Posts Tagged ‘best document management’

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

Many owners and managers of small and mid-sized businesses think that digital document management solution is for  larger corporations or enterprise sized businesses when in fact, small businesses around the world have begun to deploy document management software into their business operations because the costs have gone down drastically. It is no longer as expensive as it used to be for you to now manage your business documents electronically and have to deal with less paper files while your business runs optimally.

There is no doubt that people all over the world are seeing the benefits of running a paperless office with efficient business document management though a slight learning curve might be experienced depending on your employees’ capability to use the computer systems and the brand of digital document solution being deployed. While some electronic document filing solution will be easier for employees to use than other brands, once your staff gets accustomed to filing and managing your business documents by using computer applications, it will soon be evident to you the height to which document management software will help your business attain through efficiency and optimum employee productivity. Here are some benefits a document management solution will help you achieve:

Easy filing and retrieval of your business documents. Filing your business documents digitally will help you maximize the processes involved with the retrieval and management of files greatly. For example, you could search for documents based on keywords or certain phrases and get your desired results within seconds, whereas such search could have taken hours before. Instant retrieval of documents is possible because when you scan and convert your business files, you can apply optical character recognition which will make it possible for your documents to be searchable based on text content so that searches based on keywords or phrases will return all relevant results to your search query instantly.

Reduced cost for paper management while increasing employee productivity: Since time is more valuable in this modern business age than ever, integrating business document management software in your business setup will help your employees to do more in as little time as possible and hence improve their capacity to concentrate more on tasks that matters most to the growth and profitability of your business. Once efficiency is achieved in running your business, it should save you on costs of doing business while also helping your business to grow in a way that could be difficult to calculate.

Electric document management will make your employees happier and satisfied with doing their work: Document management solution helps employees to speed up their work and employees that accomplish much more in a relatively little amount of time are bound to be happier doing their job. With more productivity and on-the-job improved performance, your team can earn more incentives linked to productivity and business growth and increase their job satisfaction and commitment to the goals of your business. Digital document management software is a win-win for all businesses and their employees.

Steve Breault, Vircosoft Founder / CEO

The importance of data in the operation of your business can not be overemphasized because business data is arguably the most valuable asset of your business irrespective of whether it is a small, medium or a large business enterprise. However, it is common to find business owners who assume (perhaps hope is a better way of stating it) that nothing untoward will happen to their businesses when the subject of man-made or natural disasters comes up. Though experiencing a fire, flood, tornado or a hurricane is the last thing a business wants, not planning for this type of a disaster is a “disaster waiting to happen”.

Therefore there is the need for business document management software to be incorporated into your business operations for effective management of your business information and for easy recovery of data in the eventuality of a disaster. Once your business documents are converted and stored in a business document management system, they are easily backed up to tape, disk or even in offsite storage.  This is a true disaster recovery strategy for your business documents and your file cabinets.

Why your business needs a strategy to curtail document disaster: A recent report released by the Business Continuity Institute shows that out of five businesses, one faces the danger of major operational disruption like data loss occasioned by things like power outage or a natural disaster that destroys a business premises. If most businesses now run with the aid of computer systems and its networks, a major IT disruption or data loss can lead to lots of business hardships including bad reputation that could build up so quickly leading to strained relationships with customers, business partners, creditors, suppliers not to mention the huge revenue loss that can cripple the operation of a business, decrease its productivity, lead to many unexpected additional expenses and lots more in the eventually of a major data loss due to a man-made or the occurrence of a natural disaster.

Put your business in a vantage position with document management software: With a proper planning on disaster preparedness and data recovery strategy by integrating business document management solution into your business operations, what you get is an implementation plan that secures the future of your business against all kinds of data loss even if the whole premises were destroyed with no salvage at all. Running your business while document management software keeps guard over your business documents besides helping you to auto file documents, retrieve documents in a record time and comply with regulatory requirements, it also ensures your business survives and recovers from any disaster eventuality even if it is the most devastating incident.

How business document management works to secure the future of a business: Once incorporated into your business setup, the document management solution will alleviate your need for keeping heaps of paper documents and the file cabinets.  It will allow you to manage your existing paper documents in electronic forms, auto file every business document produced in your business thereafter while every incoming paper document will be scanned and stored electronically. Every stored document will automatically be backed up in most cases in offsite location with the use of cloud technology and the most reliable firewall security features to give you the confidence that your documents are not only secure from disaster but also from malicious intentions of people.

Steve Breault, Vircosoft Founder / CEO

The world and the United States in particular has recently experienced a rash of natural disasters including damaging storms, floods, tornadoes, Hurricane Irene and wildfires. Business owners in the affected areas are now faced with the stark reality of how absolutely important it is to have a document management software system in place that protects their business documents.

Document management software will preserve your documents from natural disasters and all kinds of unforeseen destructive occurrences: Apart from the natural occurrences like earthquakes, floods, hurricanes and others that are capable of destroying a business premises and the physical or unsecured business documents, there are other factors like terrorism, arson, broken water pipes, theft, unexpected computer and information technology system failures, and activities of hackers with malicious intentions which all have the potential to stop a successful business in its tracks by destroying a company’s business files if not properly backed up or stored off site by deploying business document management software. Document management solution is a tool that enables a business to convert paper documents into digital documents.  Once your documents are converted and stored in a document management system, they are easily backed up to tape, disk or even stored in offsite storage which is indeed a true disaster recovery plan for your file cabinets.

A broad range of functions of electronic document management software: Digital business document management solution is a system that helps you index paper file document, store it, find it as quickly as you need it, retire it when you like, and create an audit trail for each document. This digital document filing solution also provides automation for all reoccurring business processes, provides all executives and others easy access anywhere and at any time to all critical business documents and aids easy sharing of documents among many users real time. It also provides due security for all documents with the most efficient firewall security technology. In addition, this software provides support for recovering your business documents after a disaster and guarantees the continuity of your business plan.

How efficient data recovery minimizes the losses of a business after a disaster: A report by the US Department of Labor estimates the percentage of small businesses that couldn’t survive after about two years of a major disaster to be 60 percent. That is staggering but any unexpected disaster is capable of devastating your business if adequate preparation isn’t made. An efficient document management system with online backup for your business documents will store away all your crucial business files of whatever type including all correspondences, invoices, accounting documents, business agreements, regulatory files, employee files, images or any other forms of documents that keeps your business running on a daily basis.

Any business document that makes running of your business efficient and guarantees recovery in the event of the worst form of disaster is the right document management  software every business should acquire.

Steve Breault, Vircosoft Founder / CEO

Every business must deal with boatloads of paper and digital documents. Managing these documents can very challenging. The advent of electronic document management software, filing paper documents digitally couldn’t be much easier, time saving, and cost saving. Think of the space, time and labor costs you will save it you shift away from dealing with bulky paper documents and the file cabinets which could often results into sorting through heaps of papers while searching for a particular paper file.  If you had a choice of having all of your documents digitized and stored on your computer so you could search for any document within seconds at any location by clicking the mouse, wouldn’t it be better for your business?

That business document management software file documents electronically and helps you locate any document you need right away is not in doubt. Besides electronic filing of documents, business document management solution will perform the following functions for you:

1. It is a document auto-capture device- Document management solution is the document auto-capture solution you need. From scanning to image conversions and text recognition, digital document management application will convert your paper documents into digital information thereby improving its accessibility when you have to distribute your business information among many people.

2. Business document management software stores your scanned document online and makes your data portable- This software works to store your documents online away from the effects of disasters or physical theft of whatever form. You can therefore work from anywhere or any location and gain access to your documents anytime you wish to and share any document with any authorized worker as you like which is cost saving and also eliminate worry as you do not have to go about carrying loads of documents with you on any business trip as all your documents will be kept online ready for your easy access anytime and anywhere.

3. This digital document filing system guarantees maximum security of your business documents- This software is incorporated with the most incredible security features that protects your business documents from being accessed by unauthorized persons even with whatever tricks they may have. Besides, your documents are protected from the negative effects of computer breakdown or power outages as well as server crashes or any other forms of data loss associated with the storage of information using the internet. If you like, business document management software allows you to use password to protect your entire files and a part of it if you want and thereby restricting access of unauthorized persons to any part of your online documents which you want kept from away from others.

This software is loaded with many other features and functionality for the benefits of your business besides the primary function of electronic filing and easy access to your business documents already stored online and therefore allowing you and your employees to work without the limitations commonly associated with the use of paper documents and the file cabinets.

Steve Breault, Vircosoft Founder / CEO

Electronic business document management software is a tool that allows businesses regardless of their size to capture and store important documents and information. It also helps people retrieve them in record time and securely from anywhere thereby bringing efficiency and enhanced productivity to your business. Implementing a document management software system can help your business become more profitable. The ROI is generally fast. As important is that businesses may be able to use employees in areas that will better help the business grow.

Business document management provides many benefits which are the reasons many businesses irrespective of their sizes and their industrial groupings in the economy are deploying it into their operations and hence convert into paperless offices.

Benefits of adopting document management software into your company operations: Besides helping you to cut overhead costs of running your company, the electric document management solution will help you reduce your company’s carbon footprint and become eco-friendly. Also, this digital document filing solution will help you preserve your business information in the eventuality of a disaster like fire outbreak and it will as well help you comply with regulations particularly if your company runs its business in a well regulated industry which should make you relax your mind whenever you have to deal with very important documents.

When you utilize this digital filing software in your business operating systems, you will gain control and power over your company operations with speed so that wherever you are, you can always access and follow up on any important business document transactions you want to monitor. Business document management software is also a tool that will enhance the efficiency of your employees and make them more productive and you will be able to have enormous resources with which you will control your staff, space and your company supplies from anywhere and at any time once it is integrated into your company operational systems.

Document management solution is a tool that employees love to adopt in doing their work and adapt to as a useful working tool: Employees love to work with tools that help them work better. Therefore, if document management software eases the processes of doing their work, why won’t they adopt it? Though this digital document filing system has a little learning curve, it is a tool employees will learn to adapt to very quickly.  Once they learn how it can save them time in doing their jobs, they adopt the software.  Often times, it is certain that managers always fear what their employees will feel about change, but learning how to use a paperless office system is not one of them because the software eases and improves employees’ manner of doing their jobs immensely.

Business document management software improves internal sharing of business documents and information: Managing and sharing business information is one of the major challenges most businesses have. When you adopt the business document management software in your business setup regardless of its size, the organizational challenges of sharing information online within each department and among your company departments becomes eliminated outright thereby helping your business attain a more cohesive internal networking and control.

Steve Breault, Vircosoft Founder / CEO

If you are looking to increase the efficiency and the productivity of your employees in order to grow your business and improve profits, integrating business document management software into the operations of your company is one of the best options available to you.  Employees play key roles in ensuring the efficiency and productivity of any business and it is your responsibility to make sure that every employee of your company is placed in the right position and provided with the right tools to work in order to make productivity possible, minimize costs while profits are maximized and business document management is one of the right tools to integrate.

A paper based business has the challenges of loss or misfiling of business documents, loss of time while searching for a file, inability to access and use business documents while off-site and when it is needed, heavy overhead costs for employees detailed to file and search for paper documents, and a lot more factors that reduces productivity and minimizes profits of a business which are completely eliminated when the operations of a business runs on document management software.

Electronic business document management was not designed to eliminate employees from a business organization, but it is meant to reallocate them to more profitable areas of your company.  When all documents can be automatically filed electronically there it enables you to move your employees to other aspects of the business where their contributions will bring more efficiency and improve your business profits. Here are some a few instances where reallocating the members of staff of your company due to the incorporation of business document management software can boost efficiency and improve profits.

Business document management software will enhance customer care department and improve the image of your company: When your business runs as a paperless concern, accessing your customer records becomes easier so that your employees reallocated to work in the customer care department can swiftly consider and process any requests of every customer within seconds. Whether the request of the customer is for a refund or it is for the details of a contract agreement or a copy of their contract with your company, you can gain a reputation for being customer focused by attending to every request on time. If you treat every customer as a king through efficient customer care made possible by having your documents scanned, indexed, stored, and archived electronically, you will be rewarded through their sense of satisfaction with loyalty and continual patronage. A business that runs on paper documents and the file cabinets will always be weighed down with lack of human ability to trace customer records on time or inability to grant their requests in record time.

Business document management will ease approval processes within your business departments and make running your company a delight to your employees: Getting inter-departmental approvals for business processes often constitute major challenges to paper based businesses where every detail will have to be accessed and checked manually by employees and even senior company managers before responses can be given. With electronic document management software, a streamlined and functional online method of accessing documents, sharing and getting inter-departmental approvals becomes easier. Businesses can therefore be run efficiently, productively, and you are sure of getting improved profits at the end of each year when business decisions taken by a department goes through inter-departmental approvals in record time.

Steve Breault, Vircosoft Founder / CEO

Document management software (DMS) is a computer- based application that captures, process, does document indexing, stores the file, aids easy retrieval, and distributes or even disposes of the document. This document which could be in any form is automatically stored online by the business document management software and it is protected from unauthorised access by the most sophisticated firewall security system.

DMS eliminates obstacles and reduces cost of doing business: The adoption of business document management software in a business removes most of the costs and obstacles associated with and created by the use of paper and file cabinets. The intensive labor costs due to paper duplication procedures, the effects of slow distribution of documents, the problem of misplaced originals and the near difficulty of retrieving files from off-site file cabinets are all completely eliminated when the document management software is adapted into a business set-up.

Experienced management experts have said that the methods of reducing or cutting business labor costs include the application of technology and by streamlining the processes of a business. When labour intensive jobs like manual document filings are replaced with technology, labour costs reduces considerably.

It is true that computers and the appropriate computer software applications can easily automate most normal tasks and eliminate errors. Good computer-based software ensures a hassle free, impartial, and orderly manner of meeting specific needs without any element of confusion. Electronic document management software has been declared to have a better accuracy of filing documents than the manual approach to filing documents.

DMS automates document filing and lowers labor costs: From experience, document filing is much of a chore. You have to always decide how to file a document, where to file the document, the location and the right sequence for the document. Besides, while filing the document you have to consider the ease of locating it when it is needed again. The labor costs involved in doing all these manual filing and retriever processes can add-up so quickly so that electronic filing is the way to go.

Let us assume that it takes an average of five minutes for an employee who earns $20 per hour to search for and locate a needed document in a file cabinet, retrieve the information needed from the document, replace it and walk back to her seat. If she needed to take the file with her to get more information, we should expect that the time taken would be longer than five minutes!

If this employee handles not more than five files a day, this translates to about 108 hours spent a year filing documents. In monetary terms, this translates to about $2,166 a year at $20 per hour. If the number of files handled per day increases to ten, the labor cost becomes $4,333 for just one employee who does document filing in your business organization. That labor costs could have been eliminated if computer based business management system is deployed where every employee that needs a file would get it on the computer within seconds without having to even stand up from their chairs.

This system of filing also eliminates the costs of recreating lost documents and it makes business operation effective and efficient.

Steve Breault “DocMeister”

Steve Breault, Vircosoft Founder / CEO

In times past, businesses relied heavily on paper document filing systems and file cabinets to file and also to retrieve their documents when they choose to. However, times have changed and file cabinets are quickly becoming obsolete giving way to electronic business document management with the application of document management software. 

There are many benefits associated with the use of electronic business document management over the old fashioned paper documentation systems which use the file cabinets.  File cabinet document filing system requires more and more physical space with increase in the quantity of paper documents available for filing while electronic system requires just the bits and bytes of your computer and the electronic filing software for filing your business documents after scanning which will not compete with your employees for space.

The world is gradually going green in factually all things and lovers of the environmentally green concepts have argued in defence of the preservation of trees from which tens of thousands of sheets of papers were made for writing, office and contract documentation purposes. Think of it, when sheets of papers are discarded they turn into methane gas by chemical means which when burnt makes the environment unsafe for human habitation. However, by making use of the document management software process to file your business documents, you would through your business help to protect the forests and also help to protect the environment and keep it safe for human habitation.

The process of accessing and retrieving your data is another very important benefit of electronic business document management. It is much easier when compared to working with and filling paper documents. When more than one employee needs to work with a paper document, there is always the need to make copies of that document for easy accessibility by every employee concerned but with the use of document management software, the need to make copies becomes eliminated as employees authorised to have access to any document stored online can do so at any point in time and at the same time in different locations real time.

The security of your business documents are better guaranteed with electronic storage of files as most common business document management software available make use of the most reliable firewall technology security systems to protect your documents at all times and yet you are allowed the ease of access any time without any encumbrance from the security features since you and any other employees authorised by you will be given free access. In fact, your employees may also be restricted to the level of access you want them to have to your business documents once they have been scanned and stored with the aid of the document management software.

It is sure that the need to file business documents will always remain with us though methods of filing or managing information may change. It is then necessary to endeavour to go with the evolving trend in information management and the way to go when it comes to electronic document filing is the use of the business document management software.

Steve Breault “DocMeister”