halFILE Product News

Out-of-the-Box tools to assist data entry

2012-02-08T09:10:00.000-08:00

There are several out-of-the-box tools designed to assist the data entry operator who is posting halFILE documents. This article is a brief discussion of some of these features which come with your halFILE installation.

Associated Import will auto-index captured documents based on contents of the image file name. For example, if files are named by the Document Number (i.e. 44567.tif), this utility can be set up to post that number to a selected halFILE field. Associated Import can even parse the file into several fields. For example, if you have a file named 44567_WD_01-15-2011.pdf, the process can place "44567" into the Document Number field, "WD" into the Instrument Type field and "01-15-2011" into the Document Date field. Associated Import is found under the Tools-Associated Import menu of the halFILE Manager.

Auto Fill is a process which fills in halFILE database fields based on the data posted to the previously indexed documents. Auto Fill comes in 2 flavors. The first occurs real-time as the operator is indexing new documents. The second method is a stand-alone utility that can process a batch of documents in a selected basket. Both methods perform basically the same function - automatically fill selected index fields. Options for Auto Fill include:

Fill the field with a fixed value, pre-defined by the user.
Fill the field with the current date or time.
Fill the field with the operator id.
Fill the field with an incremented value. For example, if the prior record had a document number of 44567 then the new record will be posted with 44568.
Fill the field with an incremented value based on the number of image pages. For example, if the prior document had a Page Number of 250 and was a 3-page document, then the Page Number for the new document will be posted with 253.

The real-time Auto Fill is set up behind the Masks/Auto Fill button of the Database menu of the halFILE Administrator. It can also be altered at index time using the Tools-Options menu. The batch Auto Fill is set up with the Auto Fill utility itself.

Automated Indexing is a full-text indexing process where the system pre-processes documents and posts the full text of the document into a SQL Server database structure, providing fast key word retrieval. Once documents are posted, the search module includes a powerful retrieval method that we call "Proximity Search." So if you've processed a batch of invoices, all the text from each of those document is now stored in the full-text database. If you search for "computer monitor", the proximity search algorithm will find any document where the word "computer" and the word "monitor" are found near each other. Automated Indexing set up is found under the Tools-Automated Indexing menu of the halFILE Manager. Typically, this is set up as one step of a workflow process where documents are captured then processed.

Indexing Hot Keys is the final method that I will describe today. During the posting process, there are some special hot keys that can be pressed which replicate data from the prior document. For example, ALT-A will replicate all data fields from the document that was just indexed. ALT-D will replicate only the current field. behind the Tools-Options menu of the Index module, the user can even assign particular fields to a hot key. For example, if your database includes Grantor and Grantee fields, you can assign ALT-G to Grantor and ALT-R to Grantee. Then, using these hot keys, you can flip the fields from the prior document, placing the Grantee into the Grantor box and the Grantor into the Grantee box. There is also an option for quickly pulling information from any document, not only the prior document.

If you are a halFILE user and your posters could benefit from any of the above methods, contact halFILE Technical Support and they will be happy to help you out.

If you are not yet on halFILE, come on board and we will help you reach your goals for Document Management.

Email Collector comes through in a Big Way!

2012-02-02T08:42:00.000-08:00

Richard Hahn, our Sr. Vice-President of Product Planning, recently implemented our E-mail Collector system to handle volumes of e-mail for a community college in Washington state. So, here are the results - in our clients own words:

"I sent out and indexed about 3500 emails Monday and Tuesday using the EmailCollector. That was all of our open program registration appointments for Spring Quarter – the first time we’ve used it for that. What a great accomplishment…3,500 pieces of letterhead, envelopes, and postage saved, along with many hours of indexing…and the assurance that the indexing has no input errors…it’s a HUGE step in accomplishing our LEAN processing goals!!! Thank you Richard!!!"

The halFILE Email Collector offers e-mail archiving and automated indexing and is available now from hal Systems.

Conferences 2011

2011-07-28T12:31:00.000-07:00

Look for us at the following conferences and shows -

9/7-9 California Recorders Conference - Modesto, CA
9/14-16 LTAC Land Title Association of Colorado - Denver, CO
9/22-23 Missouri Land Title Association - St. Louis, MO
10/5-8 TSPS Texas Society of Professional Surveyors - Frisco, TX
9/24-27 PRIA - San Antonio, TX (Look for Richard Hahn)
10/19-21 HUG-halFILE Users Group Conference - Austin, TX
12/1-2 TLTA Land Title Institute - San Antonio, TX

We hope to see you there!

TLTA Annual Conference and Business Meeting - San Antonio, TX

2011-06-09T09:19:00.000-07:00

If you are attending Texas Land Title Association's Annual Conference and Business Meeting at the JW Marriott in San Antonio on June 16-17, please stop by our table (#5) and say hi to Dave and Christopher. They will be showing a preview halFILE 4.0, which is slated to be released in the fall of this year, as well as passing out State Fair goodies. While you are there, be sure to enter our drawing for a $100 Visa card, which will be given away at the show.

We hope to see you there!

HUG CONFERENCE - OCTOBER, 2011

2011-06-07T15:09:00.001-07:00

Mark your calendars for the 2011 HUG - halFILE Users Group Conference on October 19-21, 2011 in Austin, TX. The meeting will be held at the beautiful Omni Downtown Hotel. We'll have lots of halFILE information to share with our users, including details on HF 4.0, scheduled to be released after the meeting. Be the first to find out about the new features and enhancements in this new release. We will also be offering some training classes during the 2 day conference.

Stay tuned to our website as we firm up the details. And as always, if there is a subject or topic you'd like to have covered during the meeting, please send your suggestions and ideas to Karen at kduncan@halfile.com or call 214.466.6532.

We look forward to seeing everyone in October!

Conference Calendar 2011

2011-05-02T11:47:00.000-07:00

Stop by our booth at these conferences -

5/1-3 Iowa Land Title Association Annual Convention, West Des Moines, IA
5/8-10 ALTA Business Strategies Conference, Las Vegas, NV
6/12-15 Texas County & District Clerk's Annual Conference, Lewisville, TX
6/15-17 So Dakota Land Title Assocation Annual Convention, Watertown, SD
6/16-18 Texas Land Title Association Annual Convention, San Antonio, TX
9/14-16 Colorado Land Title Association Annual Convention, Littleton, CO

Welcome New halFILE Clients!

2011-05-02T11:26:00.000-07:00

We'd like to welcome our newest halFILE Clients -

Ellyson Abstract & Title Company - Fort Stockton, TX
Jefferson County Abstract & Land Title Company - Fairfield, IA
Stonewall Title Company Ltd - Granbury, TX

Thank you for partnering with hal Systems and choosing halFILE for your document imaging solution. We appreciate your business!

April 12, 1974 - hal Systems Opens For Business!

2011-04-19T13:22:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to hal Systems, celebrating 37 years in business!

Greg Hahn, a partner in the original company, remains at the helm of hal Systems to this day. Through his foresight and vision, hal Systems has evolved from a mini-computer based accounting software provider, to a PC based document management solution provider to over 450 companies in numerous business sectors.

Greg proudly shares hal’s success with his employees, many of whom have been with the company for 30 years or longer. Ingenuity, dedication, and hard work have kept hal Systems at the forefront of software technology; and hal continues to remain a leader in document imaging.

We can’t say Happy Birthday without including a big THANK YOU to our Customers! Without you, we could not have remained in business for 37 years. We appreciate your loyalty and business more than words can express, and look forward to a working with you for many years to come.

Got a defective computer monitor??

2011-03-03T14:33:00.000-08:00

We do. In order to determine if it qualified for warranty repair, I needed the purchase date. Since I wasn't sure when it had been purchased, I quickly did a property search in halFILE (we scan and index all our accounting records in HF) and was able to pull up the invoice on my screen, and provide the manufacturer with the purchase date, model number, and serial number, all within a few minutes. I never left my desk. I didn't have to dig through months and months of paper files. I didn't have to interrupt anyone to get help. No, I didn't have to do any of that. I did it by myself with the help of halFILE! So if you aren't using halFILE to image your accounting paperwork, maybe you should be. And if you aren't sure how to begin, just ask us. We'll be glad to share with you how we use halFILE to work more efficiently and make our jobs easier.

If you have a unique way you use halFILE in your office, please let me know. I'll share your story with other halFILE Users. Together we can work towards the efficient, 'less paper' office, and maybe save a few trees along the way!

Fairchild Medical Center

2011-02-16T13:55:00.000-08:00

A customer since June, 2000, Fairchild Medical Center utilizes halFILE as their DMS for storage of all inpatient and clinical medical records, as well as their business office files. Associating index information with images is facilitated by a lookup table of patient information downloaded each evening from the hospital’s AS400 mainframe processing system.

Located in Yreka, California at the base of the breathtaking, beautiful Mount Shasta, Fairchild is a state-of-the-art healthcare facility offering medical, surgical, orthopedic, emergency, obstetric, and pediatric care, and other specialties services available through telemedicine. Fairchild Medical Center is a leader and catalyst in the formation of a fully integrated health care system.

Expansion of the halFILE DMS into the internal accounting department at Fairchild is expected in 2011 using the same AS400 to halFILE interface processes. We'd like to thank Fairchild Medical Center for its innovative foresight in using halFILE to manage critical and time sensitive data and information within its organization!

Winter Storm of 2011 Won't Stop New halFILE Install!

2011-02-07T14:54:00.000-08:00

We want to give a warm welcome to our newest halFILE Client, Abstract, Title and Escrow Services in Burlington, Iowa! As you can see, our own Answer Man, Christopher Smith, and Bill Price were up to their eyeballs in snow in front of the Iowa office last week.

Burlington is located in Des Moines County. It is the center of a micropolitan area that includes West Burlington, Iowa, Middletown, Iowa and Gulf Port, Illinois. It is also the home of Snake Alley, what Ripley’s Believe It or Not calls the “Crookedest Street in the World”. Snake Alley consists of five half-curves and two quarter-curves and drops 58 feet over a distance of 275 feet.

Abstract, Title, and Escrow Services provides valuable services to people purchasing property in Des Moines County.

We want to thank you for partnering with hal Systems. We appreciate your business!

Use halFILE In Other Departments Within Your Organization!

2010-09-22T12:50:00.000-07:00

Are you using halFILE to manage ALL your paper files? If not, you may not realize that halFILE is a comprehensive Document Management System (DMS) capable of managing all types of documents used in your daily operation, including accounting records, personnel files, legal files, and email, just to name a few.

The same halFILE product you currently use is being used in numerous other industries for various applications:

· State governments use halFILE for purchasing and accounting records.
· County governments use halFILE as the repository for filed county documents.
· Community colleges use halFILE to manage student transcripts and registrar information.
· Insurance companies use halFILE for managing policy files.
· halFILE is also used in the banking, energy and medical industries.

We use halFILE as a DMS for our accounting records, personnel files, client files and legal files. Before our office move in April, 2009, we eliminated 20+ filing cabinets by scanning and indexing the contents to halFILE and destroying the paper files. Now employees can locate and view documents from their desktop, eliminating the need to walk to the filing room to retrieve a file, and the possibility of losing documents or misfiling when returning the file to the cabinet.

There is no additional cost to use halFILE in other areas of your office. The only cost you may incur would be to set up a database specific to your needs. To encourage you to expand your use of halFILE in other areas of your office, for a limited time, we are offering to setup two popular databases for your use at no charge (approx 1 hour of time), or we can work with you to design a database to suit your specific needs.

We also offer other halFILE modules that you may not be aware of, such as email Collector, which manages email from any Outlook/Exchange email system in the same way as halFILE manages documents. Another halFILE module is Workflow, which provides a way for documents to be routed from user to user in a predefined path. Both these products are add on modules to halFILE and are available at an additional cost. Check our website at http://www.halfile.com/ for more information on these products and many others available for use with halFILE.

If you are using halFILE solely as your title plant manager, then you aren’t recognizing the full value from your software investment. Eliminate some of those expensive filing cabinets and storage fees by scanning and indexing ALL your documents. Give us a call at 1-877-HALFILE (877.425.3453) to setup two databases at no charge, or contact your Imaging Sales Consultant, Dave Persful at 800.442.9273 or Kathy Taylor at 303.791.5688, to discuss how halFILE can reduce the paper use in your office.

We look forward to hearing from you!

halFILE to be shown at NAPE EXPO in Houston

2010-02-03T14:43:00.001-08:00

Come visit Booth #2769 to see a demonstration of halFILE and Countyrecords.com or to just say hi.

NAPE Expo is February 10-12, 2010 at the Houston GRB Convention Center.

Announcing halFILE SaaS!!

2009-05-18T10:38:00.000-07:00

hal Systems Corporation is pleased to announce halFILE SaaS! Many of our robust Document Management products and applications have now been made available via remote access! This is a "software-as-a-service" or "SaaS" on a pay as you go basis. The SaaS pricing model eliminates the large capital investment in software, hardware and the technical expertise required to manage a new in-house application. For a small monthly per-user fee, you can have all the benefits of purchasing our software and support but we host the services on our servers. This also eliminates the software maintenance fees associated with software license purchases. You can easily adjust the number of users as your own market conditions change.

So if you are looking for start of the art Document Management at a great price check out the halFILE SaaS web site today to see the many benefits of this service!

halFILE Backup Service

2009-02-26T15:14:00.001-08:00

This month, we launched the halFILE Backup Service! This new service from hal Systems provides a robust off-site backup of your halFILE data and images. Its the ultimate disaster recovery product for halFILE users.

With the halFILE Backup Service you get:

24/7 secure access to your data/images via our e.halFILE halFILE Backup Service web site.
Unattended, automatic backups of new and changed images and data.
Data and processing monitoring with status reports.
CD or DVD cartridge preparation when image cartridges are full.

Check out the halFILE Backup Service web site today to see the many benefits of this service!

Automated Indexing - New and Exciting

2008-07-14T14:49:00.000-07:00

An add-on to halFILE 3.0 is the powerful Automated Indexing module. I just installed this at a client site and so decided a brief discussion of this exciting new feature is warranted here.

With Automated Indexing, the system stores the actual text of the documents in the database and lets you do a full text search for words in the document. If the documents being indexed are TIFF Images then the process includes Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to convert the image into text. Word and Excel documents as well as e-mail messages and Acrobat PDF documents can also be full-text indexed.

At a county government site, we just installed Automated Indexing to manage Commissioner's Court Minutes. This is a perfect application because a meeting can cover a variety of topics and it is difficult to predict what keywords may be used as search criteria in the future. So we set up a Workflow process with the following steps:

1. The administrator responsible for the minutes views the Minutes in Microsoft Word, then uses the "Print To halFILE" feature to convert the Word document into a TIFF image, store it into halFILE and index it on the meeting date. The workflow status at this point is "awaiting recognition." If signatures must be captured, then the administrator scans the signed copies of the minutes.
2. Periodically the Automated Indexing module is run to perform the full-text recognition and indexing of the documents. When complete, the workflow status is "index complete."
3. The normal archive process archives the document and the workflow process is finished.

At this site, the new process is saving hours as the old process included a manual, paper index. We also scanned and indexed the historical Commissioner's Court Minutes as part of this project. So, a complete database is now available on-line. Now the county auditor, the primary user of this database, can perform computer-based searches of the minutes database at any time. The database is also available at public viewstations in the courthouse.

There are many applications for full-text indexing and searching. If you feel you have an application for this feature, please contact your halFILE Sales Rep and discuss the possibilities.

Validating your halFILE Database

2008-06-24T11:09:00.000-07:00

halFILE 3.0 includes two tools for validating database and image information. This post explores these tools to help you understand how they can be useful to you.

The first tool, HFValidate.exe, has been around since halFILE 2.2. You can find it behind the Tools - Database Validator menu of the halFILE Administrator. For the records selected by a SQL statement you provide, HFValidate logs any document that has no images to a missing image logfile. It also validates the coded fields to be sure that the code still exists in the referenced table. Records having invalid codes are logged to the missing code logfile. Documentation can be found at http://www.halfile.com/pdfdocs/hfw0031_22.pdf.

The second tool, HFValidateBKPG.exe, is new to halFILE 3.0 and is primarily used by Title Companies and County Recorders. For the records selected by a SQL Statement you provide, this program uses the instrument Number, Book and Page fields to determine if the document has the correct number of images.

So, for example, if Instrument Number 20080012 is posted as Book 234 and Page 123 and the next Instrument Number in sequence (20080013) is posted as Book 234 and Page 127, then this utility determines that Instrument Number 20080012 should have 4 image pages. It reports any document that appears to have the incorrect number of pages. It also reports any document where it cannot determine the number of pages because the sequence is out of order or the next document in sequence is missing. So, because of the way it performs the validation, it will also reveal miskeyed Instrument Numbers. Documentation can be found at http://www.halfile.com/pdfdocs/hfw0035_30.pdf.

These utilities will help you keep your halFILE database is ship-shape.

Iowa halFILE Regional Training Event Announced!

2008-04-17T07:04:00.000-07:00

A halFILE Regional Training event will be held at the Des Moines Area Community College in Alkeny, Iowa on May 21-22, 2008.

For more information, contact Karen Duncan at 800-442-9273.

New halFILE 3.0 Duplication Hot Keys!

2008-03-10T14:14:00.000-07:00

With halFILE 3.0, the index duplication feature has been greatly expanded. First of all there are two new hot keys to duplicate a single field from the new "halFILE Document Clipboard." The Document Clipboard contains the posted information from the most recently indexed document during the current index session. There is also a procedure to load ANY document from the database into the Document Clipboard. More on that below.

CTRL-D duplicates the current field from the Document Clipboard
CTRL-A duplicates the entire posting from the Document Clipboard

Even greater flexibility is offered with "user-defined hot keys." Behind the Tools-Options menu of the Index module you will find a Duplication Hot Keys tab. Here, you can assign a hot key to a particular field. Then, when you press that hot key, that field's value will be duplicated into the current field. Now the Document Clipboard can be loaded with any document as follows:

Click on the halFILE Document Manager in the task bar.
Click the Search icon.
Perform a search for the document or documents.
Right click on the row for the document that you wish to load into the Document Clipboard then select the Copy to Document Clipboard menu.
Once again, click on the halFILE Manager in the task bar.
Click the Index icon which will return you to the posting screen.
Select the Edit-Paste Document Clipboard menu.

Learning these new hot keys and setting up some new ones can save a lot of time during the Index process.

Staple Preview feature comes in handy

2008-01-22T10:50:00.000-08:00

I was installing a new halFILE 3.0 site last week and discovered the value of "staple preview" - a new halFILE 3.0 feature.

I was teaching the users to import and staple batches of images and they were handling about 1000 images each. At the end of the import, there were several stapling errors primarily due to the confusing way in which the county recorder stamped their documents. We had to use the Move Utility to correct the errors.

After we were done, I told the users I would turn on this new feature called staple preview and we would do another batch. As they stapled the batch and discovered a stapling error, all they needed to do was arrow up to the end of document marker, press F5 to toggle off the marker, then return to the true end of document and press F5. At the end of the batch, they could review all the staple marks for correctness before clicking DONE which performed the stapling routine.

Staple Preview - a great new feature of halFILE 3.0 Import and Scan modules.

halFILE 3.0 Upgrades are going well

2008-01-11T08:19:00.000-08:00

So, far we have successfully performed 8 halFILE 3.0 upgrades with 6 more scheduled for the near future. Be sure to contact hal Tech Support to get on the upgrade list!

halFILE 3.0 includes many new and powerful features. Click here to review>>

2007-12-06T09:28:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays to all of our friends and customers! As the New Year approaches we hope that you and your families have a safe and warm holiday time. We appreciate your patronage and will continue to work hard to provide you with quality service.

From the staff at hal Systems Corporation

halFILE 3.0 available soon!

2007-11-13T11:23:00.000-08:00

This week at our annual HUG (halFILE Users Group) conference in New Orleans, we are announcing the availability of halFILE 3.0. Endless work has gone into this new release which includes many powerful new features to the halFILE Document Manager.

For existing halFILE users, we will begin scheduling upgrades to halFILE 3.0 in December.

If you do not currently have the halFILE Document Manager, you should schedule a demonstration with our sales staff. Click here to request information.

6th Annual HUG Conference is on the horizon!

2007-10-01T11:17:00.000-07:00

REGISTER NOW for the 2007 halFILE Users Group (HUG) Conference in New Orleans, November 14-16, at the Omni Royal Orleans. This is an elegant 4-diamond hotel in the in the French Quarter.

This year's conference is the 6th annual conference for users of halFILE Document Management software from hal Systems Corporation. Past conferences were held in Austin and San Antonio and proved to be a great learning experience for our clients.

Visit the HUG website now for more information!