Administration almost always involves paperwork. Any business, government department or other organization uses forms and official documents in its procedures and archiving system. While this enormous volume of paperwork has traditionally been the subject of annoyance or jokes, paperless office-document scanning offers an electronic alternative.
A paper-based office entails the costs of the paper, ink and printing equipment, and file storage venues. Staff have to spend time sorting or packing away files. Moving paper records from one place to another is also an exercise in logistics: the boxes of files are heavy and fax machines do not always produce copies of acceptable quality. Physical files sometimes get lost or damaged.
Society condemns the excessive usage of paper and paper products in some industries, either in correspondence or the storage of information. Trees are used to make paper, and the environmental impact of the paper manufacturing industry has sometimes been identified by conservationists as a possible issue. But recycled paper is a speciality product in the stationery sector, and the disposal of paper waste contributes substantially to the waste output of the community.
Using electronic methods to manage paperwork is therefore a sensible option. Masses of documents can be loaded onto a single device, such as a computer hard-drive or a USB drive. Backing up the documents is fast, even if they constitute the entire archive of an institution. Electronic equipment takes up a small amount of space on the premises, and is easy to move around. In any event, transporting the equipment is not necessary if e-mail or document cloud services are in use.
A document cloud system is an online facility that gives users space to upload and retain considerable quantities of administrative files or other material. This is useful because users can then log into the site and retrieve the material from any physical location. They do not need to carry hard copies around with them. The cloud system may or may not charge a user fee. People interested in this option should assess the storage capacity and security profile of different sites to see what is best for their needs.
The advantages of a paperless office over a paper-based one are, firstly, that the quality of scanned text is consistently high. Secondly, e-mail is instant and can be used to transmit massive amounts of records or other files. Recent file formats enable several hundred pages to be sent in a single attachment of several hundred kilobytes. People would not consider trying to fax a document of that size.
The costs of operating an office can be diminished by the use of scanning and computer or online document archiving. The electronic equipment's expense should be contrasted with the saving in stationery and staff time. Paperless administration is a part of the economy that has seen the replacement of physical paperwork by modern technology and innovation.
A paper-based office entails the costs of the paper, ink and printing equipment, and file storage venues. Staff have to spend time sorting or packing away files. Moving paper records from one place to another is also an exercise in logistics: the boxes of files are heavy and fax machines do not always produce copies of acceptable quality. Physical files sometimes get lost or damaged.
Society condemns the excessive usage of paper and paper products in some industries, either in correspondence or the storage of information. Trees are used to make paper, and the environmental impact of the paper manufacturing industry has sometimes been identified by conservationists as a possible issue. But recycled paper is a speciality product in the stationery sector, and the disposal of paper waste contributes substantially to the waste output of the community.
Using electronic methods to manage paperwork is therefore a sensible option. Masses of documents can be loaded onto a single device, such as a computer hard-drive or a USB drive. Backing up the documents is fast, even if they constitute the entire archive of an institution. Electronic equipment takes up a small amount of space on the premises, and is easy to move around. In any event, transporting the equipment is not necessary if e-mail or document cloud services are in use.
A document cloud system is an online facility that gives users space to upload and retain considerable quantities of administrative files or other material. This is useful because users can then log into the site and retrieve the material from any physical location. They do not need to carry hard copies around with them. The cloud system may or may not charge a user fee. People interested in this option should assess the storage capacity and security profile of different sites to see what is best for their needs.
The advantages of a paperless office over a paper-based one are, firstly, that the quality of scanned text is consistently high. Secondly, e-mail is instant and can be used to transmit massive amounts of records or other files. Recent file formats enable several hundred pages to be sent in a single attachment of several hundred kilobytes. People would not consider trying to fax a document of that size.
The costs of operating an office can be diminished by the use of scanning and computer or online document archiving. The electronic equipment's expense should be contrasted with the saving in stationery and staff time. Paperless administration is a part of the economy that has seen the replacement of physical paperwork by modern technology and innovation.
About the Author:
Loris F. Anders is an office management specialist focused on optimizing workflow processes in document management. If you would like to learn more about go paperless, she recommends you check out Docufree.
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