subject: Business Process Outsourcing - Planning For An Electronic Document Management System [print this page] In today's fast-paced business world, more and more businesses are deciding to become paperless. 'Becoming Paperless' is basically the method of taking all of a company's paper records and changing them into digital images, retrievable by means of the company's network of computers and workstations. This allows the business to access the paper records in a fraction of the time it would take them to retrieve a paper file and keeps the employees from needing to re-file the documents that they retrieve.
The efficiencies acquired from a paperless office are marvelous. These efficiencies permit the business to increase its processing speed, lessen storage space, and enhance security on its essential company documents. It also allows the business to easily backup all of its records in case of a disaster or theft of those files.
The preliminary investment for the business that is becoming paperless is generally in an Electronic Document Management System (EDMS). This EDMS is the tool that the business utilizes to scan and manage all of its electronic files. It provides the interface for the employees to retrieve the documents and provides the security to prevent unauthorized personnel from gaining access of these documents.
Before a company can become paperless, it's important that they do some important advance planning in order to reduce critical mistakes made in the future. The first matter that needs to be checked is the types and amount of files that will be stored within the Electronic Document Management System.
Also, some EDMS's will store the images straight on the individual employee's desktop computer. This is good if you are keeping a small amount of documents and it's not required to share the documents between multiple employees. It's generally a better thought, however, to purchase a system that stores all of the documents in a central repository, to ensure that all users are able to access the documents. These techniques will likewise provide permission-based security, so it's simple to specify precisely who can access specific documents.
The most significant part of becoming paperless however is the getting the files into the system. This really is generally a time-consuming procedure, and may also be a costly one. You should decide in advance which files ought to be stored in the system. This can allow you to keep your upfront costs down, and when your company is becoming familiar and comfy with the system, then you can generally justify putting all of your files in the system.
