How much time do you spend printing and copying each week? Signing papers? Searching through the office file cabinet?
Businesses that are dependent on physical documents for everyday tasks end up spending valuable time filing, searching, scanning, and mailing — and while your team might feel like they can count on the good-old-fashioned hard-copy ways, in reality, they can be less secure and reliable than their paperless counterparts.
Eliminating your reliance on paper can make your office more efficient—and you’ll enjoy various other benefits, too.
What does being a paperless office mean?
A paperless office reduces or eliminates the physical documents that it uses and stores. It’s an office that makes a conscious effort to cut down on the amount of paper they’re using, and digitize their documents when and where possible.
If going paperless seems like an insurmountable task for your business, we promise it isn’t. Businesses all around Southern Oregon are going digital (some fully, and some incrementally). Technology can enable nearly any type of office space — medical, law, accounting, realty — to go paperless while improving security and efficiency, too.
6 Benefits of a Paperless Office
Improved Organization and Accessibility
Hard copy documents can be spread out among various folders, boxes, cabinets, closets, and even storage locations. By going paperless, you can organize your documents by name and/or topic on a secure cloud, and maintain a consistent storage system. You can even set access levels for folders, and allow your team members to view documents from their devices at home or in the office.
Backups and Disaster Recovery
A paperless cloud solution can protect business documents and give you peace of mind knowing they’re safe. A backup plan for critical files will also reduce downtime in the event a man-made or natural disaster occurs — meaning your business can bounce back quickly if loss occurs.
Simplified Search and Copies
Paperless storage means finding what you need faster. Access every document you’ve ever saved in just a few clicks. You can also duplicate documents — such as contracts or training instructions — without the need for a copy machine.
Enhanced Security
Paper documents are susceptible to loss, manipulation, damage and theft. A paperless system, however, protects your business from losing potentially years or decades of valuable information. A cloud-based system with strong security measures in place will help you meet compliance requirements, too (like HIPAA for medical offices or data compliance for law firms).
Improved Productivity and Collaboration
Going paperless makes your office highly mobile and improves collaboration among your team members. You can easily send, store and share documents from virtually anywhere — keeping projects organized and saving time by not physically sending papers back and forth. Features like history tracking and time tracking help everyone stay on task.
Reduced Carbon Footprint
One survey found a typical lawyer uses 20,000 to 100,000 sheets of copy paper a year (that’s a stack as high as LeBron James on stilts!). Reducing the amount of paper used in businesses can significantly reduce the number of trees that are cut down, and conserves energy and pollutants that would otherwise result from paper production and transportation.
Ready to Think Paperless?
If you want to bring your documents online and digitize your workflow, give us a call at (541) 779-4777. Finding the right software and technology partner is essential to a successful paperless office system. It’s what we do best, and we’re here to