If a gust of wind suddenly came through your office, would it leave you with piles of paper chaos? If you still have manual and paper processes, it probably would.

It might be your manual service tickets, your 3-ply invoices, or the mountain of paperwork that arrives on your desk from clients, that you have to sift through, sort, and file every day. If you’re honest, you probably don’t have to think too hard to find at least one process in your company that is a giant frustrating paper trail, far from the well-oiled machine you’d like it to be. 

If you can’t stand the thought of this kind  chaos, you may want to consider document management. Simply put, a document management system is software and hardware installed on your network that can streamline business processes while drastically reducing the amount of paper you use. A document management system saves you money, helps your business run more smoothly, and gives you a sense of pride that everything is running as efficiently as it should be.

Most document management systems also have a document imaging component, which is the term used to describe the way your current paper documents and files become electronic.  Typically, your files are scanned in with a multi-function copier/scanner, and the document management software then helps you label and organize that file.

How do you know if a document management system is right for you? Ask yourself the following questions to find out.

1. Do you have at least one employee who files or retrieves documents? Let’s say it takes 6 minutes for a $20/hour employee to physically get a file, review what they need, and return it to the file cabinet. If they do this just 3 times a day, it’s taking 18 hours and costing you over $1,500 every year. Multiply this by 10 employees and you’ve got a $15,000 problem. With document management, getting those same files is basically instantaneous, making a big impact on productivity savings.
2. Do you use more than one file cabinet? According to Coopers & Lybrand, the average cost to fill and maintain a single 4-drawer file cabinet is over $6,200 per year (including average cost of floor space). If you’ve run out of space in your own office and now rent storage space elsewhere, your costs are even higher. Document management eliminates the need for these.
3. In your industry, are there any regulatory compliance issues in regards to storing client information?  The medical field has HIPPA, the financial world has Sarbanes-Oxley, and other professionals such as attorneys have an ethical obligation to protect private information. Many other business types have to be compliant with other regulations like the Patriot Act in terms of securing their information. Because of the encryption included, document management provides the security needed to comply with almost any of these regulations.
4. If your paper files were stolen, are you worried about the damage it would cause your business? Would those records be gone forever? It’s a lot easier for someone to walk into your office and swipe a file than it is for someone to hack into a document management software, de-code the encryption, and do so without being traced. If your documents and files are stored electronically, and you have a proper backup and disaster recovery plan, your information stays safe, no matter what happens.
5. Do you have employees that work remotely or have multiple locations? With the right document management system, files and electronic records of any kind are easily accessible from anywhere. Plus multiple people can view the same file at the same time, something nearly impossible with a physical file.
6. Have you ever spent more than a couple of minutes searching for a document on your server? Probably one of the most frustrating events in any work day is combing through the endless files on your server to search for the document you need. After a few minutes of futile effort to find what you need, your frustration turns to anger and you either turn into a raving lunatic, recruiting others to now join the search party for the blasted file that you KNOW is there, or you give up altogether – neither of which is very good for productivity. Document management ends this problem by giving you an easily searchable, organized place to store your files.

If you answered “yes” to any of the above questions, then a document management system may be just what you’re looking for. Call us at 954-920-9604 today to find out how to get a solution for your office for just pennies a day.