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.
Author is Steve Breault, CEO of Vircosoft.
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