The paperless office – a concept that has been discussed and debated for many years. Now with emerging paperless technologies we can finally see the light in creating paperless office solutions!
A paperless office can:
- Clear clutter from your office environment
- Reduce office space needed
- Save money on stationery and printing
- Create efficiencies with searchable documents in your new paperless filing system
So… how can you move towards having a paperless?
With so many new products hitting the market promising to be the next greatest solution to your paperless office, you need to do your research.
Scanners
Firstly you will need a scanner that can cope with the volume of paper documents that need to be scanned. Things to look for:
- Speed
- Accuracy
- Can it cope with double-sided pages?
- Can it cope with colour?
The quicker the speed and the more accurate in catching pages then the more likely your staff will accept the new technology. The last thing an employee needs when changing systems is technology that takes up more of their time. So in short… a multi-function printer is probably not ideal.
Some scanners you may wish to look at include:
Plus many more!
Software
Next you need the software to cope with your scanned documents. To avoid employees simply printing and writing on pages then re-scanning, you need software that allows notes and marks to be embedded into the document and then re-saved. Some products that allow this include:
- Adobe XI Pro
- Nitro
- Microsoft OneNote
Your scanner may also provide some software.
Signatures
In everyday businesses signatures are always required. In the past, common practice was to print documents and have the customer sign. Now there are technologies that allow digital signatures to be embedded into documents so no printing is required. Take a look at:
- RightSignature
- Adobe EchoSign
Online Storage
Security of your scanned documents is crucial. Online data storage is the way of the future and gives you comfort knowing that your data is secure and can be restored at any time. Some online data storage providers include:
- Citrix ShareFile
- Google Drive
- Dropbox
- Icloud
Once you have all of your products and programs chosen you will need to create a plan to implement them into your office.
If you require assistance please contact our office, we are happy to share our paperless office experiences with you!