Document Management Systems: The Filing Cabinet of the Future
Do you remember when businesses first began to use email? It revolutionized how we communicated and conducted business. Workers and customers no longer had to wait days for a response to questions or comments. Employees could share information in seconds, even copy others into an email thread. Spam and junk filters added extra security, ensuring that suspicious emails or unnecessary notices were cleaned out of the inbox.
Businesses have been using email for decades to send and receive notes and documents, but they’re likely using outdated technology to store them. If you’re storing your documents on a single computer drive — or worse, a filing cabinet — you may want to consider a document management system for your company.
Here are some benefits to using a document management system to store, track and manage your regular documents.
Storage
Digitally-archived documents are more visible and easily accessible than files lounging in manila envelopes in filing cabinets, said John McGill, solutions engineer at Infomax. Searching for a document by keywords or dates is much easier electronically in a document management system than leafing through papers. Additionally, if one paper document is damaged or destroyed, your business could lose priceless information for good. Digitally archiving documents through remote storage and automatic backup ensures that disaster won’t destroy them.
Security
Consider how easy it would be to lose a document in the dregs of a filing cabinet or how difficult it would be to keep track of a document multiple people take out of a file. Even if employees store their documents on their individual computers, those files could be destroyed or compromised if a computer is damaged or hacked or if a computer file is deleted.
“If two people work in the same office, only one of us can see the document at the same time in a paper world,” John said. “There also could be documents in an office that not everybody should see. There’s nothing stopping from me from going to that filing cabinet and looking at it.”
With a document management system, you can set permissions so only some employees are able to view documents. The system can also track who checks out or edits a piece.
Forms solutions
Businesses that work directly with customers may benefit from digital forms solutions that allow clients or customers to fill submit forms. The system will then convert forms and input data directly into the company’s management program. The document management system cuts down on clutter and archives forms for future reference.
Digital workflow
Not only do document management systems provide necessary storage and security, they also allow employees an easy system to keep track of tasks. Documents can be edited by different employees and departments. They system will notify another user when the file is ready for their input.
To learn more about our document management system and how it can work for your office, contact us today at 1-800-727-4629.
