Everyone knows that the days of file cabinets and paper copies are over. Most companies use cloud-based systems for current documents, but what about all your old files, still taking up space in your office? Though it may seem like a daunting task, digitizing your old and current files is key to bringing your business in 2016, while saving time and money. With a good document management software and a well-maintained backlog of digital files, you can save physical space in your office, find documents more easily, and boost overall productivity.
A typical worker spends, on average, 51 minutes per day looking for paper documents, files, and emails. That’s over four hours a week lost just looking for documents. Imagine what you and your team could accomplish if you had that time back. When your files are digitized, they are in an organized and structured environment allowing for targeted results to find exactly what you’re looking for.
Remote working is becoming more and more popular, but having physical copies of documents may be holding you back. When all your files are online, everything can be accessed from anywhere, and even allows multiple people to view the same document at the same time. Digital files make it easier to keep track of all data around an employee or a customer, and help guarantee nothing is lost. The paper trail can get extremely complicated, but digitizing helps keep things organized. With digitized documents, you can search files from your work computer, your personal laptop, or even your mobile device.
Going paperless also improves company sustainability. By eliminating a paper filing system and going digital, you can reduce your carbon footprint and the money you’re spending on toner, paper, and ink. By becoming a greener company, you may be eligible for tax breaks, rewards, and may be more attractive to potential employees and clients.
Digitizing files also ensures you are prepared for a disaster, with backups existing even if you choose not to destroy the paper copies. If your collection includes fragile paper records, scanning can offer significant benefits. Digitizing fragile records preserves the integrity of the originals by allowing them to be handled less. And often, the scanning process increases legibility of aging or hard-to-read records.
After inputting your files and documents into a document software, be sure to properly categorize and tag these files to make them easy to find later on. You’ll thank yourself down the road when everything is clearly labeled, using various keywords so everyone can locate what they’re looking for. That is also the benefit of going digital – there’s no complicated file system, people can search for what they need and access it in seconds.
Unfortunately, many businesses put off going paperless due to the daunting process of digitizing backlogs files. Going through old file cabinets and adding the files into the computer system is a time investment, which is why you may want to consider hiring a company to do it for you. Through time and money saved after digitizing, the cost of this service has an instant return on investment. Contact GiraffeBuilder for a quote on file digitization to improve your company’s productivity.
