Archive for the ‘Paperless Office’ Category

Steve Breault, Vircosoft Founder / CEO

Technological advancement has introduced a whole new technique for companies to carry out business activities and has played a crucial role in developing paperless offices. One of the best ways to create a paperless office is by using document management software which changes paper documents into digital files.

A good document management system provides an increase in productivity, reducing cost of document storage and saving on retrieval time. Document manager software is designed for both single and multiple users and is appropriate with your established business programs including Microsoft. Document management systems allow you to check, route and safely store records.

Some of the features of Document Management software include:

• A centralized electronic storage program containing details in any format that duplicates your current or new filling arrangement
• The freedom to search and access records by content or using the program structure which can be customized to your needs, to view documents multiple or single format.
• The ability to configure document protection by allocating users and groups to different levels of accessibility ideal to their needs and benefits.
• Easy access to information from off-site services anywhere anytime in the world

A paperless office in general provides your business with the following benefits:

• Less cost of printing, sending, distribution, and document storage
• An increase in your client support efficiency as buyer details is much simpler to locate
• The security of never ever losing documents again regardless of any circumstances.
• Updating documents information becomes so much easier because once a document is updated in the document management program all versions are immediately available to all who have access to the program.
• Paper use is decreased drastically so you can promote your company as an environmental friendly business.

One major benefit of investing in paperless office software is that it considerably lowers labor cost. In a standard installation, staff make use of paper to share information. This includes photocopying data, processing records and other related tasks. According to research, 40 to 60 percent of an employee’s time in the workplace is spent handling papers.

Investing in document management program will reduce company,s expenditures. If documents are changed into electronic copies, staff quickly access a needed document, thus making it possible for them to get more information with less time and achieve more task for any given day. Paperless program like Vircosoft’s VFiler easily manages all documents that have been digitalized through its program, so if one employee unintentionally removes an important document, the company does not have to go through great lengths just to find it; instead, programs like vFiler quickly creates backup for all documents hence no document can be lost.

Another big benefit is that companies can quickly send or transfer their documents to their companies various offices, so shipping costs are reduced. They may even choose to spread responsibilities to their staff located all around the world and benefit from lower labor rates in other regions.

So, whether a business is just starting out or is already well-established introducing a paperless office will help in reducing expenditure and generating more revenue. In the end, while traditional methods are hard to let go,  if they are turning out to be more expensive, then letting go for a more cost-effective but quicker method is clearly the better option.

Steve Breault, Vircosoft Founder / CEO

The managing of documents in offices can be time-consuming and daunting.  According to studies, employees use a significant portion of their work hours just trying to scour through information that is already available within the organization.  This task includes searching, organizing, sorting, and creating and recreating documents that are sometimes redundant.  The manipulation of paper files or documents is actually contributing to an organization’s inefficiencies and is costing millions of dollars of wasted hours and productivity.  Using document management software can solve this issue.

A document management system (DMS) is a software that is utilized in storing and managing electronic documents and images of paper files or documents.  This software allows organizations to create a central database or repository of all forms of electronic and paper documents.  Listed below are advantages of using a Document Management Systems.

Reduced Storage – Scanning paper documents and integrating them into a DMS greatly reduces storage page within the organization.

Time and Money Savings – Sorting out documents and searching for them takes time.  Using DMS reduces the costs associated with the storage of hardcopy documents including the cost of paper, printing, and archiving.
Flexible Retrieval – Retrieving hard copy documents takes time.  Through DMS, electronic images of documents are created and stored centrally.  A lesser amount of time is spent in locating documents as this task can be done even without leaving your desk.  Access to documents through DMS can be over the internet on the company’s intranet.

Documents Security – Provide controlled access to your documents and folders.  DMS can protect these files from being accessed or modified by unauthorized personnel or potential intruders.  Access of the documents can be set on a user and password-based access and access rights can be assigned for both users and groups at the folder and/or document level.  The use of DMS for the documents is way more secure that filing them in traditional file cabinets.  Also, DMS has audit trail feature where you can view who last used the item and when.  Obviously with the hard copy files, this is difficult to track.

Disaster Recovery – A document management system provides a convenient way of creating back-up documents for offsite storage and disaster recovery.  Backing up documents the traditional way through paper is bulky and expensive.  Also, it is prone to damage and vulnerable to flood, fire and theft.
No Lost Files – When paper documents are lost, it can be expensive and time-consuming to replace them.  With DMS, image files of the documents remain stored when being viewed thus, it is never lost or misplaced.  A full-text searching mechanism is a very useful feature of DMS which makes storing, finding and moving documents very easy.

Improved Regulatory Compliance – Comply with government regulations such as SOX (Sarbanes Oxley),  Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA),  Food Safety Modernization Act, ISO, Medical device manufacturing (FDA), Healthcare (JCAHO), and Information technology (ITIL).  Your documents  which could include policy statements, workflow, procedures, and many other pertinent organizational documents should provide evidence of control.  Failing to conform with this may mean legal repercussions including fines.  DMS offers a combination of security control, audit trails, efficient archiving system and disaster recovery to guarantee that an organization can authenticate the validity of information stored in the system and demonstrate strict adherence to regulatory standards and requirements.

All in all, the use of Document Management Software in an organization or a business brings even more benefits other than the ones mentioned above.  DMS can further improve internal operations and enhance customer service and satisfaction while bringing a competive edge to the business.

Steve Breault, Vircosoft Founder / CEO

In today’s challenging business world, running a paper based business would mean managing a business with endless amounts of paper, the file cabinets, and the storage space for keeping them. Besides the space and the volume of paper documents, there is the need for someone to file each paper document and for multiple times, someone else would have to retrieve the documents. When dealing with paper files that run into thousands or even millions of paper based information piled up over many years, filing and retrieval processes are bound to be very cumbersome and costly. The costs of this system of managing business information without business document management will mount up so quickly in the areas of wages and salaries of persons employed to do the filing and retrieval of the paper documents and the storage facility meant for keeping massive quantities of these paper files.

Paper filing system is inefficient and costly: The economic costs indices of the application of paper and cabinet filing system in managing a business has its effect in wasted time, absolute delay in customer response rate, inefficiency of the system,  and the costs of rent for the storage facility for this age-long pattern of managing business information. If a thriving business continues with this old business document management system for a long time, its bottom line is bound to be affected and the shareholders wealth will decline compared to if the electronic business document management software is deployed. With the electronic document management software, you will be able to store all the paper files online through the process of scanning and indexing. Once the document is stored online, you can discard the paper file because every document stored electronically is secured by hi-tech firewall security system and it will be kept protected throughout its legal lifespan.  

Investment in business document management software guarantees efficiency and higher profitability: Most often, the initial cost of acquiring the business document management software technology is what may look like a heavy expense but in reality, it is an investment into the future of the business and it would be recouped within the first few years of integrating the electronic solution into the setup of a business. Once a business has integrated the document management software into its mainstream, its efficiency will greatly improve, its customer response rate will improve, and the office will be more spacious since all the office clutters and the file cabinets are completely done away with. All these improvements will translate into more patronage for the business which will lead to more profits and increase in shareholders wealth.

The business document management is therefore an investment and the vital information of the business is also protected from being stolen, from getting lost in transit, from fire disaster, and from such unforeseen natural disasters as the Hurricane Katrina that claimed millions of paper based business documents when it struck some years ago.

Besides, the document management software has added benefits to your business by serving as a reliable off site backup. Likewise, its security features guarantees prevention of any unauthorized persons from gaining access to its contents  and even the authorized persons will be prevented from accessing any part of any document that they shouldn’t access which is what paper based filing process can’t achieve.

Steve Breault, Vircosoft Founder / CEO

In today’s dynamic business world, there are a lot of expectations from a company in terms of administration and services offered. A company today is expected to offer world class services to its clients, increase profitability and keep costs to a minimum, all at the same time. Balancing these expectations is a huge task for a company, no matter what its size. In such a scenario document management software can be of great help as it offers a multitude of features that can be used for streamlining the document processing system.

Business document management can help resolve critical problems that an organization faces on a daily basis. Document management software enables an effective way of processing and distributing information throughout your organization. For instance, a digital documentation system eliminates many limitations of a paper based system such as misplaced original documents, inconvenience of retrieval from a remote location and slow distribution.

Apart from this, document management software has several features that make it possible to manage millions of documents and retrieve them within seconds. Being computer based, such a system also makes it easier to share and distribute documents through email, fax and other file sharing systems. Remote access also makes it possible to search and retrieve documents instantly while traveling or when in a meeting away from the office. Digital documents can also be backed up easily, making it easy to recover documents. 

Choosing the right business document management system specific to your business requirements is extremely important. Following are the key features that you must look for when selecting a document management system: 

Automatic data capture to incorporate documents into the system: The three critical features you must look for is scanning, import and conversion of electronic documents. Scanning allows you to convert paper documents into their digital version, which can then be stored on a computer. The indexing feature enables systematic storage of scanned documents which can be easily retrieved. Apart from this, a document management system allows you to import electronic files such as text, images, audio and video, and supports a variety of formats. Other files formats such as word documents and spreadsheets can also be converted into PDF and TIFF files and imported into a document management system. 

Storage and archiving: Document management software offers easy storage, backup and retrieval system. Storage is a major hassle with paper based system, both in terms of space occupied and safety. On the other hand, a digital document is much easier to manage and store. For instance, copying an electronic document onto a storage medium such as a hard disk or CD is much easier compared to creating paper copies. Similarly, a virtual repository is easier to manage compared to a physical one, both from security and location points of view. 

Sharing and distribution: Sharing of paper document is always prone to risks such as loss of document or accidental misplacement. Instances of time wasted looking for misplaced documents and recreating originals are many. A document management system can be accessed over a network, making it easier for you to share important documents. Employees need not pass a document from desk to desk or wait for a colleague to finish his work before he can access the file. With document management system it is possible for multiple users to access the same file at the same time. Similarly, electronic documents can be easily distributed through a network, fax, email, and so on.

Security: This is again a very big concern in paper documents. Not only are paper files prone to misplacement, they are also vulnerable to theft and physical damage. Although digital documents too are susceptible to physical damage, the easy backup and recovery eliminates this problem very effectively. Apart from this, the access control system in document management software allows only authorized personnel to access the files. Similarly, different levels of security can be set up depending on the requirement. For instance, a file may be read-only for a department, whereas modification or update rights can be given to higher management or others as needed. 

There are many more benefits offered by a business document management system that helps create a more systematic approach to document processing. With the right solution for your office you can not only dedicate your staff towards achieving your business goals, but also empower them to make informed decisions. 

Steve Breault “DocMeister”

Document management software provides the version control feature in order to manage, track, store and retrieve different versions of a document. Such a system is usually required when several team members are working on a project, with many making changes to the same document. For instance, a presentation on project development and progress may require inputs from all the team members working on the project. Thus, changes will be made to the same presentation, saved as a different version by each member, and later integrated to make the final presentation by the team leader.

A version control system in digital document management works through the check-in and check-out system. The check-in allows you to save the current version of a document in the central repository and check-out allows you to retrieve current or previous versions of a document. Versioning often involves several steps such as reviewing, editing and modifying before finally being approved. When several people work on the same document, it may result in confusion over the latest version of a document, who made the changes and why, current working version and final approved version. Document management software can be of great help in sorting out such problems. Some benefits of a version control system are:

Ability to return to a previous working version: In case of an error or accidental deletion of a working version of a document, you can return to a previous working version. Many version control systems work by taking a snapshot of changes being made. This way you can check the order in which the changes were made and recreate the current working version.

Track who made the changes: When you know who made the changes, you can seek clarification and approve the document accordingly. This also avoids duplication of content as you know which version was created and updated by whom.

Maintain previous versions: Document management software allows versioning by enabling you to maintain previous versions and create their replacements at the same time. For instance, a mapping company may require older versions of a map before the new version is created and approved.

Maintain record of development process: Progress reports may be required from time to time to apprise the higher management or simply to check it against the designated completion time. Version control in digital document management helps you keep track of progress of a project and how it is being developed.

The version control system in digital document management works by assigning version numbers to the documents, making it easier for the users to keep track. Apart from this, you can also add comments and descriptions so different team members can check the content of a document before retrieving and using them. Version control may be required at some point in document life cycle. Document management system offers a comprehensive solution to managing different versions of a file.

Steve Breault “DocMeister”

Today’s business generation has been really interesting because of the computer and the gadgets that make things easier and more convenient. The extra facial lines you have developed will be lessened by the faster implementation of sorting and filing of office files with the use of valuable computer systems and business document management software. The flow of work is distributed and finished much faster than using the now antiquated manual sorting and filing system. There is a plethora of low cost complementary digital imaging equipment available with the capacity to save and store files for virtually nothing.

Document management for your business is extremely important. Managing documents and other vital forms of information including images, notices, contracts, proposals and many more is required to maintain a high level of confidence standard in document storage. Indexing and retrieval of this vital information must also be given attention and must be convenient for the end user in order for the organization to be more systematic in its dealings with clients and people involved.

Many document management systems are expensive so shopping around is highly recommended. Vircosoft has been providing high value, feature laden document imaging and document management software for almost 11 years to virtually every type and size business imaginable. Easy to use and thoroughly field tested by hundreds of companies’ worldwide Vircosoft software is worth your time to evaluate. Microsoft’s fully automated data capture and the digital document imaging software creates limitless possibilities of fast use and a reliable solution to your document management challenges. Vircosoft offers free database search and offers seamless integration to their world-class Open Source document management system called HighPoint.

Highly recommended for fast paced offices and organizations which value efficient work performance, the Vircosoft VFiler is a must try; it is a mighty instrument that permits you to automatically file, secure, share and track documents, records, images and other important data. It is very easy to use and comes with a manual that you can easily comprehend. Vircosoft provides professional services to small and mid-sized businesses and organizations. Contact Vircosoft for their free document management software and see how easily you can do things your way.

Your business may be one that is involved in selling services, goods or any other kinds of materials that will include documents for record-keeping and data entry. Most companies like grocery stores, one that involves provision of services and other goods have to keep document software that will help them track every transaction that the business entails. This is the case that most owners or managers, and even CEOs of large companies are most concerned with; this business document management is one important factor in the record-keeping department of the business entity. Having a good business document management will eventually make the managers, owners and CEOs to track the status of their business.

Many companies, even the smallest ones nowadays have to record their daily sales, their inventories and even the cash on hand and the accounts receivables and payables. This record keeping will make businesses to prosper more and be more efficient in checking for their business dealings in each business day. Hence, businesses, whether small ones or even the biggest ones now use a business document management that may meet their needs for every record-keeping they incorporate in their companies.

A part of the business document management that will make things easier for them is to track their receivables and payables. When employees concerned can see a shared document, one that comes from the finance department or from the department concerned, they can see a transaction that alerts them of their payables to a certain supplier or store. This way, they are notified of their obligation to pay and may eventually schedule for the payment, or have the account settled as soon as possible. Details like these things are needed in order to maintain a good relationship with other companies.

This will entice a good employee to do his or her job the speedy way too, accounts receivables and payables will be acted upon immediately. The digital imaging incorporated into the business document management system will be good enough to make the easy reports as the business document management can multi-task a lot of things. And no one has to delay the job that he has in acting for the duties he has; the document management software can be shared by people, select or not, inside the business system.

A good business establishment can provide the employees the easier way of communications and record-keeping. Making things in manual type, from encoding to record-keeping is such an old school. A solution is given to you by Vircosoft. They are the ones that have the capability to provide you with a business document management which system can be easy and even fun for the employees of the company.

Vircosoft has version control, one document software that allows for the document to be shared and revised by all, but still saving the changes for all to see. Version control is a much needed factor for a good business document management. You must check out the services that they have in store for you. Check online and be amazed at their services

Do you know that it takes one tree to produce 17 reams of paper? But it takes many years for a tree to be sturdy enough to be made into paper.

In September of 2009, the Philippines was devastated with heavy rains and neck-deep flood, water washed away lives and important assets, including hopes and dreams of a good future. The reason why this happened is the grudge of nature to the people who abuse it. And one main thing we abuse our Mother Nature, trees included, is our need for paper.

The many companies needing office supplies nowadays are booming, the most needed supply is paper. But with this modern age of computers and sophisticated technology gadgets, what is the use of paper for; when we can communicate with our mobile phones, communicate with the world via the Internet, and even chat and laugh with our friends through the social networking media? You say for posterity purposes, but aren’t files better to keep than piles and heaps of dusted paper?

The world today, though, is getting smarter and wiser. Many people have already valued the importance of trees; it is never too late to take care of Mother Earth, replant trees and do reforestation.

Offices and companies too must do their share. There are a number of companies who are already encouraging people to go paperless. There is paperless software which does the job of recording and keeping data in the archive, and producing these data when needed. This paperless software enables the company to do the normal thing as most offices would do, record-keeping, data-entry, and communications, minus the use of paper. In fact, literal as it may seem, but this is what we shall call a paperless office. Cost effective and efficient, it provides an automated paper filing system that can capture, handle effectively and defend the company’s business secrets.

One thing that is expected to do with going paperless is the amount of time you will be wasting in order to manually enter the data you have already gathered. This becomes less of a problem though. The VFiler Rapid Indexer and the VFiler Automated Indexer can help you with getting these manual data-entry jobs.

These paperless software which are already available in the market, can provide you with shorter time in looking for files, increase efficiency in data-keeping/document indexing, increase accuracy of information entered, easier document identification and separation, and most of all, it will increase the chance of trees being saved from being cut and be produced into paper.

Going paperless will make businesses save tons of money of paper, and more importantly, save a lot of trees. It may be a little funny and awkward to see an office without paper and pen, but it would make a good difference. Go check Vircosoft’s website and watch videos on how they make paperless companies work just like any ordinary office.

Steve Breault “DocMeister”

Document management is a big part of a companies work load whether small-sized, mid-sized or large-sized. Document management is important to come up with better business operations. Whether companies are regulated or not, document management provides modernize organization. Through the years, many companies have been using paper-based management to store and retrieve files and many of these companies had also encountered problems regarding file management. Some experienced losing important documents because of calamities such as flash floods, earthquake and hurricane while some just simply misplace their documents in their offices’ archive areas. Paper-based document management costs companies thousands of dollars in maintaining a well-organized paper documents. They pay too much for printing and storing of paper documents; they pay for paper, inks, physical space and for the archivist who will personally manage the paper-based documents.

Paper-based documents are very hard to maintain and the actual physical task to maintain it is really labor-intensive. Many companies still store their important files and paperwork in old filing cabinets, which are most likely bursting at the seams with years of document storing. Good thing at present, some companies have started converting their paper-based documents to electronic or digital documents and start relying on digital document management for many reasons. First, it is much cheaper when compared to paper-based document management because the only thing you will need here are computer with the needed software and someone to operate the software. No archivist, paper, ink and archive area needed. Second, the documents that will be filed will be more secure because documents will not be exposed that easy not like in paper-based document management where documents are placed in cabinets and if one gets destroyed and it does not have another copy, the company will surely get in trouble. Third, digital document management is more accessible to staff, customers and to management because all you have to do is to deploy the software anywhere and anytime you want. Fourth, there is a centralized location of the document and that is the software not like when documents are paper-based, you will need to check all the corners of the archive area to look for documents. Fifth and last is that it is user-friendly which is an important part of customer service satisfactory.

One important advantage digital document management needs to emphasize is its strength for version control or the process where one manages multiple revisions and reproduction with the same unit of information. In digital document management, you can reproduce and track revisions as many versions of the document as you want without costing you additional not like in paper-based document management, the more you reproduce, revise and print a version or a copy, the higher it will costs your company. Digital document management also allows you to take snapshots of your document.

Going digital actually saves your company time and money! This kind of data management will surely help companies to work more efficiently and faster with better operations.

Many businesses deal with facing customers on a daily basis and assisting them with their needs or queries. Often times, these customers are returning clients with records of their transactions with the company and before they can be entertained, their records must be pulled out from a file.

Searching for these documents is tedious, especially for a large company dealing with hundreds of clients every day. Imagine a room filled with filing cabinets – even with proper labels and categories, it would still take hours for an employee to find a single document as they have to look through every file carefully lest they miss the needed file. Also, customer satisfaction will likely decrease if they take too long in acquiring a document, as the customer’s patience is very limited when it comes to these matters.

It is for this purpose that companies should consider turning into a paperless office and buying paperless software to speed up document retrieval. While the initial cost for setting up a paperless office may seem expensive, the profits it will gain in the long run will be worth it. When you think about it, work will not only be easier with the help of these kinds of software; more tasks can be accomplished in lesser time. Manual retrieval of documents usually takes up most of the employee’s working hours in a day, but with paperless software, this will take merely seconds so he can focus on doing other tasks or serving more customers.

Maintaining a high rate of customer satisfaction is essential in any business. It will not only help the company’s reputation, it will also attract more customers. Investing on paperless software like Vircosoft’s VFiler will help increase customer satisfaction ratings. Not only does it help get documents faster, it can also do other tasks such as managing, securing, sharing, tracking and automatically filing data. With this, even employees who are not familiar with the software can easily be taught to retrieve records. If more employees serve more clients in a short amount of time, customers will surely be happy and would want to come back because of the great service.

This is only one example of how a paperless office helps a company earn more profit. In an age where technology is constantly developed to make life easier, businesses should jump at the chance to acquire tools that will collect more rewards for them. Especially if a business deals with a lot of customers who file a lot of documents, they should maintain the satisfaction of these people to ensure that they will keep coming back for more.