Look around your office - do you see piles of paper or
walls of filing cabinets? The paperless office is within
easy reach using today's computer software. There are many
reasons to go 'paperless' and by selecting software
products that allow you to attach documents for historical
reference, you can improve efficiencies and avoid
potentially disastrous situations for your company.
Do file cabinets line your walls?
Paper systems need space to live - and office space is
expensive, whether in file cabinets or piles on desks and
floors. Paper is easily damaged by tearing, spilled coffee
or sticky lunch time fingers.
Electronic files take little or no office space, are not
easily damaged and documents remain in the same condition
as you originally received them. By storing your files
electronically, you can save money on the use of
increasingly expensive office space for storing paper files.
Do you spend a lot of time looking for files?
Whether you have a strict or haphazard filing system, paper
has a way of disappearing. Perhaps the document is just
misfiled, but there is also the possibility of accidental
discarding or intentional 'borrowing' by someone who never
returned the document to its original place. Looking for
documents can consume precious time that could have been
spent on productive activities. In the unfortunate case
where the document is not found, what happens next? Are you
calling around hoping someone else has a copy, or are you
left with a problem situation that takes even more time to
solve?
By storing your documents electronically, you can access
the needed document in seconds with a few computer key
strokes. You also don't spend time re-filing the document
later.
Can you find your documents by more than one search
criteria?
Paper files are generally managed and organized using one
system. What if you need to find information using some
identifier other than the one you selected for your filing
system? You could make a copy of the document and create a
second filing system resulting in the storage of more
paper. Chances are you spend additional time searching and
perhaps never locate the required information.
Many computer systems provide electronic filing of
attachments with multiple search options for locating
records. As an example, you could locate your document by
company name, contract number, project number or contact
name.
Can you control who has access to documents?
Are your file cabinets locked? If not, how do you control
access from other departments, late night visitors or even
outside persons such as your cleaning company? What about
documents left out in the open on desks or floors?
Unapproved viewing is bad enough, but there is the real
possibility that documents could be removed without your
knowledge - lost forever or used for unapproved/illegal
activities.
Electronic files can be protected through passwords and
user access rights. Many computer systems for sensitive
data have audit trails indicating access activity, allowing
tracking if it is necessary to monitor access to critical
information.
Do you need to share documents with other departments?
Is your phone ringing with personnel from other departments
asking for information or copies of documents? Perhaps they
just help themselves to your files. If you allow other
department personnel to remove files, do you know which
files and whether they were returned? Searching, copying,
sending and re-filing paper documents takes time and
resources. Once the copy has been sent, how do you notify
the department of any updates? Personnel within your
organization may be using outdated information to conduct
critical business, which might create undesirable results.
With documents saved electronically, you can provide
specific individuals or departments direct access to those
documents. Most software programs provide user passwords
that are 'view only' allowing others to see, but not change
data. Personnel in other departments can search documents
themselves and have access to the latest version whenever
necessary.
What would you do if a fire or flood destroyed your
documents?
Crying is no longer the only option. Paper is easily
destroyed and unrecoverable. Lost contracts, correspondence
and other critical files can devastate a business. In
addition to the enormous time it will take to reconstruct
your files, there could be legal ramifications if you need
the document to prove your case or enforce a policy or
contract term.
Maintaining your files electronically provides a simple
backup solution. Even if your computers are damaged or
destroyed, your I.T. department should be creating regular
backups of software files and saving these backups offsite
as part of a standard disaster recovery program. The files
are quickly restored once new computers are installed - and
your critical data stays intact.
Where are your archived documents?
Most paper files are archived after some period has passed.
This may be as simple as boxing everything up and putting
them in the building basement or contracting with another
company to store them for you. Some companies even go
through the time and cost of putting them on microfiche for
easier archival access. Imagine what happens when you need
to find something in the archives for a critical audit or
court case. Will you be spending the next several days
going through boxes of paper or microfiche?
Most document storage software programs provide the ability
to store documents by date so that you have easy access to
not only the most current version, but prior versions as
well - all in the same place. Consideration is needed on
how to archive computer data for future retrieval. You may
want to consider tagging customers and documents as
inactive instead of deleting them if you believe there is
the possibility you will need to access the data later.
Creating a paperless office is no longer the wave of the
future, it is the current standard. Filing electronically
is important and within easy reach using today's computer
software. Depending on specific needs, there are software
products which allow you to attach documents for historical
reference, whether through direct scanning or importing. An
effective electronic filing system can save resources and
protect your company from a variety of hazards, in addition
to dramatically improving efficiency, reducing costs and
streamlining operations.
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GG-One Software has been providing insurance certificate
tracking software since 1994. Their Fastrack Insurance
Certificate Tracking and Document Management product is
available in Web and Windows versions. Visit their website
to learn more.
http://www.ggonesoftware.com
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