4 Challenges of a Paper-Centric Filing System
Are you relying too heavily on paper to support your processes?
Let’s give credit where credit is due and say paper served orginizations and individuals well for many centuries. And while there will probably be a limited and controlled presence of paper for years to come, its dominance in the market for transferring data is over.
People do not just wake up one day and think they want to go paperless. There are driving forces behind deciding to go paperless and deploy an electronic document management solution. Over the years, eBizDocs discovered there are four core challenges that drive the decision and commitment to go paperless. No two organizations are the same; however, all experience and need to overcome one or more of these challenges.
The four main challenges you face with a paper-centric filing system
- Space
Because paper is physical, as it multiplies, it becomes unwieldy and burdensome. Offices turn into storage rooms filled with record boxes stacked to the ceiling. Meeting areas and hallways become littered with bulky, wall-to-wall filing cabinets. And the piles of paper cluttering desks mean productivity crawls at a snail’s pace.
Not so with an electronic document management system. Digital documents, instead, reside on a server which take up far less physical space. Even better, choose a cloud based solution with absolutely no physical demands.
- Efficiency
Pulling documents hour after hour presents several concerns. The first and most obvious is wasted time whenever an employee marches to the file room to retrieve a document. Many companies don’t have the luxury of designing their floor plan. Instead they furnish the work space to meet their needs. Oftentimes the result is a storage room down a hall or in another building.
But pulling the document is only half of the problem. It still must be refiled to the cabinet – hopefully, in its proper place – where it can be found by the next person.
Refiles, misfiles, and lost files are virtually (pardon the pun) eliminated with a paperless filing system. And there is no need to leave your desk. Documents can be instantly accessed, edited, and even shared from your PC, tablet, or smartphone.
Crank efficiency up a notch with routing and automated workflows. With your paperless document management solution, moving documents (or entire folders) from person to person for review and/or approvals is a simple keyboard entry. Existing processes can be implemented as workflow rules to automatically move information across the origination, as a result, errors and delays are history.
- Compliance
Enforcing policies and controls is a must. While it’s possible to create levels of access using a lock and key for each filing room and cabinet. the practical complications to this method are obvious. Lost or stolen keys and unauthorized access are a records-management nightmare.
When you go paperless, you can control many levels of access, including: what documents and folders someone can see, edit, create, export, and delete. No such guarantee exists in a paper-centric filing system.
If you ever been audited for compliance, you know the stress of proving your processes are being followed. When the system enforces what a person can or can’t do, and… make their actions available in a report, leaves no doubt and quickly satisfies an auditor’s inquiry.
Most organizations and businesses need some sort of disaster recovery plan. While catastrophic disasters such as fire and water damage, or a disgruntle employee can cause permanent damage, all documents are recoverable through the document management system’s off-site backups.
- Cost
Have you ever considered the cost of filling up a filing cabinet, or, making unnecessary copies so everyone can have their own document? These costs can multiple exponentially as an organization grows. Folders, file cabinets, off site paper document storage (and retrieval), and even paperclips and staples all add up. These are just the direct costs, now add in the associated cost spent hunting for or recreating documents.
Are you searching for a way out of your paper maze?
Let’s start a fact finding, no obligation, conversation about your goals and objectives.
About eBizDocs – eBizDocs is a premier digital transformation provider focused on helping you put INFORMATION AT YOUR FINGERTIPS. Offerings include paper and microfilm conversion, content capture and document management solutions, scanner sales and service, and process consultation. eBizDocs is SOC2 Type II certified and serves private and public-sector organizations. The company has been in business for over 20 years and is a preferred source contractor for NYS entities. To learn how eBizDocs can help transform your operation, visit eBizDocs.com
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