Alfresco EDM integration management overview

Increasingly, traditional methods of handling paperwork and electronic files do not generally allow staff the speed of access to information that modern business practices demands. The vulnerability to misfiling, loss and destruction - accidental or otherwise - are also important catalysts in moving away from any reliance on paper records. Electronic Document Management (EDM) is the method by which a paper document (made electronic by scanning) or an existing computer file is indexed to a storage location and is then easily accessible over the network or internet using logical search criteria. The ability to handle large and sometimes complex flows of information quickly and efficiently can frequently be the factor that differentiates a successful housing organisation.

Civica Cx Housing supports the retrieval of contact, asset and case-related document files stored in the EDM solution, Alfresco. The foundation of Alfresco is based on the normal office environment and its established procedures. Documents initially arrive in electronic baskets that mimic the in-box on an end user's physical desk, and their journey is progressed in the normal way e.g. sorting the document into a specific basket, stapling or clipping them together, adding notes, comments, signatures and stamps. From these baskets the documents are stored in digital filing cabinets, forming the document pool. It is from these 'cabinets' that Civica Cx Housing is able to retrieve the relevant documents using a common data model steered by the Content Management Interoperability Services (CMIS) open standard, defining the expected file types and folder structure. At its heart, Alfresco is an open source Enterprise Content Management (ECM) system that manages the storage, flow and accessibility to all types of documentation within a housing organisation, providing an intelligent repository to maintain the content, metadata, associations, and full text indexes. Through the creation of an integration management service, an end user can control how this contextual information is referenced by Civica Cx Housing in order to successfully retrieve and view each document via the relevant form or action button.

The controlled sharing and transfer of documentation between Civica Cx Housing and Alfresco is managed in a systematic way:

Contacts and Assets - For each stakeholder or property record held on the database it is possible to retrieve and view related documents by virtue of mapped entity reference values; such mappings are configured within the Integration Management service.
Document Tracking - When a new document is captured within the Alfresco EDM system, specific attributes assigned to it can be used to trigger a new CRM communication, which is automatically associated with a corresponding method and also cross-referenced back to the source document. The 'Process Communications' Home pane presents a consolidated view of all CRM communications generated in this way, from where they can be updated with any additional contact and contextual details before being allocated to an owner.
Case File Attachments - Any number of file attachments can be linked to an open case - ASB, CRM, Estate Management, Feedback, Generic, Home Buy, Homelessness or Housing Options - in order to provide contextual background, and serve as a single point of reference for all related progression activities. Simply by specifying the network location of the desired Alfresco source file, the document can be attached to the relevant case. Where required, the contact and contact group stakeholder identifiers linked to the overarching case file can also be appended to the external EDM document via a custom stored procedure.
New Communications - Launched from numerous touch points around Civica Cx Housing, the structure and behaviour of each communication is controlled via the underlying definition. Once an Integration Management service has been established for Alfresco, any definition can be assigned the 'Send to EDM' attribute, ensuring that all compiled communications of that type are transferred, along with the associated metadata.

Separate help articles have been created for each key aspect of Alfresco EDM integration management, including: