Even in today’s digital world, many businesses are drowning in paper documents. Managing and storing them for easy retrieval can prove to be frustrating and time-consuming. If your business isn’t taking advantage of professional digital document management services, you’re missing out. Smart business owners are taking advantage of all that this way of managing documents has to offer.
Document Management Explained
In the simplest of definitions, document management is the process of capturing, storing, and retrieving digital versions of paper-based documents. This is done by converting paper documents to PDFs, word processing files, and digital images.
Digital document management makes controlling a business’s mountain-sized heap of documents much easier to handle. Once saved in digital formats, storing them can be done easily by utilizing cloud-based platforms. By incorporating streamlined search parameters, this information can be accessed quickly by those with the proper clearance credentials.
A Deeper Look at the Document Management Process
The first step in the document management process is to capture paper and electronic documents. Once properly captured, they need to be indexed with metadata so they can be easily searched and retrieved.
Once captured, these documents need to be stored digitally. This can be accomplished either in-house on servers, digital storage devices, or by using cloud-based platforms. Some companies do a combination of all three.
Document management systems that incorporate comprehensive indexing are key for quick searching and retrieval of information. Proper indexing of metadata makes finding documents faster and more accurate.
How Document Management Can Help Your Business
Businesses that are interested in controlling costs and better management of documents should inquire about document management. The benefits of using this system are far and wide, including less space required for the storage of documents and better control of information. Here are some of the benefits document management can provide:
Paper-less Office
Although no business can completely eliminate the need for paper documents, with proper document management practices, the office can operate with less paper. Digitizing documents will free up a lot of office space and can eliminate the need for off-site storage facilities. The archiving of digital documents is the best means of reducing the amount of paper a business uses to operate.
Reduction of Operational Costs
By reducing the amount of space devoted solely to paper document retention, a business’s physical space can be better utilized. Larger businesses that rely on storage facilities to store paper documents can eliminate this unnecessary expense. Many hours per week can be saved by not relying on physically searching for a needed document.
Better Version Control
Document management allows for better document version control. It’ll ensure that any time you are reading or editing a document, you’re looking at its most recent version. There’ll be no surprises down the line that what you thought was a current piece of information has been updated or changed. With the proper controls set in place, each document can be automatically assigned updated version numbers. This will ensure that those with access to them know they have the most up-to-date version.
Improved Security of Information
Document security is an important factor for all businesses. Sensitive information needs to be properly protected and secured. A document management system can help to ensure the safety and integrity of information. Paper documents can be copied, misplaced, and even destroyed if they end up in the wrong hands. By setting up proper document security protocols, sensitive documents can be better protected. With a document management system, digital documents can be encrypted to ensure their safety.
Fast Access to Documents
With many employees working remotely from home or on the road, they’ll have easy access to the documents they require to accomplish their tasks. They won’t need to ask for files or documents to be emailed to them. Document management systems can save employees and staff significant amounts of time by gaining quick access to digital documents.
Better Collaboration between Colleagues and Departments
Document management can help employees to collaborate on projects. By providing links to a document, staff members can comment and share their thoughts with other team members. This can all be done in real-time and on the fly, which can help to eliminate delays resulting from staff making individual edits or changes.
Better Backup
Many businesses have lost years of valuable documents due to unforeseen events such as fires or document theft. Digitized documents can’t be destroyed by fire or stolen. Important documents can be kept secure by incorporating multiple online storage devices like servers and cloud-based services. If one system is compromised, you’ll still have the digital files stored elsewhere. This can end any fears of losing valuable information.
Improved Audit Trails
A major benefit of document management is the ability to see who has accessed a particular document, who made edits to it, and how many versions there are. This eliminates any guesswork as to who made edits and when they were made. A document’s audit trail becomes completely transparent with document management.
Help the Environment
By reducing the number of paper documents, your business can help the environment by becoming greener. Many employees respect a company that does all it can to be kinder to the planet.
Document Management Can Help to Increase a Company’s Productivity
The proper management of documents can help businesses of all sizes. Large or small, it makes sense to better manage your company’s documents. Keeping your documents in a centralized virtual space simplifies the collaboration process and allows for easy searching and access.
For help deciding if document management can help your company or business in Green Bay, Menomonee Falls, or Fox Cities, contact Wisconsin Document Imaging.