File Stream FAQs

File Stream is an advance Document Management solution that helps organisations manage, securely store, and retrieve documents efficiently. All documents are encrypted for security purposes. Standard features include

1. Document Capture: Scanning physical documents and importing digital files, all documentation can be stored and managed centrally.
2. Storage: Documents are stored in cabinets.
3. Indexing: Documents are indexed with metadata or OCR capture, for easy searching and retrieval.
4. Version Control: Keeping track of different versions of documents and providing  full audit control.
5. Workflow: Setting up digital workflow to help automate business processes.
6. Access Control: Setting permissions to ensure only authorised personnel can view or edit documents.

These are only some of the core features available, further information is available on the website.

A FREE Mobile App is supplied for Windows, Android and IOS.

In order to index an email or attachment from within Outlook, you need to have the correct File Stream 5 Outlook add-in installed on your computer.

Once this has been done, you will have a ‘Filestream 5’ tab on the top ribbon. The first time you log in each day, you will need to log into Filestream via the add in, before being able to perform any actions.

To process an email, highlight it in your list view and choose an action, for example sending it to your in-tray. Refreshing your in-tray will show the processed email. Another useful action is indexing directly into a cabinet, where you can select the appropriate cabinet, document type, and settings like only importing the attachments.

You can customise the document format, file name, and even choose to delete messages from Outlook after importing them to streamline your workflow.

For further assistance, contact support at support@filestreamsystems.co.uk.

Please see the short video below for more information.

Link to video

Importing Email from Outlook into File Stream

To import an email from Outlook into your File Stream In tray, follow these steps:

1. Ensure Outlook is installed locally and open on your PC.
2. Place the required email(s) into a folder in Outlook called File Stream.
3. In File Stream, navigate to the Input Output Ribbon and find the Import Email button.
4. Use the drop-down menu to select email options such as attachments and file formats.
5. Customise the email name, choose delete options, and add a subject append if needed.
6. Click OK, then select the Import Email button to finalize the import.
7. The imported emails will appear in File Stream for use.
8. Imported emails will be removed from the File Stream folder in Outlook if the delete option was selected.

For further assistance, contact support at support@filestreamsystems.co.uk.

Link to Loom

** Please note, Outlook must be installed locally. Not all version of Outlook are compatible.

– Check your Outlook version within your email account:

Select  “File”  from the top menu ribbon

Select  “Office Account” from the at options down the side

Select  “About Outlook”  in middle screen

The top line will have the bit version at the end the sentence; either 32-bit or 64-bit.

Compare this with the ‘File Stream 5 Outlook ad-in’ which has been installed. You can find this by going to: ‘Settings           –                Apps     –                  Installed Apps’

 – Check if the correct Outlook add-in has been installed;

– Outlook 32-bit: you need the File Stream 5 Outlook add-in 86-bit

– Outlook 64-bit: you need the File Stream 5vOutlook add-in 64-bit.

To import a document into File Stream, follow these steps:

1. Log in and navigate to the standard tab where the Import button is visible.
2. In the main systems you can also drag and drop documents into your in-tray, scan them, transfer from Outlook email, or import in bulk. In the Web and Mobile App’s, the Import button is your only option.
3. To import a single document, click the Import button, select the relevant document from Windows File Explorer, and click Open.
4. The imported document will now appear in your in-tray. New documents are displayed in bold.
5. To view the imported document, click on the Image tab.

That’s it! You have successfully imported a document into File Stream.

Link to Loom videos:

File Stream:

Web App:

Yes, you can drag and drop files into your File Stream in-tray. Left click and hold while selecting the relevant document(s) from your desktop or an explorer folder, and move them over the File Stream in-tray and release.

To manually index a document in File Stream, follow these steps:

1. Select the document you want to index and view it in image view.
2. Click the index button on the standard ribbon.
3. Choose the relevant cabinet and populate it with the associated fields, such as supplier name.
4. Edit lists (if required) by clicking on the box with 3 dots and save the changes.
5. Set the document type and other index fields for the cabinet.
6. Optionally, mark the document as current to prioritise it in search results.
7. You can also keep a copy of the document in the in-tray.
8. Press index to complete the indexing process.

For further assistance with indexing, contact support@filestreamsystems.co.uk.

Link to Video

https://youtu.be/tBvkX3-n4VU

When indexing, if you select the small box next to the index field (with 3 dots) it will give you 5 options:

1. The ability to hold the selected value when indexing the next document(s)
2. Set the field to blank
3. Set the field to a default value (set in cabinet maintenance, e.g. you could set today’s date as a default or a written value)
4. Revert the field back to the current Indexed Value
5.  The ability to add or edit the list of options.

Search for and highlight the document you want to move. Select the ‘Index’ option on the right side. Select the cabinet from the drop-down list. If you are already in the INDEX section, simply select the correct cabinet from the drop-down and the new cabinet Index fields will appear. Fill in the desired Index fields and click the ‘Re-Index’ button.

Please note you must have the appropriate permissions to re-index from that cabinet.

If the document has been entered into the wrong cabinet, see above question. If the document is in the correct cabinet but the index values need to change, highlight the document and select the INDEX button. The index fields will show the current values. Adjust the data in the desired Index field(s) and click the ‘Index / Re-Index’ button to confirm.

Due to Index field restrictions, changing certain Index field types may require you to re-index your documents.

For example if you change a text Index field that contains both letters and numbers to a number Index field the index values in the cabinet will appear blank.

Yes. If multiple documents are highlighted, they can be indexed at the same time. They will all be indexed using the values entered. You will need to be in list view to do this.

It is possible to set up automatic indexing using OCR and Barcodes, if this is of interest please talk to our support team who can guide you through the process.

My Permissions

Summarises the cabinets you have access to and the roles & functionalities that you have been assigned

My Preferences

Allows you to set various program defaults, such as the automatic start up when logging into windows, viewing preferences for PDFs and AutoCad files, print options and maximum number of documents to open upon searching.

My Password

Allows you to change your existing password

My email address

Allows you to set the email address associated with your File Stream profile for email alerts

Styles

Allows you to personalise your File Stream application with different colour choices

Language Settings

Allows you to switch the program between English, Spanish, French and German. Other languages are available on request.

Link to Loom Video:

Watch the video below, or refer to the scanning guide below.

Please note, only TWAIN compatible scanners are supported using the Scan interface. For non-TWAIN scanners please see ‘Can I do Route Box Scanning?’

Document Scanning with File Stream

To scan a document into File Stream using the simple scan interface, follow these steps:

1. Ensure you have a Twain compatible scanner connected.
2. Select the Scan button from the standard ribbon.
3. Locate your connected scanner in the scanning interface.
4. Amend details such as file name, file type, and single or multi-page document.
5. Choose to import the document into your in-tray, save it out of File Stream, or append it to a selected document.
6. Press the Scan button when ready.
7. Select options like black and white, resolution, paper size, paper source, and continuous scan function.
8. Confirm by selecting Scan.
9. View the scanned document in the list view with a preview.
10. If satisfied, hit Import to bring the document into your in-tray.

For further assistance with scanning, contact support@filestreamsystems.co.uk.

Link to video

Please check that the scanner has been installed using a 64bit Twain driver.

Disconnect the scanner and look on the manufacturer’s website for 64bit twain drivers.

Once the new driver is installed, reconnect the scanner, restart File Stream and check for the scanner.

Sometimes after the driver install, a PC restart can also be required.

Yes, but the process is different. If users have a shared network scanner, scanning is initiated from the device and users do not use the internal File Stream scanning interface.

To be able to scan from a network device into Filestream, an administrator would need to set up a ‘Routebox’ for the user on the server which File Stream can access.

The scanner then needs to be configured to send files to the users Routebox. Network Scanners often have multiple scan profiles set, and each user would need their own profile so the scans are correctly routed to their in-tray.

When a scanning bulk number of documents, you have the option to select single pages or larger multipage documents.

If the grouped documents are of same size, there is a setting to split & group the scanning output into documents of “ X”  number of pages.

When documents are comprised of varying page length, small dot or blank sheet separators can be used. These features can all be set within the Advanced Scan interface

The File Stream Advanced Scan interface allows specific Scan Profiles to be created, saved and shared between users. Scanning profiles can be tailored to the specific needs of various document types, and allow users to set specific preferences for each type of document they scan (e.g., contracts, invoices, receipts, personal files). This includes settings for resolution, simplex/duplex, colour, file format (PDF, TIFF), and file naming conventions. By saving these preferences as profiles, users can quickly scan multiple documents with minimal adjustments, improving efficiency.

Users can Export scanner profiles and send them to another user to import into their File Stream.

For teams or organisations working together on scanned documents, using standardised scanning profiles ensures that everyone is working with files that are consistently formatted, indexed, and easy to share.

Please note that scanning profiles are saved on the machine the user logs in on, so  if the user is logged in at a different machine, they would need to take copy of the required scan profile.

To access the key search features in File Stream, start by locating the search icon in the main ribbon. Clicking on this icon will open the search panel, where you can select a cabinet and choose a variety of methods to search within it.

Basic Index Search

• Select a cabinet and press OK
• Choose index search to locate a file based on the indexed fields it was allocated.
• Enter the relevant fields and click search to find the document in question.

Date Range Search

• Search for documents in the cabinet based on system entry date, last modification date, or indexing date.
• Use the date range selectors to specify a time frame for the search.

OCR Search

• If OCR was used during document indexing, search using keywords from the OCR text.

Further Search Options

• There a wide range of very specific Search options that do not relate to index fields. These include (but a r enot limited to) file name, reference flag, user actions, number of pages, document size, workflow status, document type, and various date parameters.

Additional Options

• Set preferences to automatically open all search results.
• Display all index fields in search results.
• Add to a previous search to refine results.
• Save frequent searches for easy access by the team.

Cabinet-Level Search

• Search an entire cabinet for documents based on different criteria such as deleted documents, flagged for action, pending workflows, checked out documents, unindexed documents, locked documents, unlocked documents, and documents due for destruction.

By utilising these search features, you can efficiently locate documents within File Stream at both the document and cabinet levels.

Completed Search – Results

Once the search is complete users will be presented with the results, broken down by date range. You can choose to open all the search results, or those from a particular month.

Users can also export the search results as either:

1. File Stream Export – exported with File Stream encryption to be able to import into another File Stream database.
2. CSV/XML – create either a CSV or XML to use with other software.
3. Searchable Media – to create a password protected searchable media to send the encrypted search results to a non File Stream user.

Link to Loom

If your screen resolution is set to below 1280 x 1024 the “Scan” button is effectively off the bottom of your screen. In the first instance see if your resolution can be increased by right clicking on your “Desktop” and selecting “Properties / Settings”.

If your resolution is already at its highest setting you can minimise the ribbon menus in File Stream as follows:

1. Click on the Red / Yellow / Blue triangle in the top LH corner of your File Stream screen
2. Right click anywhere in the small panel that appears and select the “Minimise Ribbon” option.
3. You should now see the scan button.
4. To Maximise the Ribbon Menus again repeat 1 & 2 above but select “Maximize Ribbon” option.

If you have a later version of File Stream (no RYB triangle) then all you have to do to minimise the ribbon is double click on the Ribbon Menu label e.g. double click on the word “Standard” if you are in the Standard ribbon menu. Double clicking on it again maximizes the Ribbon Menu.

When searching an entire cabinet, there is a drop down option to search for un-indexed documents (ie. documents in the cabinet which have no index values). This gives the user the ability to quickly find documents that have been entered into a cabinet but have no index values.

When performing a search, there is a choice to open the results immediately or have a separate window open first, advising the number of documents found. Leaving the box un-ticked can be useful, should the search return a large number of documents which may take some time to load. In such a situation, the User may want to refine the search criteria.

The program automatically sets a ‘Date Entered’ date against all docs when they are imported. In the SEARCH Panel, there is an option to search for documents entered into File Stream on a certain date or within a certain date range. This can be useful if a user forgets how they filed the document.

When searching, by using the small box to the right of the Search field a user can refine their search further by selecting from a number of different behaviours.

A ‘contains’ search value will look for any document that has the search value you’ve enter as part of it, for example a search for 123 with ‘contains’ selected will return documents containing the number 451239 not just 123. Same applies to a string of letters.

An ‘equals’ search is similar to contains. Only this time the search will return only exact matches to the criteria entered.

A ‘not equals’search will return documents that do not have the searched value.

Depending on the type of field, other options to choose from, include Starts With, Ends With, Less Than, More Than, Before, After, and Between.

The Saved Searches feature allows you to save the details of commonly performed searches, and share them with other team members. This speeds up the process of searches that done regularly.

Is the list of open documents smaller than the documents found in a search? If so check your My Preferences settings in the Options tab.

In My Preferences, there is a setting “Maximum no. of documents to open”, and by  default, this is set to ‘500’. You can change this to a number large enough to open the all the documents required.

Be aware that the larger the no. of documents open, the longer they can take to load.

On the standard ribbon, you will find icon called ‘Share Info’ which has a drop down arrow. From here you have the following options:

1. Pass or copy information to another user. This option opens a ‘Send To’ panel, where you can select; whether you want to share the whole document or part of the document, the recipient, delete options, the urgency and a typed accompanying message.
2. Messaging. This is your File Stream messages center, where you can see & reply to your sent and received messages. You can also instigate new messages to other users, with or without Linked Documents.
3. Send user message with linked documents. This is a short cut to the new message window, also found within the Messaging feature.

Here is a short video to illustrate sharing information with other File Stream users:

If you need to share or save information outside of File Stream, you need to head to the Input/Output tab. From here you have options to email, print, save, link share, and create password protected searchable media.

The following Video provides an overview of these options:

A link share allows you to send an external party a link to a password protected view only document, which expires after a specified amount on time. To create a link share, follow these steps:

1. Highlight the document you want to share.

2. Go to Input/Output ribbon.

3. Select the option to Create Link Share.

4. In the pop-up box, enter a password and choose the link expiry time (1 hour, 4 hours, 1 day, or 1 week).

5. Once done, the link share will be copied to your clipboard.

6. Share the link via email or any other preferred method.

7. Recipients can view the document via a web browser, by clicking the link and entering the password.

8. The document can be viewed but not edited, and the link will expire after the specified time.

The following video shows how to create a link share:

From the annotations panel, you have the options to annotate PDF and other image files. These annotations can be surface level, or permanently ‘burnt in’ to the document. In this video I will run through some of the different annotation which can be applied to your documents.

No. PDF and most other image files are suitable, but other files types such as Word, Excel, Txt, Power Point are not. You do have the option to convert these other file types into either PDF or Tif files should you wish to add annotations.

Yes, as long as they have not been burnt in, annotations can be removed. If they have been burnt in they will become a permanent part of that version of the document.

Yes, all annotations are recorded as part of the document revision history when applied or deleted.

The File Stream redaction tool can be used to securely remove sensitive or confidential information from digital documents before sharing or publishing them. These tools are designed to make the redaction process efficient and reliable, ensuring that redacted content is permanently hidden. The original source document will still be visible to users with the permissions, but any shared copies of the current version will securely hide the redacted content.

This short video covers the key features of the Document Information Panel, and how to track the revision history of a document. The panel can be accessed from your in-tray or any search results.

Highlight the document in question and select the ‘Document Info’ button on the main ribbon. This will open up the Document Info panel to the right of your document.

To change the filename or subject of the document, simply type your amendments in the relevant box and press the save button. This will be logged as a change in the Revision History.

Highlight the document in question and select the ‘Document Info’ button on the main ribbon. This will open up the Document Info panel to the right of your document.

Select the Paperclip icon, and a list of attachments will be visible. To add an attachment, you can paste it from your clip board.

From this panel you also have options to view, remove, email, print, save out, copy to in-tray and launch any attachments.

Highlight the document in question and select the ‘Document Info’ button on the main ribbon. This will open up the Document Info panel to the right of your document.

Notes in File Stream can be either public (seen by everyone with access to the document) or private (only visible to the user who wrote them).

There is functionality to Add New Notes, Print Notes and Delete Notes. All actions will be logged in the revision history.

Highlight the document in question and select the ‘Document Info’ button on the main ribbon. This will open up the Document Info panel to the right of your document.

The Icon with a clock face, displays a summary of the document Revision History. You can see each revision number, along with the action, user, date and time. By opening the Full History View at the bottom of the panel, you can revert back to view previous versions of the document before each amendment took effect.

There are two ways to view documents within File Stream

List View displays your documents (either in your in-tray or any cabinet) in a simple list detailing a number of important pieces of information. Including; filename, index values and date entered.

Image View is used when you want to view an individual document. You can find out more on the Image View functions in the FAQ ”What are the different Image View functions?”

See our List View and Image View video guide for more information.

In Image View there are a number of ways you can manipulate the document image.

At the top of the window you will see a number of different options. Use the first set of arrows to move between documents in your in-tray or cabinet. If it is a multi-page document you can use the next set of arrows to navigate through the pages.

You can rotate the document, zoom in and out, fit to height and width by selecting from the options at the top of the screen. It is here, in Image View, where you will also find the option to print.

There are two levels of deletion; delete and destroy. If a document is deleted from an in-tray or a cabinet, it can be restored from ‘Deleted items’. Select the ‘Deleted items’ icon from the home screen. Highlight the document(s) you want to recover and click the ‘Restore’ option. It will be returned to the in-tray or cabinet it was deleted from (in the case of a cabinet, it will restore with the index values intact).

If a document has been destroyed from the ‘Deleted items’ bin, it cannot be restored. To destroy a document, highlight it while it’s still in the Deleted Items bin and click the ‘Destroy’ option.

They will return to the location they were deleted from (a cabinet or the in-tray). If the cabinet has been deleted, they will be restored to the in-tray (index data will be lost).

It is possible to edit documents in Filestream, in order to do this they are ‘Launched’ out of the system into the program of the file type. You can then make and save any amendments, before checking the document back in. At the point of check in, the changed will be applied to the document within File Stream. The following video illustrates this process:

Sometimes people will launch a document, and choose to check it back into File Stream ‘Later’. There is always a risk that people will forget, and the document will remain check out. It is possible to search for document check outs, by selecting the Check Outs button on the top right of the program (near the Log-out button). From here you have the option to continue editing documents (Quick Edit Launch) or checking them back in. Please see the video below:

On the Document ribbon you have an easy Convert to Image function, which allows you to covert documents into PDF or Tiff format. This is particularly useful when sharing a document which shouldn’t be edited, and also for documents requiring annotations or electronic signatures. PDFs also allow cross-platform consistency by maintaining their formatting regardless of the device, software, or operating system being used.

The append function allows you to append a document to another in Filestream. You can append to documents stored in your in tray or indexed in cabinets.

If this happens, you may need to save them out of the system and launch them in their native program. If no changes are made and launching is for viewing only, then nothing more needs to be done as the document in the system is unaltered.

With File Stream you can view over 300 file types, including image files, PDFs, CAD drawings and Office files. If your document doesn’t display you will need to save the document out of File Stream. Then you can launch and view it with the associated program if it is installed on your device. Although the system viewer is unable to display the particular file type, the document is securely stored in the system.

If two or more users have a document selected, an action performed by one user will be overridden by the actions of the second user. Actions include; adding a note, changing the file name, deleting a document and re-indexing.

You may have the scenario where two users are looking at the same document. The first user deletes the document. The second user, re-indexes the document to a different cabinet. These actions happen at almost exactly the same time. The last action is the re-index. So rather than the document being moved to Deleted Items (as the first user would expect). It ends up where the second user was re-indexing it to.

Another scenario may be if two users have selected the same document and are both adding a note. Whatever information the first user has added will get replaced when the second user saves their note. This also applies to changing a file name and index values.