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STORAGE
Leaner, greener records
management
The paperless office of the future
has long been talked about but in
reality is still a way off.When it
comes to storing documents, many
professionals would admit that
their organisations keep far more
paper files than they need to, even
if many would also underestimate
the potential impact that any
unexpected loss or damage may
have.
In some cases, information generated
by a business must be retained for
a minimum of six years to satisfy
HMRC requirements (Finance Act). Yet
often, regular access and reference is
unlikely to be needed, meaning that
documents take up valuable office space
unnecessarily.
Equally, if files are not stored in a
specialised facility they may be at risk
from fire, flood and theft. In fact, any
form of damage or loss could cause
significant problems should records
need to be recalled later on for auditing
purposes.
For these reasons, a dedicated ‘scan,
store and shred’ solution can really
deliver, especially for paper-intensive
businesses, and help deliver greener and
more compliant processes.
Paper documents are automatically
scanned in at the point they enter
an organisation and then shredded,
creating large volumes of recyclable
material. Crucially, the implementation
of scanning and data capture
technologies can facilitate improved
distribution of information throughout a
business, reducing costs and increasing
efficiency while ensuring compliance
with relevant legislation.
Remote access
In all, the advantages of moving away
from paper-dependent processes
towards a system of electronic files are
wide-ranging. Not the least of these is
the opportunity to improve accuracy
and give greater access to records for
remote workers and businesses with
multiple sites.
Working with centralised electronic
documents with a single point of access,
employees can store, retrieve and share
files and add on-going updates more
effectively. Collaboration across projects
and departments becomes easier
because employees and authorised
third parties can access data from a
centralised source, resulting in better
decision-making.
When adding new information and
files, the use of document classification
enables measurable data to be quickly
identified and instantly passed to the
right business stream or workflow.
Rather than storing paper documents
at even greater expense, having a
centralised secure hosting environment
contributes towards disaster recovery
requirements. Meanwhile, a full audit
trail can be kept for each document,
helping firms to meet compliance
regulations.
Automating document processing
also speeds up access to business
critical data and reduces the amount
of time staff spend manually filing and
retrieving documents. For example,
scanning third party invoices as soon
as they enter a business enables an
electronic copy of the data to be
delivered instantly to the correct work
stream and payment to be issued
quickly. This is far more efficient than
waiting for a hard copy to arrive and
can help business users improve their
customer service.
Better security
Archiving documents electronically
brings the added advantage of better
security than manual storage, with less
risk of loss or damage. Using document
classification alongside an archiving
solution will enable the correct
retention and disposal policy to be
quickly identified and data cleansing to
be carried out on existing records. This
important feature ensures compliance
whilst further increasing the level of
process automation.
In addition, rather than allowing
input errors to continue unchanged,
the fact that document management
systems capture data as soon as it
enters the business means that errors
can be instantly flagged-up through
data cleansing. As a result, any mistakes
can be identified and resolved as quickly
and cost effectively as possible.
From a records management
perspective, a complete ‘scan, store,
shred’ document solution will ease the
burden of archive files and ensure that
records are secure, easily accessible and
out from underfoot.
In broader business terms, intelligent
document management and capture
offers advantages for the whole
organisation, not least the opportunity
to support compliance, ensure disaster
recovery, increase staff productivity
and facilitate the cleansing of historical
records.
www.capitalcapture.com
Working together and leading
by example are key factors in
improving green practices at work
A ‘scan, store and shred’ approach to organising paper
documents can contribute to a more efficient and
compliant strategy for records management and
document processing, says Capital Capture managing
director Mark Kirpalani.
Mark Kirpalani, managing director, Capital Capture
Automating document
processing also speeds up
access to business critical data
Autumn 2013 | P2P Magaz i ne |
35
www.binfo.co.uk