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Any business whether it’s healthcare facilities, legal firms, financial services or educational institutions, has to deal with an inordinate amount of documents.  When digging through a dusty file cabinet for a case study or client information, at the back of any file clerk or assistant’s mind is the question “Isn’t there a better way?” Anyone who deals with paper on a regular basis has dreamed of having their paper information on their computer.  Now that the price of hardware space has decreased, the possibility of integrating an electronic document management system is more appealing than ever. 

With the emphasis on the environment and utilizing what you already have, many organizations are exploring new ways to reclaim wasted office space.  If you are looking for more space in your office, a great place to start may be with your filing cabinets.  Where to Start Average rent for an office space is $24 a square foot.  Using this average, a 20 x 20 filing room will cost $9,600 annually. If this space can be reclaimed for additional offices, the potential savings realized by not having to move or rent additional rooms are substantial. Say Good-bye to Paper Documents  Electronic Document Management technology enables paper files to be scanned to a secure network server. The paper files can then be sent to off-site storage or shredded, freeing up valuable office space. 

Customer relations are an integral part to any company.  Without customers you don’t have a business. No matter what industry you are in, you need to access information quickly.  It’s a key factor in determining your quality of customer service interaction.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful if hold or call-back time was reduced or even eliminated? You can answer frequently asked customer questions easily and efficiently and lower costs with the use of Electronic Document Management Systems technology.

• Provide Your Customers with Better Service With EDMS, you won’t have to put a customer on hold or have them wait for a call-back.  Retrieve and view document instantaneously on your computer while the customer is on the phone or waiting in person.  The customer gets the information they need quickly and your staff is able to move on to the next request.

Some people may ask why most businesses are beginning to implement an electronic document management system when hard copy documents have driven businesses for years?  These electronic systems provide searchable access to scanned information, create a disaster recovery plan and ensure government regulatory compliance.  All these things enable better business decisions and smoother customer service interactions.  Many businesses are under the incorrect assumption that paper documents are somehow free.  The fact is that the cost of managing paper documents may be more expensive than digital management alternatives. The Cost of Paper Filing Consider an average three-drawer filing cabinet.  You have the cost of the actual cabinet, the cost of the folders, the cost of the paper prints and copies, and the cost of renting a space to keep the cabinet.  Then you have to take in consideration the time it takes to copy, categorize and file documents in paper folders.  Every time you need information you’ll have to physically search for the documents that could easily have been misfiled or misplaced.

The most expensive liquid in the world may be the ink located in the cartridges used for ink jet printers.  Did you realize that it costs around $2,800.00 a gallon for this ink?  With expenses like this, it’s not surprising that many new computers now include a color ink jet printer for free—the computer company will probably make more of a profit on replacement cartridges than they did on the original computer. So how does this affect you? Ink jet printers may make sense for casual use at home but they can be a huge burden to office budgets. More and more businesses are realizing that a color multifunction system is a smart part of a cost reduction strategy. 

Are you looking for ways to improve and streamline your business processes? A great place to start is to evaluate your current business practices. A business process is a structured series of steps that produces a repeated outcome. Accounts receivable—what happens from the time you generate an invoice until you get paid—is the most common business process. These paper and digital documents are the vehicles by which information flows through your business regardless of what industry you are in. Technology will improve your business and streamline the flow of information to:

• Increase Profits
• Enhance Competitive Advantage
• Improve Customer Service
• Ensure Regulatory Compliance

For over thirty years we’ve been moving towards the lofty goal of the paperless office. But as the volume of computer data grows, so too does our paper usage. Fortunately there seems to be a valid movement toward cutting back on our paper usage with Electronic Document Management Systems (EDMS). This system allows you to scan all your paper documents to create a searchable and secure filing system. There are several trends are driving the rapid adoption of this technology: · Low Costs of Electronic Storage. It is now possible to store 10 filing cabinets full of paper in one gigabyte of electronic storage. · Familiarity with Computer Applications. Today, everyone is trained to be familiar with common computer applications. This means adoption time and training for new applications is minimal. · High Speed Scanners and Multifunction Copiers. Documents can be scanned quickly and conveniently with sheet-fed scanners, available on most new digital office copiers.

Document costs increase every year thanks to the growing volume of information. These costs include everything from printing and copying to the infrastructure needed to store and retrieve critical information. Recent research by InfoTrends found that overall expenditures on documents were 6% of annual revenues. Fortunately there are several practical strategies for medium and small businesses you can employ to reduce your document costs: Multifunction Systems New workgroup multifunction systems can provide full color printing, copying, faxing, and scanning services in one device. Multifunction systems are less expensive to operate than laser printers especially when it comes to color output. These systems operate on low cost-per-page agreements that include supplies, preventative maintenance, and on-site service. The net result is lower output costs. Printer Management In many offices, 80% of document output is attributed to printing. A recent study by Hewlett-Packard showed that a properly-managed printing environment can cut printing costs by 8-42. The first step is to understand your actual printing expense.

Digital cameras have become a necessity for businesses. They’re inexpensive, easy to use and create a message that cannot be expressed with words. Of course getting the pictures onto a marketing statement or proposal is another step that needs to be addressed. Businesses are now using color multifunction systems to print color digital photos at blazing speeds at a fraction of the cost of slow photo printers. Personal Photo Printers vs. Color Multifunction Systems (MFPs) · Personal photo printers are slower than MFPs taking multiple minutes to print a photo compared to an MFP’s speeds of up to 45 photos per minute. · Most personal printers do not allow you to print on letter-sized paper, limiting you to a 4 X 6 size. MFPs conveniently let you print high-resolution photos on normal 8.5 X 11 size paper. · Photo printer paper is expensive and cost per photo can be from 25 to 80 cents per page. MFPs can reduce that cost.

Lower your business’ costs and begin printing your marketing materials in house. Customize your marketing materials and take advantage of on-demand printing. This will eliminate the need for expensive bulk orders of generic brochures and the unnecessary waste of replacing obsolete brochures. Consider creating a Marketing library that will enable your sales and marketing employees to access marketing documents from a network folder. They will be able to open, revise and print the materials according the specific client you are working with. Review these suggestions and make your in-house marketing materials more effective. · Be sure to use a cost-effective color printer or multifunctional copier. Some systems can allow 20-page documents to be printed in less than one minute.