Incorporating external documents
You may wish to use documents external to the system, such as fill-in forms or background information. WEBISO enables you to upload these from your browser. When loaded in your browser, these can be used within WEBISO. They can then be subsequently saved in the system, or mailed.

Automatic cross-referencing
WEBISO automatically generates hyperlinks between different documents within a manual. For example, the title of a document may exist in the body of another document. WEBISO will create an automatic hyperlink to that document. This makes procedure manuals more useable by providing a fully-automatic cross-referencing system. Hyperlinks to external documents can also be established.

Incorporating rich media
Using WEBISO enables you to incorporate all kinds of media into your manuals. This includes pictures, images, video, sound, flowcharts and graphics. WEBISO is also integrated with graphics packages such as Microsoft Visio and iGrafx Flowcharter. Using these packages renders sub-elements in a diagram hyperlink sensitive. In this way diagrams can also be used to cross reference to other sections of a document or to another document in the manual.

Version Control
In managing procedure manuals, it is very important to be able to track the history of a procedure. Every modification to a document is stored in the database. WEBISO can display the delta, colour-coded for easy reference. It can also use the delta, or a number of deltas to roll back to a prior version. This means that you have the history of a document at your fingertips. An overview of the different versions is available for each document. This also details the author, date of modification, comments and actions taken.

Generating multiple formats
You may need to distribute your procedure manuals to different people in different formats. In addition to printing a manual, WEBISO can generate an HTML or PDF version. HTML is the web-based format best suited for intranet and extranet use. It can be consulted using a standard Internet browser. PDF is an electronic version of the printed document. It is difficult to modify once it has been generated. This format lends itself to distribution on a CD to people who are not connected to the network.

Full-text search engine
WEBISO’s integrated search engine enables you to quickly locate documents relating to a specific subject. By typing in a word or set of words, all relevant documents will be presented, in order of relevance. Any external search engine can also be integrated. WEBISO can be delivered with an XML (eXtensible Mark-up Language) interface. This technology makes it possible to couple meta-data to documents. An XML search engine can then be used, improving speed and context sensitivity.

Email integration
WEBISO uses your corporate email system to send requests for approval. The documents themselves are not sent - only hyperlinks to the documents. This method is also used to notify relevant people about modifications in documents and new documents being available.

Access management
A profile is established for each author and reader, specifying their access rights. These rights concern the reading, creation, writing, modification, deletion and moving of documents. The profile is based on logical groups of people within the organisation, such as the sales department or human resources. Each profile can be assigned to multiple logical groups. In this way, a person may have the same or different rights for various documents. Documents can also be grouped logically. The combination of these two sets of groups provides simple yet powerful access management.

Security management
When logging onto WEBISO via a network, password protection is provided. All web-based access is handled through HTTPS for maximum security. HTTPS is the secure version of HTTP, the communication protocol of the World Wide Web. WEBISO is also integrated with Active Directory and the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP). Active Directory is the new directory service in the Microsoft Windows 2000 Server operating system. LDAP is an Internet protocol that email programs use to look up contact information from a server. WEBISO documents are encrypted when stored, using MD5. Message-Digest Algorithm 5 (MD5) is an algorithm used primarily for digitally signing files and strings. Modifications to documents are managed by a Revision Control System.