Posts Tagged ‘business 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

Most company managers are looking to convert to a paperless office and are very aware of the benefits they will derive once business document management software is incorporated into the setup of their companies. When it comes to scanning, indexing and securely storing business information digitally onsite or offsite, easy access or retrieval of business documents with the click of a mouse, excellent operational efficiency and productivity, meeting and surpassing customer expectations by providing top-notch services and 24/7 remote access to documents from anywhere, IT managers know that digital document management software takes businesses years ahead of paper and mixed media once installed. If a company operates in a sector where cumbersome regulations and frequent audits are required, then this business document management application provides excellent audit trails paper files can’t withstand.

There are basic features company executives and managers should look for in any electronic document management software that promises efficiency and enhanced productivity and here is a checklist that will help you avoid a pitfall in selecting the best business document management software your company needs:-

User friendly interface: Any efficient digital document management application must be built on a solid user friendly interface. It is obvious that the best software solution can fail if it’s difficult to use by employees. Efficient electronic filing system will have tool tips or help functions to guide users through every step whether it is document scanning or capturing, indexing, accessing and general procedures involving management of business information. The software should have a single sign-on for all applications so that users won’t have to sign-on every now and then or need to remember and use multiple sign-on passwords.

Features to help make content searchable easily: If a digital filing solution will make successful search of content possible in a flash, then it must have thorough, logical and consistent indexing features. Look for a business document software solution that incorporates a full text or enterprise search options in order to enhance search performance. It may be good to ask some clients of your prospective vendor about their content search user experiences before you proceed to seal the purchase contract. Don’t settle for an electronic document filling application that is known for occasional document loss and don’t settle for an application that offers less than an excellent result when you are in a haste to locate a document file.

It should be scalable for your current and future needs: Consider the future of your business and its growth potentials and see if the document management software is scalable to offer relevance and support to the present and future needs of your business. Will the digital document solution be adequate for your present and future needs? Will the vendor offer professional integration services or will you have to struggle alone? Ask yourself these questions because the greatest return on your investment once you incorporate the digital filing application will be when you can leverage on it to improve your business now and in the future.

For every business to thrive and grow, it requires reliable access to its documents (including emails) which must be safe and secured always from unauthorized persons. Efficient document management software helps businesses rise above daily challenges while its managers are focused on reaching projected goals.

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

In today’s tough economic situation, the focus of many businesses is on cutting costs, eliminating waste and making a business operate more efficiently in order to improve on its bottom line. Companies usually have clear objectives for achieving these goals and lots of strategies are often deployed but the practical steps for achieving these goals are not always obvious. One of the important areas business managers should focus attention on when it comes to cutting costs and making a business run efficiently is the proper management of paper based business documents by deploying digital business document management software.

A research report reveals that an average office staff spends half an hour searching for lost or misfiled business documents each day which amounts to a whopping 130 hours every year while management staff spends one hour every week looking for the same sets of misfiled or lost documents. Put together, a staggering but wasted 182 hours in overhead costs each year goes for searching documents at a time when technology helps businesses runs efficiently. Every man hour spent on the job searching for lost or misfiled documents takes away from your business rather than add to its profit. Here are some ways document management software helps businesses cuts the costs of doing business drastically and improves business profits:

Business document management solution prevents lost man hours, cost of replacing lost document, saves cost of warehousing paper documents, eliminates paper related costs like printing and photocopy and makes efficient use of your office staff: Digital document management software that scans your paper files and stores them electronically in the form that makes accessibility easy and quick at any time and from any location adds to the profits of your business in many ways. This software which is bundled with a capture and indexing solution system will ultimately save your business money in many ways like saving you the cost of warehousing heaps of paper documents and removes the cost of printing and making photocopy of documents and even the cost of hiring messenger and courier services for distributing business documents.  If you’re looking to auto-file documents then you will need an auto-capture solution bundled with your document management software to perform that task and eliminate man hour needed to file documents manually.

Once it is deployed, this electronic filing solution will help your staff work efficiently without the need to waste time searching for any document and you don’t even have to worry about losing any document. So, there is no need paying for wasted man-hour since every man-hour contributes to the growth of your business and profit maximization. You do not also need to bear overtime costs with clerical staff once your business operation becomes automated.

Document management software will help you improve invoice processing, enhance payment of bills promptly and gain discounts for early payments, eliminate cost of using courier services for mailing documents to customers, improve customer service and hence gain customer satisfaction: Business document management software helps a business to improve its cash flow, avoid duplicate payments, gain access to customer information in record time and answers customer questions or inquiries promptly.

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

Paper and the file cabinets have always played important roles in running a business and in managing any organization no matter the aims and objectives of the organization. However, paper documents have a way of increasing rapidly and before you realize it, you will have  mountains of paper.  Once your business has collected volumes of paper based files, searching through them will become a serious challenge particularly when you need to look for a document in a hurry; it will take longer to respond to the inquiry of your customers, doing business may soon become a task due to inefficiency, overhead costs may soon increase because some personnel have to be saddled with the job of just searching for paper documents and storage of new ones in file cabinets. Endless is the pain of running a paper based office but such scenarios as this never happen with businesses that have incorporated the computer based paperless business document management software.

There are several ugly sides to running a business without document management software: Many ugly incidences play themselves out in a company that relies on running its business operation with paper documents depending on the size of the company. There are challenges of misplacement or outright loss of important documents, there will be gross inefficiency in sharing documents within a department and across other departments within your company. The process of getting approval by subordinates from their superiors on issues that shouldn’t take time at all may be so prolonged such that the mission statement of your company becomes blurred in the eyes of your employees. Personnel can’t access business documents they need when outside the four walls of your office premises. Now, think of what happens when there are changes in personnel and the person who was in charge of filling your paper documents leaves and you have to search for documents archived for the past 5 five years or more.

Business document management solves business procedural problems: There are tons of problems which the electronic document management software solution will help you solve in running your business. It will help your business run swiftly and efficiently, it will drive the growth of your company and minimize costs of doing business and more importantly, it will help you keep with the competition of running your company in a modern-day business environment.  Once incorporated in the daily operation of your company, this business document management software will help you manage incoming documents with ease, indexing, storage, and retrieval of information will be done electronically with little learning curve experienced by your employees.

Document management software has proved to be a savings and not a cost: When it was first invented, business document management software was expensive and the return on investment was for large businesses only but today, going paperless is simple and cost effective due to the lost in upfront costs and high return after implementation. In fact, there are many companies that have introduced novel approaches to the acquisition of this software which means you can get the software deployed in your business operations right away without breaking the bank and you will start to see the impact of this electronic file document solution as a savings and not a cost.

Steve Breault, Vircosoft Founder / CEO

More and more businesses are switching over from the use of physical paper filing and file cabinets for filing business documents to the all-digital business document management software which makes scanning, storing, searching, editing and sharing of business information easier, faster and secured for all categories of business enterprises. It is obvious that time is a fundamental resource that most people think they don’t have enough of; therefore, document management software provides employees with digital document management and filing tools that saves time and tremendously increases productivity at work.

Relative ease of use of efficient business document management: Most business managers are concerned about how complex or otherwise the office paperless software will be for employees to use since there is no point aiming at employee efficiency if the software solution will slow down business operation when staff finds operating the application complex to manipulate. There are many companies the world over that develop business document management solution and how each brand of software works depends on the company behind it and while we cannot speak for every developer of each brand of paperless office software, we are of the opinion that if you are looking to buy this software and make the running of your company paperless then you need to look for the brand that guarantees easy learning curve for employees and that its simple to use while it retains its usual power of maintaining complete and efficient paperless operational workings of your business.

There is a document management solution for every type of business setup: The operation of business document management spans every business sector. There are legal document filing application meant specially for the legal professional offices, the engineering application that caters for the need of companies in the engineering sector of the economy, and the medical document management software that applies to companies that are in the health based or produced health related products or services. Though the software has different areas of application yet they offer the same functionality and reliability if sourced from a credible company.

How to find the best fit document management software for your business: If you shop around the Internet and even ask for a practical demonstration of the software you are looking to buy where possible, you can get the document management software that will give your business the best operational efficiency expected. Good and efficient paperless office application software is one a ten year old who can operate a computer should be able to use with a little learning curve and it should therefore not be difficult for any adult employee to adapt to and use in their daily workings and operational activities on the job.

Look for the main functionalities any useful paperless software should have such as the ease of scanning, importing, exporting, editing, and sharing new documents within each department of your company and across other departments via email.  Business document management application is meant to make running of your business easier. Efficient paperless electronic document filing solution which is ISO 9001:2000 certified will help you build your business as a cost minimizing and profit maximizing application you really need.

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.