Controlling Print Costs with a Document Management Solution
Submitted by Webmaster on Wed, 04/28/2010 - 18:08When considering the many costs that an organization has to expend, one of the most misunderstood is that of printing costs.
The Gartner Group estimates that as much as 30% of organizations' print costs can be eliminated with simple technology solutions.
The Business World is a rapidly changing entity, and technology helps adapt to these changes quickly and will help a company keep its competitive advantage. Paper has always been an inefficient medium for conducting business processes, and recently has become a key focus for Business Process Improvement (BPI) initiatives. So what are the main reasons for a company or organization to move towards the paperless environment?
Below are the two main categories:
1. Operation Efficiency and Business Process Improvement
Using a digital repository can improve productivity. This is an obvious benefit. Any time you can reduce the time required to perform a required task, that time can be applied elsewhere. A basic online search for a customer file requires about 5 seconds. To accomplish the same information lookup with a physical file cabinet can take 10 – 25 minutes, or perhaps even days if the file is held in offsite storage. This is just for basic lookups, and not complex searches, which could take weeks if performed through the physical file system. continue reading...
Is Your Business Running At Its Best?
Submitted by Webmaster on Sat, 04/17/2010 - 07:40The core of any business is a group of processes. Predictable processes like invoicing and collections, order fulfillment and customer support are the fundamentals that drive businesses to success. Continual improvement of business processes 
leads to better results like increased revenue, reduced expenses, faster collection, regulatory compliance, and reduced risk.
The following are a few points to consider that will help improve your business processes:
1. Begin with the end in mind. Define what the real goal of your process is.
2. Map Out the Process. Think of the four Ws: Who, What, When and Where.
3. Determine what inhibits your process. There is always a more efficient way to complete a task.
4. Consider any risks. Are you overlooking any potential regulatory or legal problems? Is your business prepared for a natural disaster?
5. Determine the costs. Consider the hard costs of the process along with the labor costs. continue reading...
Three Simple Recycling Strategies for Your Office
Submitted by Webmaster on Mon, 02/15/2010 - 17:08The world is focused on recycling. One of the best places to start may be with your office laser printers and multifunction systems.
Here are three simple steps to cutting waste and saving money:
continue reading...
- Recycle Paper Put recycling bins next to your printers and copiers. Most municipalities have recycling services. You can also use recycled paper in your printers and copiers. Make sure to select a good quality of recycled paper that is rated for laser printers and copiers.
- Duplex Printing A great way to immediately cut paper usage is to set your printers and multifunction systems to default to duplex (two-sided) printing. This is especially helpful for long print jobs because duplex printing literally cuts your paper usage in half.
Why NOT Color?
Submitted by Webmaster on Mon, 02/08/2010 - 16:07Color helps you communicate more effectively with your customers, and it also helps you communicate more effectively internally.
Color Improves Customer Communication
Did you know that color invoices get paid faster, reducing collection time? Color marketing materials and proposals command attention. Color newsletters and publications keep your clients informed of your new offerings.
Color Improves Internal Communication
Did you know that training materials are more effective in color? Spreadsheets and financial reports are more understandable in color – and color even helps to reduce errors when working with reports. Key memos and internal flyers capture attention in color. continue reading...
What to Look For When Purchasing a Printer
Submitted by Webmaster on Thu, 02/04/2010 - 16:24Technological advances have resulted in many different printers, but of course not all printers will print the same quality. There are many different types of printers on the market, and all of them have different functions and characteristics. 
Some questions you may want to ask before buying a printer are:
· Are you a large or small company?
· What will this device be used for?
· What quality and performance features are you looking for?
· What is your budget? continue reading...
What is Workflow?
Submitted by Webmaster on Sat, 01/30/2010 - 07:53All too often, we hear and even use terms assuming others know exactly what we mean. One term used in the document industry is workflow- but what does it mean?
According to Wikipedia
A workflow consists of a sequence of connected steps. It is a depiction of a sequence of operations...
The flow being described often refers to a document that is being transferred from one step to another.
A workflow is a model to represent real work for further assessment, e.g., for describing a reliably repeatable sequence of operations. More abstractly, a workflow is a pattern of activity enabled by a systematic organization of resources, defined roles and mass, energy and information flows, into a work process that can be documented and learned. Workflows are designed to achieve processing intents of some sort, such as physical transformation, service provision, or information processing. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workflow ) continue reading...
Why Automation Should be Your Company’s New Year’s Resolution.
Submitted by Webmaster on Thu, 01/21/2010 - 19:23Everyone knows how bad the economy was this past year and this downturn caused many companies to put their IT strategies on hold. Others however, saw this as an opportunity to be proactive and begin implementing automation and moving forward with new ways of getting the job done. As we head into the New Year, look at these strategies to think about re-organizing and working smarter. continue reading...
- Be proactive! While companies need to react quickly to industry trends and changing economic and world
environments, they also need to formulate strategies for the future. Think about creating a team who will think ahead and make sure the company will get where it wants to go in the next few years. - Follow a business strategy roadmap. Don’t just jump blindly expecting the technology to magically work for you. Build a business strategy that will clarify and outline the issues you’re trying to solve. Be sure that your company is starting with a good foundation for their infrastructure that can be further built upon.
- You don’t have to implement everything at once. In fact, it is much more practical automate your business according to a strategic plan—focus on what needs attention first. Look at your industry specific government regulations to see how they expect a company to handle information management.
- Don’t wait to “play it safe” and have other companies experiment with new technology. If you stand back and wait for another company to make the first step and prove automation as a valuable investment, the next generation of technology will already have hit the business world. Your company will remain one step behind other innovating companies and will lose competitive edge.
- Think about your return on investment (ROI). If you’re worried about staffing and hiring issues, realize that once automation is implemented, people used to working manually with documents can be re-deployed to other valuable tasks. While automation still needs staff to run it, the amount of personnel can be greatly reduced. This feeds right into the ROI. Create a flowchart and see how much faster your product can hit the market with new technology. That’s savings.
Stop your Office from Becoming the Next Bermuda Triangle
Submitted by Webmaster on Tue, 01/19/2010 - 18:47When a company wants to go paperless and begins to scan the contents of their filing cabinets into a document management system many are surprised to find many files previously thought to be lost.
When it comes to document storage, filing cabinets are simple things with no brain. We’re provided a drawer and a key and the rest of the work is left up to us. There’s no advice on where to put documents, we’re not told exactly where certain documents can be found, documents aren’t automatically routed to the right people in workflow, and our key certainly can’t be taken away to stop our access to the files.
Filing cabinets have gained the reputation as the office “Bermuda Triangle” of lost documents. Over the years multiple people in the office file, misplace and not return documents to the filing cabinets. As people organize to their own standards and methods, documents are inevitably filed in the wrong places and the next time a file is needed, it can’t be found. continue reading...
Recordkeeping Principles and Document Management Help
Submitted by Webmaster on Fri, 01/15/2010 - 18:14
ARMA—the national association of Records Managers and the independent authority on Records Information Management (RIM) has made public their Generally Accepted Recordkeeping Principles (GARP). As ARMA says in their preamble, “As a key resource in the operation of any organization, records must be created, organized, secured, maintained, and used in a way that effectively supports the activity of that organization.”
Are you interested in going paperless? Do you want to see how document efficiency can help your office go green? If your business is interested in the concepts behind records management, or is looking to implement document management software, this website is a great way to start obtaining information. continue reading...
Fax Server vs. Multifunction Printer
Submitted by Webmaster on Mon, 01/11/2010 - 19:35Fax Servers and Multifunction Printers offer a lot of the same capabilities and are a great tool for any office.
A Fax Server is a set of software running on a server computer that is equipped with one or more fax-
capable modems attached to a telephone line or a software modem emulator that can transmit the signal over an IP network. A fax server’s function is to receive fax calls and accept documents from users, convert them into faxes, and transmit them, store them, or pass them onto a different user. Users can communicate with the server through a local network or the Internet.
One little known fact is that a Multifunction Printer can offer a lot of the features a fax server can. A Multifunction Printer is an office machine that can incorporate multiple devices in one so a business can have a centralized document management system. A MFP combines the abilities of a printer, scanner, photocopier, fax machine, and email and is great with handling many processes at once. continue reading...
