Frequently asked questions

Yes! Not by making the model smarter, but by controlling what it reads and proving where answers come from. Hallucinations thrive when an AI guesses from stale training data or retrieves obsolete files. A governed DMS grounds every answer in the current, approved version (retrieval-augmented generation), restricts retrieval to what each user may access, and links every response back to its source. The model's limits remain; the answers become verifiable.

In context: AI Assistant

They serve two different needs on the same governed base. AIDA, the AODocs Intelligent Document Assistant, serves people: it answers questions, summarizes, and translates, using retrieval-augmented generation grounded strictly in the documents each user is allowed to see. AI Process Automation serves workflows: it classifies incoming documents, extracts their data, and routes them through formal processes, with a human confirming the result. In short: AIDA reads for you; AI Process Automation processes for you.

In context: AI Assistant · AODocs and AI Process Automation

Because an agent is only as reliable as the documents it reads. Copilot Studio makes agents quick to build, but it does not decide which revision of a procedure is current. If a library holds drafts and superseded versions, the agent can answer from them. AODocs keeps one version in force per document and restricts AIDA, its AI agent, to validated content; Microsoft 365 Copilot draws on the same governed documents.

Because most corporate repositories feed it conflicting inputs: duplicates, obsolete drafts, expired policies, and documents the user should not even see. A language model answering from that corpus will confidently cite the wrong version. Governance fixes the retrieval side: one identified version in force, explicit statuses, metadata, and permissions. When the AI can only read current, approved, access-controlled documents, its answers inherit that reliability, the discipline AODocs enforces before any model is involved.

In context: AI Assistant

Yes, a skilled team can. Content types, Power Automate approvals and Purview retention cover the building blocks. The cost lies in running the result: keeping lifecycle rules consistent across libraries, maintaining flows when their owners move on, and producing audit evidence from several logs. AODocs delivers that layer as a product inside your Microsoft 365 tenant, so your team spends its time on business needs rather than maintenance.

Use a formal transmittal whenever the contract or project plan requires a controlled issue record. Some internal drafts may use a lighter record, but "internal" alone does not exempt an exchange from the project's control rules.

There is no single period: retention requirements depend on jurisdiction and document type. Common anchors: accounting and financial records must typically be kept 6 to 10 years (10 in much of the EU, commonly 7 in US practice) while contracts are usually retained for their full term plus 5 to 10 years, covering the limitation period for claims. The reliable approach is a retention schedule per document type, applied automatically by your document management system, with documented, defensible disposal at the end.

In context: AODocs for Legal

Update event-driven fields when submissions, reviews, approvals, issues, or supersessions occur, including the actual submission date and approval date when those events happen. Reconcile the whole register at a project-defined cadence and before decision gates. The right cadence depends on volume, risk, contract reporting, and how quickly stale status could affect work.

Test one representative exchange. Record authentication, field mapping, data ownership, error handling, recovery, and any configuration or licensing dependency, and confirm the exchange can integrate seamlessly with the target system where that is a stated requirement.

In context: AODocs Integrations with third party business solutions

Review the transmittal record, delivery evidence and any acknowledgment captured by the configured process. If a dispute arises, resolution depends on the contract language and the evidence at hand; this article does not provide legal advice.

A transmittal records a controlled issue of documents. A submittal is a formal submission package sent for review or approval and may include a transmittal record. The contract and project document-management plan define the direction, responsibilities and evidence required for each process.

An authoritative document has four properties: a designated owner, an explicit status (draft, approved, in force, retired...), an approval history showing who validated it and when, and a guarantee that search returns this version rather than an older copy. Without these, a company has files; with them, it has a record it can act on and defend in an audit.

In context: Document Control · AODocs DMS for Capital Projects

Use representative documents, metadata, roles, and external participants. Test revision status, approval, transmittal, restricted access, reports, export, and handover evidence against agreed acceptance criteria.

In context: Document Control · Quality Management Software (QMS)

Begin planning during project setup, not in the final weeks. Define handover deliverables, metadata, and acceptance responsibilities in the handover plan, assign owners, clarify the contractor's responsibility for each deliverable where applicable, and set measurable readiness checks before transfer. This gives the team a baseline for tracking missing information and unresolved exceptions before final transfer.

The contract and project information plan should name the accountable owner. Depending on the governance model, accountability may sit with document control or project information management. Contractors can maintain assigned records without owning the project-wide schema or acceptance rules.

One approach combines status-controlled access with a single point of issue. When a drawing's status is updated to "superseded," access should be restricted to read-only or removed from the current working set entirely. Using a controlled transmittal process, rather than email attachments, helps keep distribution tied to current-status records.

ISO 19650-1:2018 outlines concepts and principles for managing information across the life cycle of a built asset, including exchanging, recording, versioning and organizing information. It does not define a universal revision-numbering scheme. ISO lists this edition as current but under revision; verify the edition named by the applicable contract.

In context: Quality Management Software (QMS)

Start with one discipline and one document type, then expand to design documents, procurement and construction records, and closeout deliverables. Before each cutover, freeze the source set, retain a backup, define rollback triggers, and run the relevant validation tests. Advance only after the responsible owners approve the phase results.

In context: AODocs DMS for Capital Projects

For offline access, disconnect, open a drawing, add a markup, and reconnect to verify that the change becomes a traceable event. For integrations, change a document's approval status and confirm it reaches the target PM or ERP system within an agreed window. Test the reverse workflow where required.

Migrate document identity, revision lineage, lifecycle state, required metadata, permissions, and supporting approval evidence alongside the files. Define target locations and controlled metadata values before import. Keep unresolved mapping or completeness issues in an exception log with an owner and resolution date, then reconcile deliverables against the migration register.

A turnover package for a construction project may include as-built drawings, operation and maintenance manuals, equipment data, warranties, commissioning records, and other asset information needed for operations as part of the wider project closeout process. These are some of the key components, but the contract and project information requirements define the actual deliverables and acceptance evidence.

A revision is a project-controlled identifier applied under the document-control procedure, often when content is issued or reissued. A version is a saved state and may include drafts. Approval and permitted use come from the project's status or suitability codes and workflow evidence, not the revision label alone.

Projects may use closeout for completion of contractual and administrative obligations and turnover for transfer of the asset and its records. Definitions vary, so the contract and project document plan should state how each term is used.

A DMS for capital projects should manage current approved revisions, preserve revision history, enforce review and approval workflows, control external distribution, and retain an exportable audit trail. Evaluation should test these behaviors with representative project documents, including a revision change, an external transmittal, and a handover evidence check.

In context: AODocs DMS for Capital Projects

A master document register should identify required project documents and connect each deliverable to its current revision, approval state, responsible parties, and supporting evidence. During handover, reconcile the register against the agreed deliverables so missing records, incorrect states, and unresolved exceptions remain visible to the project team.

In context: AODocs DMS for Capital Projects

Identify active repositories, document types, responsible owners, approximate volumes, and the workflows people actually use. Record who creates, reviews, approves, distributes, and supersedes each document type. Include email attachments and local registers, because these can contain approval evidence or current records that the formal repository does not capture.

Verify which document states the AI can retrieve and whether retrieval respects the requesting user's permissions. Test a question that a superseded revision would answer incorrectly, then inspect the cited sources. Approval-state and version controls govern the available source material; they do not by themselves establish that every generated answer is correct.

In context: AI Assistant · AODocs and AI Process Automation · AI Architecture

Access should follow the project role model and records policy. Keep superseded records available to authorized users without presenting them as the current working set. Verify that your sign-in and access model supports the required separation between current and superseded records.

Retention periods depend on contract terms and applicable records laws in the project jurisdiction. Consult your organization's records management policy, legal counsel, and the provider's legal and corporate information; do not rely on this article for a retention ruling.

It is not necessarily the system of record for planning, scheduling, cost control, BIM authoring, field execution, project management, or project controls. Define which system owns each decision and how approved document information moves between them, since the right software depends on that ownership.

In context: Document Control · AODocs Deployment Options

An MDR can make current and superseded states explicit, but prevention depends on the surrounding workflow, permissions, distribution controls, field practices, and user behavior. Prevention also depends on linking users to the actual document and maintaining access control so obsolete documents are harder to use by mistake. Test every channel through which a recipient can access or retain a drawing or document.

No. With the SharePoint Embedded integration, files managed by AODocs are stored in dedicated containers inside your own Microsoft 365 tenant. Purview and DLP policies apply, people keep co-authoring in Word, Excel and PowerPoint, and Microsoft 365 Copilot can work on the content. AODocs adds the document management layer: lifecycle, workflows, required metadata and audit trail. SharePoint remains your system of work; AODocs adds the system of record.

A consistent lifecycle across libraries, from draft to obsolete; one designated version in force per document; metadata required by document type; configurable review, approval and periodic re-review workflows; a single traceable record per document for audits; and an AI agent, AIDA, that answers only from validated content. SharePoint provides building blocks for some of these. AODocs delivers them configured, enforced and maintained.

An audit trail is the chronological, tamper-evident record of everything that happens to a document: who created, modified, approved, or deleted it, and when. Regulators require one because a rule you cannot prove you followed is, for an auditor, a rule not followed. Frameworks such as FDA 21 CFR Part 11, ISO 9001, SOX, and the EU's GPSR all expect organizations to reconstruct events and demonstrate timely action. A complete trail turns an inspection from an investigation into a lookup.

In context: Quality Management Software (QMS)

SharePoint and Google Drive stores and shares files; a document management system governs them. Governance adds what storage lacks: a defined owner and status for each document, approval workflows, version control that designates the version in force, retention rules, and a complete audit trail. Teams typically keep working in Drive while the management layer enforces these controls on top, which is exactly how AODocs operates on Google Workspace.

In context: Document Control · Google Workspace and the AODocs DMS · Microsoft 365 and AODocs DMS

Yes, at three levels. AODocs runs natively on Google Workspace and integrates with Microsoft 365. For SAP, its connector is certified for SAP Cloud ERP (S/4HANA): teams create, attach and manage governed documents directly inside SAP, with version control, permissions and audit trail preserved. Salesforce and other business applications connect through the AODocs API. The pattern is always the same: users stay in the application they already work in, while AODocs enforces document governance behind it.

In context: SAP Integration with AODocs DMS · Salesforce Integration with AODocs DMS · AODocs Integrations with third party business solutions

Since December 2024, the EU General Product Safety Regulation requires retailers (not just manufacturers) to track defects, act on alerts and prove they did. In practice this means capturing every alert (lab reports, customer claims, supplier notices) into one system, classifying it, and driving it through a formal lifecycle: registration, corrective action, sign-off. The full trail must be producible when a regulator asks.

In context: Document Management for Retail