Every lawyer has experienced the frustration of trying to track down a contract they worked on months, or even years, ago. The feeling of knowing you negotiated a critical clause, but the document seems to be lost, is all too familiar. Relying on your memory (or worse, the memory of a colleague) only adds to the stress. In many cases, the contract remains elusive.
Imagine being able to instantly search through your entire organisation’s contract database to locate that specific clause or find the exact answer you need. The ability to search your contracts with the speed and efficiency of search engines like Google or Amazon is not just a dream but a game-changer for legal professionals.
The power of open-source file Indexing technology
The dream of fast and efficient contract search technology has long been a reality. The concept of indexing contract files for quick and precise searches is nothing new; it’s a powerful tool many legal tech companies have adopted. However, some may try to market this search technology as their own proprietary innovation. The truth is, this technology is open-source – meaning it’s free and accessible to everyone.
At Weagree, we embraced this technology early on. We’ve implemented open-source file indexing into our platform, allowing users to search your entire contract base at lightning speed, similar to the experience you’d get from giants like Google or Amazon.
The beauty of this system is its flexibility. Whether your contract files are stored on SharePoint, or another repository, as long as they’re managed through Weagree CLM, they can be indexed and searched in a fraction of the time. This means you’ll always have access to your contracts quickly and effortlessly.
OCR: making every contract searchable
Indexing alone is powerful, but what about scanned documents and PDFs? Many contract files exist only as images or scanned copies, making it impossible to search their contents. That’s where Optical character recognition (OCR) comes in.
Weagree has an in-built OCR tool, also open-source technology. Every file uploaded into Weagree CLM system is automatically converted into a fully searchable format. This includes PDFs and scanned documents.
But we didn’t stop there. We’ve optimised our OCR technology for the particularities of contracts, ensuring it captures every detail accurately. So whether you’re looking for a clause from a scanned contract or an old agreement stored as a PDF, Weagree makes it instantly accessible.
Indexing: the foundation for AI-powered contracting
Artificial intelligence (AI) is often credited for the advanced searchability in contract lifecycle management (CLM) systems. However, the real game-changer is something far simpler: indexing. By ensuring that every contract and related files are properly indexed, Weagree enables rapid, full-text searches across your entire contract repository. It also makes it possible to propose contract provisions in a contract mark-up. Instead of starting from scratch, the system quickly identifies and suggests relevant clauses based on past agreements and negotiation patterns. The result? Faster, more informed decision-making with AI-supported recommendations that are only as good as the data they rely on.
True innovation isn’t just about AI, it’s about structuring your contract data in a way that makes AI truly effective.
If you’ve been led to believe that searching through legacy contracts across platforms like SharePoint requires exclusive, proprietary technology, think again. The truth is, the underlying indexing technology is open source, and it works automatically.
No need to feel uncomfortable anymore about not knowing where that contract clause is. With the right tools, your entire contract history is at your fingertips.
Ready to take control of your contracts?
