The ALF Scanning Assistant, part of ALF Enterprise Edition, is a component of ALF's so-called "virtual minute book" (with ALF Intranet). The Scanning Assistant helps users to create electronic representations of original corporate documents typically found in a corporate entity's physical minute book.

There are several reasons why a corporate department may use to use such a tool:

• To allow easy access across the firm's network to the documents in an entity's minute book.
• To help a law firm respond more quickly to requests to email copies of documents (whether from a client, or an accountant, banker, etc.).
• To create electronic backup copies of physical documents to protect against loss.
• To move physical minute books off-site in order to free up space within the office.

Following is a discussion of the features of ALF's Scanning Assistant, which is accessible from within a corporate record in ALF Corporate by clicking the button captioned "Minute Book". You may click on any image to view a larger version.

• Create a virtual minute book by choosing "Minute Book" button and choosing the appropriate minute book definition, as added by your ALF administrator, in order to add the appropriate set of "tabs".

• Intuitive user interface mimics the tabs of a physical minute book, and permits grouping, searching, and sorting.

• Add a new document to the minute book either by dragging and dropping from Windows or MS Outlook, or choose "New" to scan (or upload) a new document with wizard-based input form.
• ALF can operate a connected scanner directly in order to take over the entire scanning process, or you can browse the network to upload a document already scanned or otherwise received.

• Name the document either by choosing from a pre-defined (by your ALF administrator) set of documents, or name the document directly.

• Choose the minute book tab behind which you wish to file the document.

• View, launch, or email the result from the tabbed interface.