Standard, paper-based document management has always been the way of organising your office, and it has been for as long as we can remember. It’s familiar and it has routine, but it is inconvenient, time-consuming and not always that efficient. Most companies believe that this is still the only way to truly work a document management system, but there is a better way these days thankfully.
Electronic document management has been around for a few years now, but never before has it been as innovative and accessible. Electronic document management, in layman’s terms, consists of having scanned, or electronic, versions of your documents on your computer system to allow easy and fast access at any time, as well as the ability to easily edit and save the documents in an orderly fashion.
The first thing that may cross your mind about this type of document management system is probably cost, but it is surprisingly inexpensive. Depending on the amount of documents that you would like to be scanned, the prices can vary, but for a larger quantity of files, documents can be scanned from as little as 1p per sheet. There is also a cost for indexing, or naming your files in an appropriate order of your choice, but again the cost will be minimal. The thought process you should be thinking about is what it will save you pretty much from day one.
Because the documents will be organised in an order of your choice, they can be easily searched for on your computer system and found instantly. This will save a lot of time and resources for the company which of course will save money. Not only that but it will give a more varied day back to your staff which will boost morale due to a more varied work load, and because it’s such a simple system to pick up, it will not require a learning curve.
So it’s more a matter of what it will save than what it will cost, because the results can be incredible. Documents can also be fully indexed and be made complete searchable by text if you require so searching for exact terms and phrases will also be possible.
As we say, electronic document management has never been easier and more accessible for more companies that really need it. It has already been picked up by many sectors including councils and financial institutions, so why not take advantage of what they have been using for years?
Tips:
As with any important business decision, choose wisely. See some example of a few company’s document management scanning and even send them a few examples of your files and get them to send you some tests to give you a good idea of the quality to expect. Also check for certification, the likes of ISO 9001:2000 is a perfect example of this.
At the end of the day, this is a major business decision. Even though you’ll be implementing a system that will revolutionise your business’ organisation, it’s still vital to make the right choice. Your business will thank you for it in the long run.