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folio or a document management system for the records you have to keep
Document management systems differ a lot, and we won’t guess at any particular one. This is what folio will do on each point, and the question worth asking of any system you’re weighing up.
In short A document management system is made for working on documents, and folio for looking after the finished record. folio will apply each record’s retention class, hold it through a dispute and account for every view, and it will sit beside your system rather than replace it.
| Point | What to ask of any system | Unforged folio |
|---|---|---|
| How records are organised | Can it file by your unit of work, and does it set the finished record apart from drafts? | Each record will be filed in a folder by your unit of work, such as a matter, a client’s year or a tenancy, under a retention class. |
| How long things stay | Can you set a period for each kind of record, and will it be enforced or only recorded as a field? | Each record will stay for as long as its class says, and a Locked record will be write-once until then. |
| Removing something early | Who will be able to delete a record before its period ends, and will that need a second person? | A Retained record will be kept until retention ends, and deleted early only by two people with a reason. |
| During a dispute | Will a hold stop deletion by every route, including admin tools and automatic clean-ups? | You’ll be able to place a hold on a record, a folder or a matter, and nothing under it will be disposed of until two people release it. |
| Views and reasons | Will it log every view as well as every edit, and can it ask for a reason? | Every view will go in your ledger, and you’ll be able to set a folder so nobody opens it without giving a reason. |
| Showing nothing has changed | How will you show a record hasn’t changed since it was filed, to someone who won’t take the system’s word for it? | Each record will carry its fingerprints and an outside time-stamp, and the ledger will show any change. |
| Finding things | Will it find words inside scanned paper, across years of records? | You’ll be able to search by name, folder, matter or the words inside, scanned paper included. |
| Where it’s stored | Which region will your documents, the search index and the backups be stored in? | Your documents, and anything we make from them, will stay in the region you choose. |
| At the end of the period | What will happen when a period ends, and will each disposal go on record? | When retention ends, folio will dispose of the record, and the disposal will go in your ledger. |
| Everyday work on documents | Is it where your team drafts and works together? If so, folio will sit beside it rather than replace it. | folio won’t be an editor. It will look after the finished record, beside the tools your team works in. |
Where a document management system fits
A document management system is made for the work, and folio for the record:
Drafting and versions
Working on documents together, with versions and check-out, is what a document management system is for.
Matters and workflows
Tasks, deadlines and matter workflows belong in the systems built for them. folio isn’t a practice management system.
Filing the finished record
When the work is done, you’ll be able to file the finished record into folio from your own systems through the API.
Tell us what you have to keep
folio is in private beta. If it sounds like it would help, get in touch and we’ll set it up with you.