Documents under control

M-Files is well suited also for small and medium-sized companies. It is quick and easy to take into use and does not require a costly customization project. M-Files gives you total control of all of your organization's documents, from small office documents to complex CAD drawings.

M-Files integrates into the operating system of your PC. The M-Files user interface
resembles the Windows file system, which is familiar to most users. That is why M-Files is intuitive and easy to use. You may list or modify documents by means of Windows Explorer (My Computer).



Opening a document in M-Files is as easy as opening a Word document saved on a conventional hard disk. Saving documents is even easier. You do not have to look for an appropriate location of a file or a document. In fact, M-Files is much easier to use compared to accessing documents on the hard disk of your own PC.



Dynamic Viewing Hierarchies

You can locate documents easily and quickly through several different viewing hierarchies. You do not have to know which folder the document is in. Instead, you can choose a view according to your needs for browsing. You may want to view documents organized according to project or document type, and in the next moment browse them according to customer and project. You may choose viewing hierarchy easily and quickly in a way that was not possible before.



Search Options

Due to the versatile search options of M-Files you will have no problems in locating documents from a large vault in seconds. The quick search option enables you to locate documents very quickly. All you have to do is to type in a word and you will instantly see all related documents.

It is also possible to use more versatile search criteria. You may locate documents according to document owner, document properties etc. by using Search in M-Files option.

Document Card

A document card relates to each document in M-Files. It contains detailed information about a document, for example the document title, class, purpose of use, project etc. You may decide which document fields must be filled in and which ones can be left open. Sometimes you may want to write lots of background information for a document, which facilitates categorizing and locating. M-Files saves time and trouble by filling in parts of the document card automatically.



Editing Documents

When a user wants to edit a document, she/he will check it out of the vault. While one user edits a document, others may view the same document as a read only version. This eliminates problems caused by simultaneous editing. All documents that are checked out are marked with a sign. This makes it quick and easy to see whether a certain document is currently being edited by someone.

Once a user has finished editing a document, she/he checks it in the vault, and the next user may start editing it. M-Files automatically makes a new version of each edited document.

Version History

M-Files protects documents from accidental changes. Each time you want to edit a document you check it out of the vault for your own use. Other users may open the document as a read only version while you are editing it. Others may start editing the document after you have checked it in to the vault.

Each time a document is checked out, M-Files automatically saves a new version of it. Because of this, all previous versions of the document are always available and users can see what changes have been made. Each version can also be tagged to help recognize different versions, e.g. differentiate the sketches from the approved versions.

Distributing Documents

All documents are available to the members of a team or an organization regardless of their location. They have access to the documents created by their colleagues unless the rights have been limited by means of user rights. They do not have to know where the document is or who has created it.

The users may be divided into different teams by assigning different user rights. This enables them to access defined areas or documents of the database.

You will not see any difference in the user interface when working at different locations. You will see all documents as if they were saved on the hard disk of your PC. Accessing documents from home is just as quick and easy as at your office PC. Accessing documents over M-Files is far easier than over a network share.

M-Files takes an entirely new approach to working over remote connections. It has been designed to work quickly even over slow connections without limiting browsing or editing.

User Rights

M-Files brings flexibility to the user rights management. You may use both Windows user accounts or M-Files user accounts. Using M-Files user accounts eliminates the need for additional software (such as VPN) in working over remote connections. In addition, you may assign user rights on a document-by-document basis. Every user does not need to edit all documents. For some users viewing documents as read only versions is sufficient, and some users do not need to have any access to the documents or even see that they exist. M-Files means ease of use and an easy way of defining the user roles and the rights related to them.

Getting Started

Unlike most document management systems, M-Files is extremely easy to install and take into use.

It takes only one user to take the software into use. Later on it can be extended to a larger system that covers the entire organization. You will not have to introduce an entirely new company-wide system at once. Instead, a few users may start using M-Files. Others will join them once they see the benefits it brings in practice. Making the purchase decision is quick and risk free because you may test the software in advance and start using it with a limited number of users.