Wondering how to have a paperless office?

Hint: A reputable business that scans documents can be a great resource and partner to help.

If your workplace is like most, you might be wondering how to go paperless, or even just reduce the amount of paper you have, particularly if you have a lot of documents on file. If you are interested in how to have a paperless office,

“Sometimes the biggest challenge is just knowing where to begin,” explains Jerry Rozek, Daily Operations Manager for EO Johnson Document Scanning. “Having paper-based records for a long period of time often means that a business has accumulated a lot of file cabinets, boxes or shelving – sometimes even storage at offsite locations. It can be very overwhelming just to get your arms around what you have.”

The many benefits of going paperless at work

There are multiple benefits to businesses which want to reduce their dependence on paper documents. Here are just a few.

1. It’s far more efficient to search digital information.
   Searching for paper-based records is incredibly time consuming. By scanning documents, your team will be able to search for information right from their computer. No more searching through file cabinets and boxes for paper records that might even be misfiled.

2. Hardcopy documents degrade over time.
   In addition, there’s often only one copy of those priceless documents. For many businesses, this represents a big risk. By scanning and storing digital data instead, the information is not only preserved for the long haul, it’s also backed up.

3. With paper, only one person can access paper records at a time.
   When your records are electronic, several people can have simultaneous access. And, with digital documents, you have greater control over who has permission to access that information, and what they can do with it.

4. Scanning documents is essentially information insurance.
   In the event of a disaster, your information is protected and can be easily restored.

5. You can repurpose space.
   When you work with a professional document scanning team, you will quickly find you’re able to reallocate the space you had used to store records. In some cases, that can mean additional revenue or reduced costs to your business.

Ready to make the move toward less paper? Here are tips from the scanning experts on how to make the transition.

Step 1: Define your goals and objectives

Consider first what made you think about scanning in the first place. Here are a couple of common reasons many workplaces look to document scanning as a solution.

• Space can get tight, particularly after accumulating documents for years, even decades. If file cabinets are clogging your office flow, or having an impact on your overhead due to a need for offsite storage space, document scanning can be a great solution for you. You can be more efficient and ultimately save cost.
• Accessing old documents in paper form can be time-consuming and difficult. Are your paper records hard to find? How many hours are spent in front of a box or file cabinet? Scanning can be a huge time saver at the office.

Knowing the issues surrounding your desire to reduce paper is key to forging solutions to those issues.

Step 2: Find a reputable business that scans documents

Partnering with someone you can trust with your company’s sensitive information is key. EO Johnson Document Scanning is dedicated to protecting client confidentiality and ensuring sensitive information is secure. When you commit to reducing paper at the office, you can enjoy peace of mind that your data is kept confidential by partnering with the right document scanning provider near you.

Step 3: Work with a professional to decide what you want to scan

Questions will arise during the process—often questions you hadn’t previously thought about. Among them:

• How are your records organized?
• How does your team look for records?
• How often do staff access those records?

“Understanding the answers to these questions helps in determining what the finished product will be, and how that finished product can have positive impact on a business. To invest in scanning your records, you definitely want it to be money well spent.” Rozek says.

In addition, a document scanning professional can provide insight on the importance of a retention policy for records. Knowing which documents you need to keep for legal purposes, or customer service is key, as is recognizing which documents can be destroyed immediately or in the future.

Finally, work with your document scanning rep to look at records and develop a plan

No two document scanning projects are the same. Some of the questions you’ll work through together include:

• What kind of condition are the records in?
• Do you have documents which must be scanned in color?
• How would you like to be able to search the records?
• Are certain key fields important for accessing those documents?

Rozek explains, “Establishing a scope of work and specifications are essential. Along the way we look for opportunities to automate wherever possible to save time, which in turn saves cost.”

How to have a paperless office or just less paper: common misconceptions

A common misconception among business leaders when it comes to scanning projects is that it might be too expensive. Like any project, scanning projects have to not only make sense, but fit within a budget. The experts at EO Johnson Document Scanning know this, and have ways to ensure that reducing the number of paper documents at the office is manageable.

“I believe in offering choices so that a business can make an informed decision on what to do and how to do it,” says Rozek. “We offer options in which a customer can use their internal resources to perform some of the work to offset cost. We also offer multiple levels of quality control, and always look to automate the process as much as possible.”

In the end, these options can also extend to your payment timeline. By processing a project in phases or offering a deferred payment plan, clients often find that a project can fit within their operating budget.

Wondering how to go paperless or simply have less paper? Start with EO Johnson Business Technologies

Regardless of the size of your business, EO Johnson Document Scanning is ready to help your office discover new efficiencies, save cost, and improve document security and provide you greater peace of mind by going paperless or having fewer paper documents. And when you’re searching for a business that scans documents, we’re here to help. Contact us for more information on our document scanning services, and we’ll show you exactly how to have a paperless office.