long-term
storage (step 270). Many companies, especially law firms, have
implemented policies that keep inactive documents in long-term
storage for a long time. This often requires off-site storage of
documents in a warehouse. Needless to say, the expense associated
with boxing the document, identifying which files and documents are
in each box, and transporting the boxes of documents to the
warehouse, increase the cost of dealing with the document. In
addition, the ongoing cost of maintaining the warehouse can become
significant. Some companies are also finding that long-term storage
of archived documents can be undesirable when there is no document
retention policy in place to destroy documents after some defined
time period. For example, some companies have retained documents in
long-term storage that contain information that can be damaging to
the company if the company is ever sued. As a result, many
companies have made efforts to more actively manage their document
retention and destruction processes.
[0029] Referring to FIG. 3, a prior art method 300 shows how the
process of managing documents is complicated when both paper
documents and electronic documents must be managed. A paper
document is received (step 310). The paper document is scanned to
create an electronic document (step 320). The electronic document
is then stored (step 330) and the paper document is filed in the
appropriate paper file (step 340). At an appropriate point in time,
a final disposition of the paper document is determined (step 360).
When the final disposition of the paper document is to shred the
paper document (step 362=SHRED), the paper document is shredded
(step 364). When the final disposition of the paper document is to
keep the document (step 362=KEEP), the paper document is stored in
long-term storage (step 366). Note there may be other final
dispositions of the paper document not shown in FIG. 3, such as to
mail the paper document to the client. The final disposition of the
electronic document is also determined (step 370). When the final
disposition of the electronic document is to purge the electronic
document (step 374=PURGE), the electronic document is purged (step
374), which means the electronic document is deleted. This may also
include deleting any backups of the electronic document so the
electronic document is literally gone and cannot be recovered
later. When the final disposition of the electronic document is to
keep the electronic document (step 372=KEEP), the electronic
document is stored in a suitable document archive for electronic
documents (step 376). Note the suitable document archive could be
the same location where the electronic document was originally
stored, or can be a different location.
[0030] FIG. 3 makes it clear that when a company scans documents,
it must separately manage the paper and the electronic documents.
The final disposition of the paper document may be different than
the final disposition of the electronic document. A company who
manages both paper and electronic documents typically has separate
processes that manage disposition of the paper and electronic
documents. These processes are not integrated into the process for
creating the electronic document. In addition, the processes often
must accommodate different personalities. For example, a senior
lawyer at a law firm may mandate that all of the paper and
electronic documents for his files is kept for a minimum of 20
years, even though the law firm policy is to destroy both paper and
electronic documents 5 years after a file is closed. Companies are
thus faces with trying to integrate various manual processes and
computer-based processes in a way that accommodates a wide range of
document disposition preferences. What is needed is a more uniform
way to specify and manage document disposition.
[0031] As discussed above in the Background section, ImageTag, Inc.
developed systems that allow a user to create index information in
a record in a database for a paper document before the paper
document is scanned, place a label with a unique identifier on the
paper document, then scan the paper document. The system detects
the label with the unique identifier, locates the index record in
the database that corresponds to the unique identifier on the
label, then stores the scanned document with the index record in
the database. Method 400 in FIG. 4 is representative of a method
performed by a product known as KwikTag marketed by ImageTag, Inc.
A paper document is received (step 410). A reservation for the
document is created (step 420). A reservation is created typically
by invoking the KwikTag software to perform a "tagging session".
During the tagging session, the user specifies metadata for the
document, including the globally unique identifier on the next
label in the user's label dispenser (step 430). The user then
applies the corresponding label with the globally unique identifier
to the document (step 440). In the most preferred implementation,
the user applies the corresponding label to the paper document by
placing an adhesive label on the first page of the document. In an
alternative implementation, the user applies the corresponding
label to the paper document by printing a cover sheet with the
label. At some later point in time, the document is scanned (step
450), which creates one or more images that represent the scanned
document. For the discussion herein, the "scanned image" includes
all of the pages in the document for a multi-page document. The
label on the document is read (step 460). The globally unique
identifier on the label is extracted from the label (step 470). The
document image is then linked with the reservation corresponding to
the globally unique identifier (step 480). Note the reservation was
created and correlated to the globally unique identifier during the
previous tagging session. The document image is then stored in the
image database (step 490). The metadata entered by the user when
the reservation was created may be stored in a database separate
from the document image, or may be stored as part of the document
image file. The metadata entered by the user in FIG. 4 all relates
to the electronic document that will exist once the paper document
is scanned. None of the metadata entered by the user in FIG. 4
relates to disposition of the paper document.
[0032] Referring to FIG. 1, computer system 100 is one suitable
implementation of a computer system that could implement the
document processing system disclosed and claimed herein. Computer
system 100 could be any suitable server system, such as an IBM
eServer System i computer system. However, those skilled in the art
will appreciate that the disclosure herein applies equally to any
computer system, regardless of whether the computer system is a
complicated multi-user computing apparatus, a single user
workstation, or an embedded control system. As shown in FIG. 1,
computer system 100 comprises one or more processors 110, a main
memory 120, a mass storage interface 130, a display interface 140,
and a network interface 150. These system components are
interconnected through the use of a system bus 160. Mass storage
interface 130 is used to connect mass storage devices, such as a
disk drive 155, to computer system 100. One specific type of disk
drive 155 is a readable and writable CD-RW drive, which may store
data to and read data from a CD-RW 195. CD-RW 195 is one suitable
example of non-transitory computer readable media.
[0033] Main memory 120 preferably contains data 121, an operating
system 122, one or more scanned document folders 130, and a
document processing system 140. Data 121 represents any data that
serves as input to or output from any program in computer system
100. Operating system 122 is a multitasking operating system.
Scanned document folder(s) 130 represent one or more folders
accessible via a network connection that are the destination for
documents scanned by the digital copier/scanners, and that need to
be processed by the document processing system 140. While scanned
document folder(s) are shown as part of computer system 100 in FIG.
1, one or more scanned document folders could alternatively or in
addition reside on a separate computer system on a network, such as
a computer system 175 residing on network 170. The document
processing system 140 includes a document reservation system 142, a
document disposition mechanism 144, and a quality assurance
mechanism 146. The document reservation mechanism 142 allows a user
to enter metadata that is used to describe a document that needs to
be scanned. A unique identifier corresponding to a label is also
entered, which creates a "reservation" in the document processing
system. In other words, the metadata that describes the scanned
document is entered before the document is scanned. The unique
identifier on the label allows the scanned document to be later
correlated to the reservation for that unique identifier. This
allows the metadata for the scanned document that was entered
earlier to be automatically associated with the scanned document
based on the unique identifier that was entered as part of the
metadata for the document during the document reservation
session.
[0034] The document disposition mechanism 144 allows a user to
specify a disposition policy for a paper document. The document
disposition mechanism 144 can also provide a prompt to a user when
a document needs to be disposed of. The document disposition
mechanism can handle specifying disposition of paper documents as
well as disposition of electronic documents. However, in some
implementations, the document disposition mechanism 144 will be
responsible for specifying disposition of paper documents, while
specifying disposition of electronic documents is left to other
processes or systems. The quality assurance mechanism 146 allows
performing any needed quality assurance function with respect to
the paper document and/or electronic document. For example, one
such quality assurance function is to allow a user to verify a
scanned document accurately reflects the paper document before the
document is disposed of according to the disposition policy. The
mechanisms 142, 144 and 146 in the document processing system 140
are discussed in more detail below with respect to FIGS. 5-13.
[0035] Computer system 100 utilizes well known virtual addressing
mechanisms that allow the programs of computer system 100 to behave
as if they only have access to a large, single storage entity
instead of access to multiple, smaller storage entities such as
main memory 120 and disk drive 155. Therefore, while data 121,
operating system 122, scanned document folder(s) 130, and document
processing system 140 are shown to reside in main memory 120, those
skilled in the art will recognize that these items are not
necessarily all completely contained in main memory 120 at the same
time. It should also be noted that the term "memory" is used herein
generically to refer to the entire virtual memory of computer
system 100, and may include the virtual memory of other computer
systems coupled to computer system 100. In addition, computer
system 100 could include one or more virtual machines, with the
document processing system 140 running on one of the virtual
machines.
[0036] Processor 110 may be constructed from one or more
microprocessors and/or integrated circuits. Processor 110 executes
program instructions stored in main memory 120. Main memory 120
stores programs and data that processor 110 may access. When
computer system 100 starts up, processor 110 initially executes the
program instructions that make up operating system 122.
[0037] Although computer system 100 is shown to contain only a
single processor and a single system bus, those skilled in the art
will appreciate that a document processing system as disclosed and
claimed herein may be practiced using a computer system that has
multiple processors and/or multiple buses. In addition, the
interfaces that are used preferably each include separate, fully
programmed microprocessors that are used to off-load
compute-intensive processing from processor 110. However, those
skilled in the art will appreciate that these functions may be
performed using I/O adapters as well.
[0038] Display interface 140 is used to directly connect one or
more displays 165 to computer system 100. These displays 165, which
may be non-intelligent (i.e., dumb) terminals or fully programmable
workstations, are used to provide system administrators and users
the ability to communicate with computer system 100. Note, however,
that while display interface 140 is provided to support
communication with one or more displays 165, computer system 100
does not necessarily require a display 165, because all needed
interaction with users and other processes may occur via network
interface 150.
[0039] Network interface 150 is used to connect computer system 100
to other computer systems or workstations 175 via network 170.
Network interface 150 broadly represents any suitable way to
interconnect electronic devices, regardless of whether the network
170 comprises present-day analog and/or digital techniques or via
some networking mechanism of the future. Network interface 150
preferably includes a combination of hardware and software that
allow communicating on the network 170. Software in the network
interface 150 preferably includes a communication manager that
manages communication with other computer systems or other network
devices 175 via network 170 using a suitable network protocol. Many
different network protocols can be used to implement a network.
These protocols are specialized computer programs that allow
computers to communicate across a network. TCP/IP (Transmission
Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) is an example of a suitable
network protocol that may be used by the communication manager
within the network interface 150.
[0040] As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of
the disclosed document processing system may be embodied as a
system, method or computer program product. Accordingly, aspects of
the document processing system may take the form of an entirely
hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (including
firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodiment
combining software and hardware aspects that may all generally be
referred to herein as a "circuit," "module" or "system."
Furthermore, aspects of the document processing system may take the
form of a computer program product embodied in one or more computer
readable medium(s) having computer readable program code embodied
thereon.
[0041] Any combination of one or more computer readable medium(s)
may be utilized. The computer readable medium may be a computer
readable signal medium or a non-transitory computer readable
storage medium. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium
may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic,
optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system,
apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.
More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer
readable storage medium would include the following: an electrical
connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette,
a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory
(ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash
memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory
(CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or
any suitable combination of the foregoing. In the context of this
document, a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible
medium that can contain, or store a program for use by or in
connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or
device.
[0042] Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be
transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited
to wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any
suitable combination of the foregoing.
[0043] Computer program code for carrying out operations for
aspects of the document processing system may be written in any
combination of one or more programming languages, including an
object oriented programming language such as Java, Smalltalk, C++
or the like and conventional procedural programming languages, such
as the "C" programming language or similar programming languages.
The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer,
partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package,
partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or
entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario,
the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through
any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide
area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external
computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet
Service Provider).
[0044] Aspects of the document processing system are described
herein with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block
diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) and computer program
products. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart
illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in
the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be
implemented by computer program instructions. These computer
program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general
purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable
data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the
instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or
other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for
implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or
block diagram block or blocks.
[0045] These computer program instructions may also be stored in a
computer readable medium that can direct a computer, other
programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to
function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored
in the computer readable medium produce an article of manufacture
including instructions which implement the function/act specified
in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
[0046] The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a
computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other
devices to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on
the computer, other programmable apparatus or other devices to
produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions
which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus
provide processes for implementing the functions/acts specified in
the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
[0047] The disclosure and claims herein improve on the prior art
method 400 shown in FIG. 4 by allowing the user to specify a
disposition policy for the paper document during the tagging
session, and to also optionally specify a disposition policy for
the corresponding electronic document during the tagging session as
well. Referring to FIG. 5, the document reservation mechanism 142
in FIG. 1 is shown to include a metadata description mechanism 510
and one or more document disposition policies 520. The document
disposition policies 520 may include a default document disposition
policy 530 as well as one or more other document disposition
policies 540. Note the document disposition policies 520 could also
include multiple default disposition policies according to document
type. Thus, tax returns could have a default disposition policy,
while wills have a different default disposition policy. Of course,
a user can always define a new document disposition policy if none
of the existing document disposition policies will do. The document
disposition policies include disposition policies relating to
physical paper documents, and can optionally also include
disposition policies relating to the corresponding electronic
documents.
[0048] Examples of suitable document disposition policies are shown
in FIGS. 6-8. The Sample1 Document Disposition Policy in FIG. 6
specifies to shred the paper document immediately and purge the
electronic document five years after the file is closed. The
Sample2 Document Disposition Policy in FIG. 7 specifies to keep the
paper document forever and retain the electronic document forever.
The Sample3 Document Disposition Policy in FIG. 8 specifies to
shred the paper document after 6 months. Note the two sample
document disposition policies in FIGS. 6 and 7 specify disposition
of both the paper document as well as the electronic document,
while the sample document disposition policy in FIG. 8 only
specifies disposition of the paper document. The document
processing system disclosed and claimed herein may work in
conjunction with any suitable document management software or
process, whether computer-based or manual, that can separately
determine disposition of electronic documents. For example,
software or a manual process that is separate from the document
processing system disclosed herein could determine when and how to
dispose of electronic documents. This allows coordination between
disposition of paper documents and disposition of the corresponding
electronic documents. The document disposition policy disclosed
herein extends to specifying disposition of the paper document, and
also optionally specifying disposition of the electronic
document.
[0049] It is also within the scope of the disclosure and claims
herein for the document processing system 140 to pass document
disposition information to a different process or program. Thus,
for the example in FIG. 6 that specifies to purge the electronic
document 5 years after the file is closed, the document processing
system 140 could notify any suitable document management software
or process of the need to purge the electronic document 5 years
after the file is closed. By passing document disposition
information to existing external processes or software, the
document processing system 140 can be integrated into a large
number of different systems and configurations.
[0050] Note the term "disposition" of a document means what is
ultimately done with the document, and does not necessarily mean
the document is "disposed of" in the sense of being destroyed. As
shown in FIG. 7, disposition of a paper document may include
keeping the paper document, and disposition of an electronic
document may include retaining the electronic document. Note also
that "document retention" and "document destruction" may often be
thought of as different sides of the same coin. Thus, when a
company has a document retention policy, the policy typically
specifies time periods for retaining documents, after which the
documents may be destroyed. Thus, a document retention policy can
also inherently be a document destruction policy. For the example
given in FIG. 6, the document disposition policy specifies to shred
the paper document immediately, which implies no retention of the
paper document. Similarly, the document disposition policy in FIG.
6 specifies to purge the electronic document five years after the
file is closed, which means to retain the electronic document for
five years, after which the electronic document can be purged. The
disclosure and claims herein extend to any suitable document
disposition policy however expressed, whether currently known or
developed in the future. For example, disposition of a paper
document could include other options besides keeping and shredding,
such as sending the paper document to the client.
[0051] Referring to FIG. 9, a method 900 shows steps that are not
currently performed in prior art method 400 shown in FIG. 4 that
are performed by the document processing system 140 in FIG. 1. A
document disposition policy is specified in the reservation for the
paper document (step 910). Once the document is scanned, any needed
quality assurance processing for the scanned image of the document
is performed (step 920). Quality assurance (QA) processing can
include any suitable processing that could be needed. Examples of
quality assurance processing are shown in FIG. 10 to include assure
the scanned image exists and is accurate 1010; verify completeness
and accuracy of the metadata for the scanned document 1020; verify
the scanned document is written to the document management system
1030; verify any needed workflows are triggered 1040; and build an
audit trail 1050. Assuring the scanned image exists and is accurate
1010 may include any suitable steps or functions, such as scanning
the label on the document with a bar code reader, which provides
access to both the metadata for the document as well as the scanned
image for the document, assuming the document has already been
scanned. This allows a quality assurance user to use existing
barcode scanners that are already used for managing paper
documents. Assuring the scanned image exists and is accurate 1010
can include the steps of checking to make sure the document image
has been captured, making sure the image quality is good, and
making sure all pages got scanned. A simple example will
illustrate. Let's assume page 2 of the scanned document is upside
down, page 3 of the document is missing, and page 4 of the document
has part of the text cut off. A human user will inspect the scanned
document and notice these issues from a comparison with the paper
document (step 930=NO) and take corrective action (step 940). For
the simple example above, the corrective action could be rotating
page 2 180 degrees, re-scanning pages 3 and 4 of the document, then
inserting the re-scanned pages 3 and 4 into the document in the
place of pages 3 and 4. Once the corrective action is taken, step
930 will determine whether QA processing is complete (step 930). If
not (step 930=NO), more corrective action can be taken (step 940).
Once all QA processing is complete (step 930=YES), the disposition
of the paper document is scheduled according to the specified
disposition policy (step 950).
[0052] Verifying completeness and accuracy of the metadata for the
scanned document 1020 can include making sure all needed fields are
filled out, and making sure the entries in those fields are
accurate. Note these fields preferably include all the metadata
fields that were available to the user during the tagging session,
and may also include other fields as well. Verifying the scanned
document is written to the document management system 1030 can
include making sure the electronic document is written to the
appropriate location in a separate document management system so
the document management system can manage the electronic document.
Verifying any needed workflows are triggered 1040 can include
making sure that any needed processes relating to the document,
both manual and computer-based, are initiated. An example of a
needed workflow is to send an e-mail to a user notifying the user
of something relating to the processing of the document. Building
an audit trail 1050 involves tracking each operation performed on a
document and who performed that operation so the audit trail
includes a complete history of actions taken with respect to the
document and the people who took those actions. The audit trail
ensures process integrity controls and reports are in place before
disposition of the physical document occurs. The specific examples
of quality assurance processing shown in FIG. 10 are shown by way
of example, and are not limiting. The disclosure and claims herein
expressly extend to any quality assurance processing, both manual
and computer-based, that needs to be performed as a result of
processing the paper document, the electronic document, or
both.
[0053] FIG. 11 shows a flow diagram of a method 1100 in accordance
with the disclosure and claims herein that is one suitable
implementation that includes steps shown in method 900 shown in
FIG. 9. Note that steps 410, 420, 430, 440, 450, 460, 470, 480 and
490 in method 1100 in FIG. 11 are the same numbered steps as in
prior art method 400 in FIG. 4. However, additional steps 910, 1110
and 950 have been added. Step 910 allows the user to specify a
disposition policy for the document in the reservation for the
document, as shown in step 910 in FIG. 9. Step 950 schedules
disposition of the paper document according to the specified
disposition policy, as shown in step 950 in FIG. 9. Step 1110
assures QA processing for the scanned image is complete, such as
the processing shown in steps 920, 930 and 940 in FIG. 9. Method
1100 thus allows a user to define a disposition policy for a
document during a tagging session, and once any appropriate quality
assurance processing is performed, the disposition of the document
can be scheduled.
[0054] A simple example is now given in FIGS. 12 and 13 that
illustrates how disposition of a document could be specified during
a tagging session in the document reservation system. FIG. 12 shows
a display window 1200 that represents a tab "Profile Document" in
the document reservation system. For this specific example, the
user can enter a client number, a client, a matter number, a
document type, an author, notes, and a date. The user can also
specify the label number. Note the label number will normally not
have to be modified by the user, because the labels are numbered
sequentially, which means the document reservation mechanism will
automatically fill in the number of the next label in the Label
Number field. Or course, if the user needs to change the label
number, such as if a label is damaged, the user can enter the
correct label number. In addition, some documents, such as tax
forms, may not have enough room for a label. In this case a cover
sheet may be printed with the barcoded label instead of placing an
adhesive label on the document itself. When this is the case, the
user can select the "Print Cover Sheet" option shown in FIG. 12.
The disclosure and claims herein apply regardless of whether an
adhesive label or cover sheet is used. Thus, applying a label to
the document can include either applying an adhesive label to the
document or printing a label to a coversheet for the document.
[0055] The fields in FIG. 12 represent metadata that describes a
document. In the most preferred implementation, the user defines
this metadata before the document is scanned. Of course, it is
equally within the scope of the disclosure and claims herein to
create a reservation that includes no metadata or less than all the
desired metadata, as long as the label number is identified. The
user could then go back and enter the desired metadata at a later
time, even after the document is scanned. Once the user has entered
all the metadata the user desires to define in the document
reservation system, the user clicks on the OK button, which causes
a reservation to be created with the specified metadata, including
the label number. This reservation can then be matched later to the
document image after the document is scanned and the label number
on the label is extracted from the scanned image of the
document.
[0056] In addition to specifying metadata for the document in the
window 1200 shown in FIG. 12, the user can also specify a
disposition policy for the paper document, and can optionally also
define a disposition policy for the electronic document, as shown
in window 1300 in FIG. 13. Note the available disposition policies
for the paper document include a default disposition policy that
can be selected by the user. Note also that different default
disposition policies could be specified for different document
types, as shown in FIG. 14. Thus, a tax return could have a default
disposition policy of shredding after five years, while a will
could have a default disposition policy of keeping the paper
document forever. Window 1300 could include one or more drop-down
lists that include several different defined disposition policies
that could be selected by the user. In addition, the user could
define a new disposition policy for the document if none of the
defined disposition policies will do. Once the user specifies the
applicable disposition policy for the document, the user selects
the OK button, which causes the disposition policy to be added as
metadata to the document reservation. In this manner the
disposition policy for a document can be specified at the time a
reservation for the document is created. This disposition policy
can then be used to determine disposition of the document once all
required QA processing is complete.
[0057] While the metadata related to document disposition shown in
FIG. 13 is metadata stored before the paper document is scanned,
this metadata differs from the metadata that profiles the document
to be scanned, as shown in FIG. 12. The metadata in FIG. 12 relates
to the electronic version of the document to be scanned. The
metadata in FIG. 13, in contrast, relates to disposition of the
paper document, and can optionally also relate to disposition of
the electronic document as well. No known prior art systems allow
specifying metadata that relates to disposition of the paper
document before the paper document is even scanned.
[0058] Referring to FIG. 15, a method 1500 shows how the document
disposition policy can be used when handling the paper document.
The document identifier on the paper document is scanned (step
1510). The identifier can be on a label on the document itself, or
on a cover sheet for the document. The identifier may be scanned,
for example, using any suitable machine-readable reader, such as a
bar code scanner. The disposition policy for the paper document is
retrieved (step 1520). When the disposition policy indicates the
document can be shredded now (step 1530=YES), the user is prompted
"OK to Shred" (step 1540). For example, the disposition policy may
indicate the document can be shredded now (step 1530=YES) once the
document has been scanned and all needed quality assurance
processing has been completed. When the disposition policy does not
allow for shredding the document now (step 1530=NO), the user is
prompted "Store in Location X" (step 1550). Note method 1500 may be
performed some time after the initial quality assurance processing
in steps 920, 930 and 940 in FIG. 9, which are also represented in
step 1110 in FIG. 11. Thus, the disposition policy can also be used
at the back end of the process to make sure a document can be
shredded before it is actually shredded. A simple example will
illustrate. Let's assume the document processing system has
identified many documents for shredding, and these documents are
all placed in one or more boxes. As a final check, the user could
scan the label on the document just before putting the document
into the shredder. If the document should be shredded, the user
will receive the "OK to Shred" message. If not, the user will get a
different message, indicating the document should not be shredded.
The disposition policy thus allows for a final back-end check
before a paper document is shredded.
[0059] Many executives and managers understandably get very nervous
about destroying physical documents. The document disposition
mechanism allows a check and double-check before destroying a
physical document. Referring to FIG. 16, a method 1600 is
preferably performed by the document disposition mechanism 144 in
FIG. 1, and begins by providing notification when a physical
document should be destroyed (step 1610). This notification could
happen, for example, to a user in a file room where files are
stored. This notification could be the result of the document
disposition mechanism monitoring the document disposition policies
for many documents, and providing the notification when the
document disposition policy for a document is satisfied, indicating
the physical document needs to be destroyed. The user then
retrieves the document and scans the unique identifier on the
document (step 1620). When the document disposition policy does not
allow destroying the document (step 1630=NO), the user is prompted
to keep (i.e., not destroy) the document (step 1632). Step 1630 is
the first check in the double check process for verifying documents
should be destroyed. When the document disposition policy is
satisfied so the document should be destroyed (step 1630=YES), the
user that scanned the document in step 1620 is prompted with a
message that indicates the physical document may be destroyed (step
1640). The physical document is then sent to a destruction station
or facility (step 1650). This can be done, for example, by placing
the physical document in a container for documents to be destroyed,
then transporting the container to the destruction station or
facility. Some companies perform document destruction in-house,
some have off-site document destruction facilities, and some use
third party contractors to perform document destruction. With all
of these, there are typically special containers that are
designated for document destruction. In the prior art, once
documents are placed in the containers designated for document
destruction, the documents are then destroyed. Method 1600,
however, provides a second check at the destruction station or
facility to make sure the physical document should be destroyed
before destroying the physical document. A user at the destruction
station or facility scans the unique identifier on the physical
document (step 1660). A check is made to assure the document
disposition policy for the document is satisfied, which allows for
destroying the physical document. When the document disposition
policy is not satisfied, indicating the physical document should
not be destroyed (step 1670=NO), the physical document is returned
(step 1672). When the document disposition policy is satisfied,
indicating the physical document should be destroyed (step
1670=YES), the user is prompted that the physical document can be
destroyed (step 1680). The user then destroys the physical document
(step 1690) in any suitable way, including shredding, incineration,
or any other suitable way to destroy documents, whether currently
known or developed in the future. Providing the double-check before
destroying documents gives executive and managers another level of
assurance that only documents that should be destroyed are actually
destroyed.
[0060] The figures and specification discussed above thus support
an apparatus comprising at least one processor; a memory coupled to
the at least one processor; a document processing system residing
in the memory and executed by the at least one processor, the
document processing system comprising: a document disposition
mechanism that provides a notification when a physical document
should be destroyed, receives a first scan of a unique identifier
on the document at a first location and provides first verification
at the first location the document should be destroyed, receives a
second scan of the unique identifier on the document at a second
location, and provides second verification at the second location
the document should be destroyed.
[0061] The figures and specification discussed above additionally
support a computer-implemented method executed by at least one
processor for verifying physical documents should be destroyed, the
method comprising: scheduling disposition of a physical document
according to a specified disposition policy for the physical
document; providing a notification when the physical document
should be destroyed according to the specified disposition policy
for the physical document; in response to the notification,
retrieving the physical document to a first location; performing a
first scan in the first location of a unique identifier on the
label on the physical document; in response to the first scan,
providing a first prompt at the first location that verifies the
physical document should be destroyed; in response to the first
prompt, placing the physical document in a container of documents
to be destroyed; scanning in a second location the unique
identifier on the label on the physical document; and in response
to the second scan, providing a second prompt at the second
location that verifies the physical document should be
destroyed.
[0062] The figures and specification discussed above further
support a computer-implemented method executed by at least one
processor for verifying physical documents should be destroyed, the
method comprising: creating a reservation for a physical document;
specifying in the reservation for the physical document metadata
corresponding to the physical document, where the metadata includes
a unique identifier of a label that is applied to the physical
document and further includes a disposition policy for the physical
document; applying the label to the physical document; scanning the
physical document to generate an electronic document corresponding
to the physical document; reading the unique identifier of the
label in the electronic document; linking the electronic document
with the reservation for the physical document based on the unique
identifier of the label; storing the electronic document in a
database; scheduling disposition of the physical document according
to the disposition policy for the physical document that was
specified by the user during the reservation session for the
physical document; providing a notification when the physical
document should be destroyed; in response to the notification,
retrieving the physical document to a first location; scanning in
the first location the unique identifier on the label on the
physical document; in response to the first scan, providing a first
prompt at the first location that verifies the physical document
should be destroyed; scanning in a second location the unique
identifier on the label on the physical document; and in response
to the second scan, providing a second prompt at the second
location that verifies the physical document should be
destroyed.
[0063] The figures and specification discussed above also support a
computer-implemented method executed by at least one processor for
verifying physical documents should be destroyed, the method
comprising: creating a reservation for a physical document;
specifying in the reservation for the physical document metadata
corresponding to the physical document, where the metadata includes
a unique identifier of a label that is applied to the physical
document and further includes a disposition policy for the physical
document; applying the label to the physical document; scanning the
physical document to generate the electronic document; reading the
unique identifier of the label in the electronic document; linking
the electronic document with the reservation for the physical
document based on the unique identifier of the label; performing
quality assurance processing related to the electronic document
after the physical document has been scanned to produce the
electronic document, wherein the quality assurance processing
comprises: comparing the electronic document to the physical
document to assure the electronic document accurately represents
the physical document; verifying completeness and accuracy of the
metadata corresponding to the physical document; verifying the
electronic document is written to a document management system;
verifying any needed workflows associated with the physical
document and the electronic document are triggered; building an
audit trail for the physical document; and taking corrective action
if any of the quality assurance processing indicates corrective
action is needed; storing the electronic document in a database;
scheduling disposition of the physical document according to the
disposition policy for the physical document that was specified by
the user during the reservation session for the physical document;
providing a notification when the disposition policy for the
physical document is satisfied indicating the physical document
should be destroyed; in response to the notification, retrieving
the physical document to a first location; scanning in the first
location the unique identifier on the label on the physical
document; in response to the first scan, providing a first prompt
at the first location that verifies the physical document should be
destroyed; scanning in a second location the unique identifier on
the label on the physical document; and in response to the second
scan, providing a second prompt at the second location that
verifies the physical document should be destroyed.
[0064] In the discussion herein, the terms "scanned document" and
"electronic document" are used interchangeably to refer to an
electronic file that contains images of the paper document, while
the term "paper document" is used herein to refer to the hard copy
document in paper form. The discussion herein uses paper documents
as one suitable example of physical documents. Note, however, that
physical documents can include any physical embodiment of a
document, including paper, recordable media, optical media,
integrated circuits, or any other physical form of a document. The
disclosure and claims herein expressly extend to verifying any
physical form of a document, whether currently known or developed
in the future, should be destroyed.
[0065] A document processing system allows specifying disposition
of a document at the time a reservation for the document is created
in the document processing system. A default disposition policy can
be selected, a different defined disposition policy can be
selected, or a new disposition policy can be created. Quality
assurance processing after scanning assures all needed processing
is performed for the paper document and the corresponding
electronic document. Once the quality assurance processing is
complete, the disposition of the document is scheduled according to
the specified disposition policy for the document. When the
specified disposition policy for a document indicates it needs to
be destroyed, a user scans the unique identifier on the physical
document at a first location, receives verification the document
should be destroyed, and places the document in a container for
documents to be destroyed. At a second location, a user scans the
unique identifier on the document and receives verification the
document should be destroyed. Once the user at the second location
receives verification the physical document may be destroyed, the
user can then destroy the physical document.
[0066] One skilled in the art will appreciate that many variations
are possible within the scope of the claims. Thus, while the
disclosure is particularly shown and described above, it will be
understood by those skilled in the art that these and other changes
in form and details may be made therein without departing from the
spirit and scope of the claims.
* * * * *