Can Your Business Go Paperless?
Paper is everywhere. Busy offices can generate a lot of paperwork. But too much paper can reduce the efficiency of your business and cost you money. Not to mention, printer toner is plain expensive.
Luckily, it doesn’t have to be this way. In almost all areas of business, it’s now possible to get rid of paper entirely. In fact, digital documents can be stored, retrieved, indexed, and searched much faster than paper ones.
So, what steps can you take to cut down on the amount of paper your company uses?
1. Find out what you print now.
Before you go paperless, find out what your current paper needs are. Consider using print audit software so that you can track all print jobs.
2. Don’t forget about your staff!
Get your staff on board with cutting down on paper use! Training is a great a way to ensure that everyone is comfortable and fluent in handling electronic documents. You can also give your staff a printing budget and reward them for printing fewer documents.
3. Scan any paperwork you receive from other people and companies.
This practice is an excellent habit. Document scanners are easy to use and can store paperwork in PDF format.
4. Update your office.
With less space being taken up by document storage (goodbye, ugly file cabinets!), you can make your office a better place to work. Consider buying larger monitors, or a dual-monitor setup, so your staff can view more than one document at a time.
5. Phase out old technology.
Nobody likes fax machines. Fax software lets you send and receive faxes as electronic documents. No fax machine means less paperwork and lower costs.
6. Move to online applications.
Cloud-based applications let you share files easily with clients and suppliers. If you are thinking about moving to the cloud, it’s best to consult with a managed service provider (MSP). There’s a lot of cloud-based applications out there, and an MSP will help you find the best solution for your company.
Ready to Go Paperless?
Once you’ve decided to reduce paper use, how long will the transition take? The choice is really up to you. But what I can say is that you don’t need to do this alone.
It’s vital that your company has the proper IT infrastructure in place before you make the transition over to paperless.
Why? Because while electronic documents are faster to store than paper ones, they are also easier to get rid off. If your IT infrastructure doesn’t include backup, you’ll be out of luck if a crucial document gets deleted by accident.
If you are unsure whether or not your IT can handle paperless, please feel free to contact us at 443-244-9188 or info@www.mrwsystems.com.