Why Scanning documents can make records storage and workflow management so much easier!

If your office is like most, paper documents still occupy a prominent place in your records management system. While we are slowly moving away from paper to digital records, a significant amount of space in most offices is still devoted to storage boxes, filing cabinets and shelving systems full of documents that may never need to be accessed.

Records management companies can design scanning systems for offices that reduce the amount of paper you’re using and assess your document needs based on workflow and archiving requirements, while potentially reducing the risk of a legal challenge down the road.

Document scanning isn’t a new technology, but it does offer significant benefits by improving the efficiency and production of your office. Here are a few ways document scanning can help:

• 24/7/365 Access – Scanned documents can be retrieved by employees without a need to be in an office. Utilizing an online or cloud-based storage, in house document systems or even on a CD, you can improve your records management while making employees more efficient.
• Streamlined Workflow – By scanning documents at the beginning of their business life cycle, document access and workflow can be managed and tailored to the needs of a specific user. By limiting access based on user rights and job duties, managers can also reduce exposure for customer or business information falling into the wrong hands.
• Records Retention and Compliance – Security and audit capabilities of scanned documents allow for companies to follow industry and government regulations.
• Search Functionality – Reducing the time spent searching for documents frees up employees to work on more productive tasks, and digitally stored documents make it much easier to keep up to date versions of frequently used documents.

Traditional records management is moving away from paper and toward electronically managed systems that can significantly reduce the costs of doing business. Whether it’s one document at a time, or a complete back-office file scanning conversion, contacting a records management professional can not only save you budget dollars, but might make your business even more productive.