What’s the Next Step in Transitioning to a Paperless Office?the paperless office

Has your company joined the club and gone paperless? No more piles of paper, manually created reports, hard copies of forms, physically signed documents or cataloging written communication. If you’re thinking to yourself that you actually do still have to deal with these things, you’re not alone.

The problem with transitioning to paperless is that you still have to manage files, documents, forms, reports, communication, etc; you just do it in a different way because everything is digital. The next step in the process of transitioning to paperless is transitioning to using an electronic document management system. With the best document management software, your business will run more efficiently than ever before. There are many types of electronic document management systems. Before you choose a program, be sure you know what features you will need and the types of documents you will be handling.

Main functions of an electronic document management system

  • Using and capturing metadata –  the document solution you choose should allow you to access the right set of information anytime.
  • Security control – The software you choose should have a robust information security control. It should have the necessary protocols that will secure documents as well as allow access to the right people.
  • Add and revise – The system should allow you to automatically add and update documents easily while ensuring that the original version of the digital files is still accessible.

1. Enterprise Content Management (ECM) System

A searchable Enterprise Content Management (ECM) system features robust access control, increases information security, and enables automation, secure file sharing, and tracking of business processes for convenience and efficiency. Information can be stored and retrieved at any time, for any document, and can be run anywhere from a single computer or server to thousands when using this document control software.

This document management tool also provides extensive document control for security with multiple security levels and streamlines collaboration and integration into existing systems to manage business information.

2. Email Management Software

Email management software is used for sorting and storing email and email attachments based on user-defined policies. The software’s automatic sorting and storing reduces errors and helps prevent email overload and can automatically sort emails based on sender, receiver, subject, date, or other index values. It also integrates easily with existing email systems. This way, employees will not have to alter the way they use their email accounts. The message manager is simple but effective, easy to install, does not require expensive hardware, and doesn’t consume capital or burden IT resources.

3. Electronic Forms Software

Electronic forms software creates electronic versions of paper documents or forms – e-forms or digital documents. Generally, any type of form can be digitized into an e-form. E-forms are secure, easy to use, increase productivity, and save money your company would be spending on pushing paper. Most customers would rather type in answers on a form than physically fill it out with paper and pen. In addition to improvements in efficiency, using e-forms will eliminate the cost of printing, storing, and distributing pre-printed forms to customers. Customers can also fill out e-forms or digital documents faster because of the programming that automatically formats, calculates, and validates information.

4. Electronic Signature Software

Electronic signature software makes it much easier for companies and their customers to get their documents signed and on their way. To use electronic signature software, simply upload a document, whether it’s a Word document, PDF document, or image file, to an online service. Then, tag it with special annotations where the document will need to be electronically signed. This annotated file is sent to the recipient, who signs it on their computer or tablet. Signatures can be stock cursive fonts or can actually be written it using a mouse or finger. When the PDF file is signed, it is sent back to you. This entire process takes place digitally, so there is no need to wait for faxes or printing.

5. COLD/ERM Report Management Software

With COLD/ERM report management software, business forms and information processing is made simple with a data processing ending to capture, process, store, and distribute data in reports that are easy to understand. Simplify report management and streamline business processes by using automated print stream processing to search and manage data, reduce information management costs by replacing paper and document storage with electronic documents, and improve process efficiency with point-and-click configuration.

document management softwareSet-Up Your Appointment with Our Document Management Software Specialists

Southwest Solutions Group® provides consultation, installation, and implementation services to businesses who are interested in streamlining their business forms and information processing procedures with document management software. For more information or to speak with a document management software specialist, call us at 1-800-803-1083 or send us a message.