It is no longer a secret that document management systems have great potential for companies.
Thanks to the use of a document management system, you not only advance the digitization of your company. In addition, you form the cornerstone for achieving your corporate goals and securing your long-term corporate success.
Because digital document management creates a clear remedy here and takes you a huge step forward in the digital transformation. In the current article, we will list how a document management system (DMS) works, what needs to be considered and what advantages it brings to companies.
What is a document management system used for?
To put it simply: a document management system (DMS) is used to store, manage and control the flow of documents and information within an organization.
You can organize all information, such as paper documents, files or emails, in a central location, your document management system, which employees can access easily and without any problems, with functions for teamwork, approvals and access rights.
Document management systems are becoming increasingly important to businesses as the amount of information generated by today's businesses is growing exponentially.
The management and control of the enormous amount of external and internal documents that are part of the business processes in public or business administration has become a challenge that encourages the adoption of various applications.
Thus, these various applications should facilitate the control over information and documents and provide significant reductions in search time, handling and cost savings, which are very important in our administrative processes.
But wouldn't it be an advantage to have only one application that can fulfill all functions?
We will show you that PaperOffice AI can be exactly this one application for your company that has all the necessary functionalities on board.
Where are the documents stored?
After automation options, monitoring and search, this is the most frequently asked question, because whether private or business – nobody wants to leave the data in the wrong hands. The law requires this too: under the GDPR, personal data must be protected, and anyone who processes it on your behalf needs a data processing agreement (DPA) under Art. 28 GDPR.
PaperOffice AI goes the safe way: your documents are processed on PaperOffice's own hardware in its own data center in Navarra (Spain, EU) and stored encrypted with AES-256. If you wish, the files stay encrypted on your own NAS, such as from Synology or QNAP, or server (Bring Your Own Storage); PaperOffice keeps the index, metadata and AI results in its own EU data center. This means that you always have access to and control over your data.
Thus, the "heart" of the document management system is a database in which the information is stored in such a way that it can be found and retrieved in a simple and controlled manner.
But by storing the information in a structured way, we only have part of the equation.
The "brain" that controls the system is the workflow logic, which makes it possible to create dependencies between documents and processes and to link this information in flexible and previously defined flows.
An essential step in the implementation of such a sophisticated "workflow" is that as much documentation as possible is available in digital form.
Digitization and document management
When talking about document management systems, one must not forget: the higher the degree of digitization of the information that is part of the processes, the higher the degree of control and automation that could be achieved.
In the first step, it is determined which documents belong to the processes, how these documents can be integrated into the document management system and which information should be extracted and saved together with the documents in the database.
Once the information is included, its life cycle is defined, how it interacts with other processes and how it can be integrated.
Most likely, there will also be information coming from different sources and in different formats. Some of it in digital form, stored in files or databases and some in the form of printed documents.
When the information comes from other databases or is in XML format, querying and extracting it is easy, but. What happens to digital documents in pdf, doc, etc. format? It will be a bit more complex, but its content can be accessed in different ways, for example with certain programs, accessing the file directly or sending it to print and extracting the information through the print spool (queue).
It's a bit more complicated when the document comes in paper form, such as a delivery note or an invoice. But when the solution includes a sophisticated Optical Character Recognition (OCR) program, an important step has already been taken.
Scanner and Document Management System
With a scanner or other digitization device, the document is not only converted into an image, but its contents can also be "read out" electronically.
If the system can then recognize and define which document information must be stored separately in the database – such as keywords like invoice number, date, products and amounts – the information in the document management system is complete.
The digitization of information via OCR makes it easier to integrate a wide variety of documentation into the management of processes and workflows.
How you can benefit from PaperOffice AI
PaperOffice AI is like an all-round talent, because in addition to general document archiving, many other functions relating to documents and the associated information are integrated, such as these:
- Access your information anytime, anywhere
- PaperOffice AI runs in your browser: on the desktop, on mobile via the mobile app, in Claude via the verified connector, or via API and MCP.
Your documents are processed and stored in PaperOffice's own data center in Navarra (Spain, EU), on its own hardware and without a public cloud.
If you wish, your files stay on your own storage: NAS from QNAP, Synology or Asustor, servers or S3-compatible storage are connected directly (Bring Your Own Storage).
This way, you access your documents encrypted and securely, anytime and from anywhere.
Find out more about your own storage (BYOS). - Search and find documents
- PaperOffice AI simply indexes everything, whether it's scanned documents or files. AI-OCR reads the text content without your intervention, and semantic search finds documents even when you do not know the exact words. So you can easily search for any word snippet, amount and keyword within seconds and find matching entries.
Learn more about integrated search. - Quick and advanced search
- Fully automatable
- Freely definable connectors automatically file all documents according to your specifications.
Not only folders on NAS and servers can be monitored, but also email mailboxes and cloud storage; workflows can also be started by a form, a schedule or a webhook.
Learn more about automating the monitoring. - Automation and Monitoring
- Audit-proof archiving of documents
- Every company is obliged to keep tax-relevant documents for the tax office.
The challenge is to archive the growing number of digital and paper documents as required by the GoBD: in the original format and unchangeable.
- PaperOffice AI provides versions, checksums, an audit log and retention periods for this, with WORM write protection if you wish – the basis for GoBD record-keeping. Learn more:
- Audit-proof archiving
- Automate workflows
- As already mentioned, it is essential for advanced document management to have all information in a digital and structured form in a database. This allows you to easily find the documents and set the rules on who can access, modify and delete/archive your information in one central website.
- One of the pillars of PaperOffice AI is the extensive workflow engine with workflow agents. This allows you to specify each step of a business process with its associated activities and dependencies, as well as the departments and roles involved. But you can also define automatic notifications that are activated depending on activities and events that occur throughout the process.
- All this not only reduces the time spent managing tasks, but also minimizes the likelihood of forgetfulness and errors in the process.
- PaperOffice AI helps you to automate all of your work processes, maps entire work processes digitally, so you always stay informed.
You always have an overview of tasks and processes through workflows that support you in automating your daily work.
Set the desired workflow with a due date, link it to possible decisions and tasks, and from activation, PaperOffice AI takes care of everything else until completion, with human approvals wherever you define them. - This makes it easy for you to comply with company policies and legal requirements.
- Learn more about workflow automation:
- Workflows
And many more features.
Working with and managing documents can be easy, safe and efficient at the same time.
Added value and benefits of document management
Below we list some of the most outstanding benefits of introducing PaperOffice AI:
- Control over who can access the documents, when, and what activities can be performed on them
- Central and easy access to all relevant company documentation and the possibility of multiple parties collaborating on the same document
- Security, not only in access control, but also in the custody and security that comes with the introduction of new technologies and databases
- Save time searching for documentation and costs managing and storing it
- Reduction of redundancies such as duplication of documents, photocopies, data recording
- Agility and automation of administrative tasks with the creation of workflows that allow the integration of documents and business processes in a controlled environment and clearly defined and monitored activities
- Not to forget the positive "side effect" of higher internal and external customer satisfaction
Do I need internet to work with PaperOffice?
For PaperOffice AI, yes: the platform runs in your browser, and processing takes place in PaperOffice's own data center in the EU. The mobile app captures scans even without a network and uploads them as soon as a connection is available again.
If you want to work entirely without internet, use PaperOffice Classic: the Windows program works on the local network without an internet connection. There, internet is only required for downloading the setup package, creating the user account, creating the database and adding the device.
Can I use my Synology NAS as storage?
Yes. PaperOffice AI connects your Synology NAS via SFTP as your own storage (Bring Your Own Storage): the files stay on the NAS, and PaperOffice keeps the index, metadata and AI results in its own EU data center. PaperOffice Classic runs its MariaDB database directly on the NAS.
Where are the documents and files stored?
With PaperOffice AI, in PaperOffice's own data center in Navarra (Spain, EU), encrypted with AES-256.
You also have the option of connecting your own NAS or server via SFTP (Bring Your Own Storage): the files then stay encrypted on your storage, and PaperOffice keeps the index, metadata and AI results in its own EU data center. With PaperOffice Classic, the data is stored in the database on your NAS or server.
In all cases, you have access to your data at any time.
Is my data stored in a cloud?
With PaperOffice AI, in the PaperOffice EU cloud, but not with a third-party provider: processing and storage run in PaperOffice's own data center in Navarra (Spain, EU) on its own hardware, without a public cloud and without US hyperscalers. The basis is a data processing agreement (DPA) under Art. 28 GDPR.
If you have connected your own storage, such as a NAS from QNAP or Synology, the files stay there. If you want to keep your data exclusively local, use PaperOffice Classic.
Are my documents always encrypted at PaperOffice?
Yes. Every file is split into pieces that are encrypted individually with AES-256 (ChunkCrypt). Data is transmitted over TLS 1.3. PaperOffice's information security is ISO/IEC 27001 certified (certificate available on request under NDA).
It doesn't matter whether you just want to find your documents and related information, or whether you need to tag the documents, integrate them into workflows, but at the same time ensure that you work in accordance with various guidelines and regulations - PaperOffice AI has a variety of functions to help you.
Getting started is easier than you think.
Still worried about not making it?
Check out our customers' case studies on going digital in different industries and see for yourself how easy the integration is, or try PaperOffice AI for free.
