An aggressive strategy of document scanning (imaging) and storage within a commercial grade document management system delivers one of the highest ROI in the technology workspace today. Current server configurations make immediate document storage and retrieval for all a reality that only a few years ago would have been prohibitively expensive. Low cost storage and powerful processors, efficient scanning technology and the ever expanding library of business applications that offer electronic document output leaves little reason for any company not to explore this rapidly emerging trend in good business practices. Key benefits of electronic document management and storage include:
- Space Efficiency
- Most offices that have been in business for more that 5 years have accumulated large record stores that, by law, must be maintained for 7 to 10 years. These records are made up of files with folders full of various size documents. In many cases, oversized documents (X Rays, drafting documents, etc.) require specialized storage containers that are both expensive and consume a disproportionate amount of office space. These records are stored in desk drawers, in binders on bookshelves, in file cabinets in fire safe cabinets, in boxes, , outside storage facilities, and sometimes, just stacked on the floor waiting for someone with enough time to file them.
- A fully implemented document management system can reduce the document storage space requirement of a transaction intensive business with seven years of records from 4,000 to 6,000 cubic feet down to less than 3 cubic feet in a high speed, compact document server sitting in your back office.
- Filing Efficiency
- It takes time to file documents. Although document filing has traditionally been handed off to minimum wagworkers, often the quality of work causes company wide work slow downs when items are misfiled. This is a hidden cost that actually makes manual filing even more expensive than the "apparent" cost associated with file cabinets, storage space and clerical personnel. For the organization that has a fully implemented electronic document management system and works with internal applications and partners / suppliers that output "digital paper" - a substantial reduction or redirection of clerical personnel is often possible.
- No Lost Documents
- Filing efficiency eliminates the loss and "visceral damage" associated missing documents. Some documents you can lose - and you're able to recover. Most of the time, however, the recovery, reproduction, or reconstitution of lost documents can wipe out profits and entire office budgets if the missing item is a key component of a large project. In an electronic filing system, all documents are contained and under the control of programmed processes that leave little room for human error. Further, these storage repositories, one or more small, high speed disk drives, are routinely backed up in order to provide recovery options if security breaches occur (rare) or physical damage strikes.
- Instantaneous Retrieval
- Historically, the customer service rep would put your customer on hold or the primary contact on a project would look for current project documents or have their administrative assistant retrieve them. High turnaround time and lost productivity due to misfiling or not refilling from last usage wastes expensive project manager time, administrative assistant time - and possibly stalls the project. When your office filing system is built on an electronic document management system - retrieval of scanned images is instantaneous. No waiting, no lost documents, no stalled jobs or customers kept waiting. Instant document retrieval is probably one of the most powerful justifications for moving toward an all electronic document paperless office.
- Audit Trail
- Electronically created and processed documents will have an audit trail maintained in a transaction log by most quality Document Management Systems. This creates a reliable record of who has handled a document and who "last" handled a document. This allows not only retrieval of documents but in many cases, quick retrieval of who modified the document and when.
- Security
- New laws in place make document record security mandatory. HIPAA, SarBox, Gramm_Leach-Bliley and the Patriot Act make secured electronic filing more important than ever.
- HIPAA - Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act... protects patient confidentiality
- SarBox (Sarbanes - Oxley - covers records maintenance for corporate fiscal accountability
- Gramm-Leach-Bliley - limits financial institution's disclosure of non-public personal information
- USA Patriot Act - makes businesses responsible for seeking, detecting, and reporting computer trespasses. Banks in particular are expected to identify, discover, gather, amass, investigate, and report on financial activity to a far greater degree and depth than ever before.
- Electronic document filing systems give you the ability to implement disaster recovery systems that would be prohibitively expensive by traditional means. Economically priced security mechanisms are now a standard part of contemporary operating system technology (Microsoft Windows Server 2003). Document images and scanned records are now hidden in encrypted format behind User IDs, Passwords, 168bit magnetically encrypted key/cards and biometric validators (retinal scans, fingerprints, etc.) to insure that only authorized personnel are able to view and/or modify corporate and customer classified material.
- Disaster Recovery
- Digitally scanning and encoding documents to CD and/or DVD is one of the most powerful defenses you have against a total disaster. Lost documents means lost information and lost information can mean inability to continue business as well as legal exposure from customers and new Federal regulations. Making backup copies of all paper documents and storing them elsewhere is economically and functionally impractical. Making multiple generation copies of key records to CDs, DVDs and other disk technology makes disaster recovery and business continuity "insurance" economically feasible for all levels of organizations. Your document management system will have well-established procedures for imaged document backup and recovery.
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