Adopting a digital document management system for your business can be the perfect way to streamline your filing system and provide better ease of access for all your files. However, for many businesses, this involves digitizing hundreds of traditional paper files. Making the leap to digital document storage can feel like a daunting task; here are the main steps to start a document management system for your business.
Choose a Document Management System
The first step to transferring your paper documents to the digital space is choosing which document management system and technology are right for your business. There are many different document storage and sharing services and cloud storage systems to choose from. The most crucial factor to examine with any of these systems is their security. You don’t want hackers to be able to access your information online as easily as thieves could steal your paper files.
Convert Paper Documents to Digital Files
The next step of the document management process is to digitize your old paper documents. No matter the size of your business or organization, you will have accumulated a hefty number of files, documents, banking receipts, employee records, and more over the years. You need an efficient way to quickly transfer these documents to the digital space without wasting weeks of your business’s time. Consider hiring a scanning or data input service, where professional data entry personnel will assist in scanning and entering your paper document’s information into your document management system. This can help save you time and energy so that you can keep your business running in the background.
After Digitizing Documents
After you have successfully scanned your paper documents and digitized them online, you’ll be left with hundreds or even thousands of outdated paper documents from your old filing system. Keeping these documents around only puts your information at risk because thieves have more access to print materials than your secure management system. Be sure to shred any outdated documents once you have backed up the information in your digital system. Invest in a high-volume or industrial scanner for the job—traditional deskside shredders won’t be able to keep up with the hundreds of documents that you have to shred.
Digital document management systems provide businesses with easier ways to access and share their documents and files. Now that you know the steps involved with how to start a document management system, you can follow suit for your own business.
