Document Management: Is the Paperless Office Achievable?

If your business or organization is still using filing cabinets and boxes for paper storage, it´s time to explore your options for a document management system. The ultimate goal is to have a paperless office in the near future.

What is a Paperless Office? Is Document Management the Solution for Your Office?

To better understand document management, consider it as an electronic filing cabinet to organize all of your company’s documents – digital and paper. While any digital documents can be simply uploaded, hard copies can also be easily scanned into the document management system. Once a document is entered into the system it can be tagged and have metadata entered to help organize your digital files. This allows you to manage, store, and track your electronic documents with ease. Once you have implemented a digital document management system, you are well on your way to a paperless office.

Relevant Features of Document Management Software

You may not realize it now, but your current document management system (or lack of) may be costing you more money than you think. In fact, you may be surprised to learn that research indicates it can cost as much as $20 just to file one single company document successfully. Add in the cost of misfiled and lost documents, which can cost over $100 to correct, and your operating costs can quickly skyrocket.

The efficient office of today utilizes a software or computer system to archive, manage, organize, and track company documents. To help you choose the best document management system for your documents, you must first thoroughly assess the organizational needs of your business. The system you choose should offer the functionality and key features to bring the best resolution for your document management needs. Here are a few examples of what an effective document management software system can do for you.

Key Features and Components of Document Management Software

Document storage
Content annotations and notes
Forms management
Secure and encrypted
PDF converter and file editor
Advanced search options
File version control
Audit trail
Customized user permissions based on roles
Easy integration with MS Office and Outlook

Key Benefits Going Paperless with Document Management Brings to the Table

A paperless office is the future of office efficiency. Implementing a document management software system that gives you the necessary tools to digitize your documents and improve the efficiency and security of your business is key. Here are some examples of the many benefits of a paperless office.

More Efficient – Filing and organizing paper documents is very time-consuming, not to mention the additional minutes and hours spent looking for those documents once they are stored. A well-organized document management system is more productive and frees up time for more important tasks that actually generate revenue.
Saves Space – Just imagine the extra space you will have when you get rid of the bulky filing cabinets in your office. Avoid the excess paper trails that keep accumulating and digitize your documents so that you use less office real estate and have easy access to company documents.
Simplified Collaboration – A good document management system allows teams to work together easily and efficiently on the same file with the reward of real-time updates for edits. Easy information sharing from anywhere via digital documents lets everyone work and communicate more effectively, making your team more productive.
Improves Security – Document management software has advanced security features that offer a more secure way to store your important documents. Specific access and permissions can be used to grant as little or as much access to the system as you want. You can also utilize electronic signatures, secure confidential information, efficiently create audit trails, and more.

Helps the Environment – Reducing your carbon footprint by creating a paperless office can help to improve the health of the planet. Using a digital document management system can prevent paper from becoming part of your local landfill, not forgetting the toner and ink cartridges that are so damaging to the environment.
More Cost-Effective – Choosing a digital document management system saves money in so many ways. Reduce your costs on paper products, printers, ink, employee work time, postage and shipping fees, and even office space.

There are so many benefits of a paperless office. Are you ready to reap the rewards?

Going Paperless Is Possible with Our Document Management Solution

If the ultimate goal for your business is to have a paperless office, you can start making small changes now that will help you reach your objective sooner. Here are the first three things you need to do to implement a paperless document solution for your company.

Capturing Information – Every document you have will need to be digitized to enter into your document management system, including emails, forms, faxes, and mail. To simplify the information capturing task, direct your emails to the correct location in your online document storage system to be routed to the desired department or person for action and/or storage.

Routing Information – Once yourdocuments are entered into your document management system, you will need to organize everything in a way that replaces your outdated paper filing system with an efficient digital workflow process for document routing, editing, and approval.
Retrieving Information – After they are successfully routed, the documents need to be archived for easy viewing and access. An organized system where files are captured, tagged, and named for easy searches is best.

Are You Ready for a Paperless Office?

Using reputable document management software is the perfect solution for helping savvy business owners convert to a paperless office. If you would like to learn more about document management solutions for your Minneapolis area business, contact DTS today to speak with one of our document management specialists