All businesses are firmly entrenched in a massive and complex number of paper documents, and sometimes, finding one can become a major issue. Receipts, invoices, internal memos, auditing, personnel, the list is endless, and with digital solutions, your business will receive a performance boost. Think about a typical office situation, when perhaps a client is there in person, or on the other end of a phone connection, and they have to wait while the employee tracks down the relevant documents. At very best, this takes 5 minutes, and might even result in the client being told to await further contact, while the documents can be traced. If all of your documentation is digitally scanned and stored on computers, then any employee can instantly access whatever they need from their workstation.
Reclaim Office Space
There is never enough room in an office, but with all those bulky filing cabinets now redundant, you will be surprised at just how much extra space you have. An office revamp would be ideal at this point, and the new layout would no doubt improve overall efficiency.
The Process
To transform all paper based documents into digital format they will need to be scanned, and the desired format can be selected by the client. There would also be specific software developed for a range of industries that can be used to categorise all your digital documents, allowing easy access for authorised personnel. The paper originals are no longer required after the document scanning, and you then have a choice of destruction by shredding, or storing them off-site.
Document Shredding
Some data is extremely confidential, and if it got into the hands of your competitors, it could seriously harm the business, and for this reason, you should always use an accredited document destruction company, who can guarantee its safe destruction. The shredded material can be taken to a landfill site and be buried forever, which is about as secure as one can get.
Cloud Based Storage
Most companies are already using cloud based applications, and in this case, it is easy to create virtual filing cabinets that allow your staff easy access, and with total control over permissions, you can create the ideal system. The benefits are many, and include the ability for any employee to instantly access documents, from any location. This means that sales teams no longer have to cart boxes of documents when out in the field, as they can access anything through their laptop or even smartphone. Service engineers can bring up all the customer history, and be more aware of the problem, while accessing any relevant information that might be necessary, such as wiring diagrams or spec sheets.
Digitalising all of your paperwork means added efficiency, and the transition is a smooth one, providing you deal with the right company. They would be experienced in all aspects of digital document storage and can adapt to your particular IT system, to ensure that the daily activities run smoothly.
The future of business is paperless, and this is something that will have positive results for the environment, with the demand for paper dramatically reduced.
