Top Integrated Document Solutions
We were promised a paperless society, and yet these days it feels like we have more paper than ever before.
Are you a business owner looking for a solution to your endless paperwork? Do you feel like you’re drowning in piles of paper scattered across the office? Can your team find the right document they need without wasting precious work time looking for it?
If this is you then you need to create better document solutions for your company. Don’t worry if you don’t know what this means, we’ve got you covered. Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about document management and how to create the best system for your organization.
What Is Document Management?
Just as you used to have a physical filing cabinet in your office, today you need a better way to store your digital files for your business. If you find your team working remotely these days, then you need to make creating a digital document system a top priority.
You have countless documents for your business. From customer invoices to supply purchase orders and employee pay stubs, you need a consistent and secure way to capture, manage, store, and track them.
Document management is just that, tracking and storing your important paperwork for your organization. The right document solutions include more than just a digital filing cabinet. You must also be able to control who has access to which files as well as be able to see who accesses each file.
Additionally, a great system will allow you and your team to remotely access each file quickly and easily. You don’t have time to spend twenty minutes looking for the right invoice for your client, you need to be able to find what you need immediately. This is what document management can do for your business.
A great DM will free up your time to grow your business rather than looking for endless paperwork. If you’re still not convinced, let’s look at a few more reasons why your company needs a DM system.
Why You Need Successful Document Solutions
There are several benefits to implementing a new document management system in your business. A few of these benefits you could realize immediately include:
- easier to find what you’re looking for
- easier to keep your documents secure and control who has access
- save money on overhead by digitizing everything
- better collaboration with your coworkers, especially virtually
- improved workflow and time saved for your team
A quality document filing system is so important we listed it as one of our nine most important pieces of office equipment every business needs. Over the years, your business has outgrown its current system. Or perhaps you never took the time to create a system in the first place.
Just as your company has grown, it’s now the time to create the perfect solution to all your documentation needs. Now that you can see clearly how beneficial it will be for your company when you create your document integration system, let’s look at how to go about it.
How to Create Your Document Management System
As you begin the process of creating your digital file management solution, you need to start with your strategy. Here are four key steps you must take to ensure success for your new paperless filing system.
1. Set Your Ground Rules
Before you can get started creating the perfect document solution for your company, you must first set your ground rules. This includes creating incredibly specific naming conventions and a schedule for converting any remaining paper files into digital ones.
Many businesses have entire warehouses of paper files they need to digitize, if this is the case for you then consider investing in a professional-grade scanner to speed up the process.
2. Set Your Location
The second step is to choose your software program for your document storage. As your business grows, so too will your file management. In the beginning, you might have been fine with something simple such as Dropbox or Google Drive.
However, now you need a more robust system that allows you to monitor who accessed what files and when along with smart search features and many others.
3. Set up Your Security
As you begin to create your document integration system you need to ensure the utmost security. Your clients and suppliers are counting on you to keep their personal information private. And you need to ensure that only your team members have access to your information.
With many teams working remotely these days, security is more than just passwords, although this is important too. You must also ensure that your team keeps their computers safe and secure as well.
4. Set Your Maintenance Plan
Just as with every good organizational plan, your document management plan needs a maintenance program. You need a schedule when you will clear out old files and ensure proper organization within your current files.
You will need to create a reference system to everyone knows exactly where to find what they need quickly. This is also why the specific naming convention in step one is so imperative, it allows your team to know what every file contains and when it was created at a glance.
Go Paperless Today With the Right System for Your Business
As we inch closer and closer to a paperless system, and as your team continues to expand globally, you need a more robust document management system. With the right document solutions, your business will see better collaboration amongst your team as well as improved efficiency and productivity in your workflow.
If you’re ready to see how our office equipment and IT solutions can improve your employee productivity, then reach out to us today. We help business owners just like you every day to improve their workflow saving you and your team time and money.
