What is the Concept of Paperless Office?
In any business or in an organization, paper use as an operational documents in the form of financial transactions, accounting cycle, sales procedures, inter-office communications, etc. It’s been treated as an official record which retrieves upon need for any reference.
Concept of Paperless Office
Over a decade, most of the companies have already been turned from a traditional way of operation to an advanced paperless environment. Concept of a paperless office is to reduce the volume of paper. It means a conversion of physical paper into a digital form. It can also be called EFMS (Electronic File Management System) it is a cost-cutting and time saving concept for any small, medium and big companies. Let’s have a look on some essentials and advantages of paperless office.
Advantages of Paperless Office:
Multiple user accessing
The biggest advantage of a paperless office is that any particular document can easily be accessed by more than one user at the same time.
Cost Effective
The paperless office is a cost-cutting solution where businesses can reduce their operational expenses in terms of printed stationary, file cabinets, printers, Fax etc. It also brings massive savings in overhead cost.
Easy Storage
Instead of keeping a record in a designated storage room, it provides an easy storage option where all the official record store with a digital form in one computer server.
Time Saving
It is a time saving concept where no need to waste a time for looking a document. Required document displays at your screen within a second.
Customer’s Information
It allows you an immediate retrieval of all customer data, sales, orders, feedback, etc. which allowing your business to make a better customer service strategy.
Compatible to access from anywhere
The beauty of this system is to access from anywhere in the world through computers, tablets and mobile phones. You just require an internet.
How can your business become paperless?
When it is finally decided to move towards a paperless office, then be careful about all of its basic essentials should be properly considered to achieve the goals otherwise it will no longer be able to fulfill operational requirements.
Encourage usage of paperless environment in office:
Ask your staff, employees and third parties to generate or send you system generated, online reports, bank reconciliations, bills, etc. Reduce the use of printers, fax machines in your office and replace their reports with system based documents.
Design a new software
New software to be designed for all the departments or to be edited an existing one where all the relevant reports should be generated on the basis of automated system with auto-serial number and the entered data must be reflected to the relevant department through an interface, i.e. when sales officer executed his sales transaction to a credit client then it should reflect with all the details to Accounts Department for auto-invoicing and for other operational record.
Move to Document Management System:
Paperless solutions offer free automation for your valuable time. A basis document management system will allow you to securely store and easily search your digital documents.
Easy to access system options
Smart software always facilitates to its users with multi-access options at one screen like when a user takes a sales query for any particular transaction of any client then all the relevant documents of that particular should be appearing on screen for quick reference with printing and sharing options. Software should also be having a mobile phone version or to be made an App if required.
Installation of up to date Hardware
For a result-oriented setup of paperless office, we can’t ignore the importance of well-performed equipment that does not compromise on the quality of its functionalities. Normally it requires a heavy duty server with maximum data storage space and high resolution scanners.
Uninterrupted system connectivity
Concept of paperless office fully depends on uninterruptible accessing 24/7 otherwise it will be failed to deliver. So all the connectivity measures should be considered carefully and has to be satisfied about local network setup for inside office users as well as a good internet bandwidth for outside users.
Training of your employees
One of the most important step is to train your staff how to operate the system used to generate reports, how to deal with digital documents, how to receive and send system reports and how to generate backups without data loss.
Perform a comparison of costs involved of both system:
Going paperless is not an easy task. System software, updated office, up to date hardware can be costly for your business, but going to provide you benefits in the long run. Carefully analyze the cost incurred in doing business with paper with cost estimated on going paperless.
Security measures
Professionals never compromise on security. There should be a proper security system that protects your server, data and software from viruses and bugs.
