A Sea of Paper: Is It Time for a Document Management Service?

Organizations will need a way to manage their documents as long as they use paper and electronic documents. In recent years, high-tech management systems have replaced the tedious process of delivering, storing and retrieving documents, cutting time and expenses by more than 50 percent. While there are various systems for document management on the market, most of them offer similar benefits.

But how do you know it’s time to invest in a document management service? Generally, businesses that utilize a lot of paper are the ones that most need this service. These types of businesses include financial services, real estate agents, architects, engineers, logistics and transport companies, manufacturing companies, and legal firms.

Is Document Management A Service Your Company Needs?

It might be difficult to determine when you should invest in such a service. Like any other investment, you need weigh your options to determine whether it’s more profitable to outsource the service to a company like Micro Com Systems or manage it in-house. Keep in mind that decreased productivity affects your bottom line so a document management service will be beneficial if it boosts your productivity.

Here are some other factors that will influence your decision.

Clutter: If your office space is littered with paper and files that are difficult to find when needed, a document management service may be the solution you need.

Misplaced documents: Do you spend a lot of your working hours looking for misplaced files? Searching for misplaced documents on a regular basis will affect productivity. It also affects your ability to serve your customers in a timely manner if you have to search for the file before you attend to their needs.

Shrinking profits: Would you increase your employees’ productivity and your business profits if you spent less time searching for documents?

Poor use of floor space: Could your valuable floor space be put to better use if you didn’t have mounds of paper and files lining the floors? Are you paying for extra commercial space to store those files?

Paper storage: Could you do with a better alternative to paper forms for storing valuable information?

Benefits of Document Management

Document managements will provide numerous benefits to your company.

Easy Retrieval

You no longer need to search through a cabinet to locate a file. Digitized document management tools make it easy to access your files when you need them. You can search for files by name, content, or some other search term. You can also limit access to certain people.

Enhanced Security

Instead of locked cabinets and sign-out sheets, you can now encrypt files and allocate security levels to every file. Security levels will limit access to certain persons or departments and will track retrievals so you’ll know who accessed the files.

Secure Back-Ups

Paper files may be damaged beyond recognition if there’s a fire or flood in the office. On an average day, it’s easy for an employee to misplace a valuable file. Document management removes the risk of lost or damaged documents.

As you consider the benefits listed above, remember that’s it’s easy to find a document management service that will fit your bottom line and business goals.

John Hoskins is a retired CEO for a busy insurance office. He now spends his time hiking and fishing, but when the weather won’t allow for that, he enjoys blogging online.