How often have you wasted an entire morning, or even longer, combing the office for lost or misplaced records? While it may perhaps be scant consolation, it’s estimated that the average employeespends 9.3 hours per weekon the hunt for errant files. So, you’re not alone!
Now imagine the time that could be saved by implementing an electronic document storage strategy for your business. It may sound like a daunting task at first, but there are many ways to make the conversion process easy and efficient, ultimately reducing the costs ofdocument storage.
Benefits of electronic document storage
There are significant advantages of converting to a paperless office, some of which include:
Compliance
Digitisation can offer more thorough document histories and more immediate retrieval for regulatory compliance. While in many cases physical copies of records must be kept for compliance purposes, you should keep digital copies as they can be useful for quick reference.
Space
Removing physical documents can free up much-needed office space for more desks should you hire more people or a better break-out area for coffee sofas or pool tables.
Time
Searching for a specific document or group of files is significantly faster using a digital management system – saving precious time searching for paper that may have been lost or misplaced. Just think of all the things you could do with an extra 10 hours a week!
Disadvantages of electronic document storage
There are, however, a few drawbacks when it comes to storing documents electronically, the most significant of which relate to cost and security.
Cost
When an organisation decides to store their paper-based data electronically, there are usually vast amounts of data that need to be scanned and converted to a digital format. The hardware and software needed for this exercise doesn’t come cheap, particularly when a company prefers to do everything in-house. Initial costs aside, a significant disadvantage with electronic systems is the relatively short shelf-life of both hardware and software. Hardware could require substitution in as little as 18 months while software changes every 2-3 years.
Security
The increased information-sharing ability of an electronic records management system carries a substantial security risk. So, unless adequate measures are put in place to protect against hacks, confidential company information may end up in the wrong hands.
Moreover, management of records could become a problem when the system is clogged with unnecessary records (such as duplicates). It’s not uncommon to find situations where a substantial amount of records held are actually akin to junk mail.
How can Access Records Management help your business?
Embarking on a paper to digital conversion is doomed to failure if the scanning service is unreliable. At Access Records Management we have the resources to cater for all your needs, no matter how large or small. Whether you’re progressing with an entirely paperless project or just have a small container of records, our team will work with you to determine your specific scanning needs. Our approach also guarantees peace of mind when it comes to having digital access to all your critical paper documents at any time you want.
Our bulk document scanningservice can be uniquely tailored to suit all your requirements – from file structure and preferred output format to desired indexing. Our service also includes a scan-on-demand capability to digitise any documents already in secure storage quickly and efficiently.
To keep your entire document management process in one place, contact our team to find out more information about our competitively priced records managementand secure shredding of physical files.
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