Think of the number of documents you use each day. Now, think of the amount of space these papers take – on your desk, in filing cabinets and storage rooms. The endless number of piles is enough to make any sane person crazy. Digital documents can provide its users with a range of benefits.
In a previous post, I went over the definition of document scanning and why managing scanned and digital documents is important. In this post, I’m exploring some of the benefits you can expect to receive and how scanning can improve the efficiency and security of your office.
Cut Costs
The act of scanning is easy in itself. It’s merely a task of feeding documents into a scanner that turns your paper into a digital product. The paper can then be archived or destroyed. A professional information management company will be able scan more documents than is possible in your office. The amount of time it would take to scan all of your documents would most likely be unreasonable. Leave it to the professionals who can be fully dedicated to the project and return your digital copies in a sensible amount of time.
Once scanned, digital copies can then be immediately tagged or bundled. Tagging and bundling is what makes your life so much easier – it allows you to quickly find needed documents. Document archiving lowers costs. You’ll spend less money on paper and ink using digital scanning, and save space that would have been used to store filing cabinets.
Adds Security
Scanning documents allows you to have control over employees’ access to converted files. You can simply allow or deny employees’ access to the location of the files through your network. Being able to control who sees certain files allows you to protect confidential information. Different jobs require different levels of access. You get to decide those levels of access. Scanning allows you to keep a record of the staff that has viewed each document. This can be an important feature if you need to track editing.This level of security doesn’t exist with paper-based filing systems. Papers can get misplaced or end up in the wrong hands. Scanning allows you to add more protection to confidential information or avoid losing the document all together.
Easy Searches
Documents that are properly tagged can be retrieved instantly with a search program. Rather than digging through piles of paper, you can use a network search. Digital searches are a stark comparison to sifting through a filing cabinet to find a document by name, phone number, or some kind of obscure referral code. With a minimal effort, the documents are readily available. Employees also have the ability to send the information between each other quickly. Having a digital document reduces the need for faxing and currier services. Other employees can also view the document from another location simultaneously allowing collaborative projects to be completed more efficiently.
Improve Productivity
Making the decision to convert your paper filing system into a digital library can be an easy process that helps to reduce some of the annoyances you may face each day and help to increase office productivity. If you would like to learn more about what document scanning can do for you, click here. In the next post, we’ll finish off our list of benefits that you can expect to see with document scanning and management. How have scanned and digital documents changed your workload? Have you experienced any benefit from going digital not listed above? Tell us about it in the comments!
You Might Also Like…
It’s good to know that you can lower your costs by archiving your documents. Being able to find them with a computer will also save you tons of time. What’s important now is making sure I can find a scanning service near me to scan all of my important documents.