Document management is still a comparatively little-known idea, but one that has the potential to transform the office place. In an age in which the paperless office is a rarely-achieved ideal, the collection of technologies known as document processing (and the accounts department special case, invoice processing) can actually make this a reality.
Document management systems are highly effective collaboration tools. They allow people to store, exchange, modify and keep track of documents. There are also facilities to track the changes made and record different versions of documents. This allows many people to work on the same project, keeping it centrally without the need for many different versions or fragments that later have to be standardised and put together as a final product.
If you have paper documents, as most offices do, then there is obviously a gap between that reality and the fully online version to which you may aspire. Simply, it is hard to work across the two – sometimes having to deal with paper letters, memos and documents and sometimes with virtual ones. This is where document processing comes in. It is a set of technologies that turns physical documents to their electronic equivalents. Some of the simplest (and therefore cheapest) of these technologies involve just scanning-to-PDF: creating an image or other file out of a written document. However, at its most advanced it is possible to turn handwritten notes into editable files, like any other business document. These can then be saved into your document management system and treated like any other electronic document.
Document management and the document processing that makes bridging the gap between ‘real’ and virtual possible are therefore extremely useful technologies. Invoice processing applies this to your accounts department, allowing you to turn physical invoices into electronic ones. This is important, since many suppliers and organisations will still submit paper invoices, and these can easily be treated differently to the ones you receive electronically. They can get forgotten or mislaid, with implications for your relationships with your suppliers and for your reputation. If you are aiming for a paperless office, whether for financial or environmental reasons, then this is an effective way to help bring that about. The solution you opt for will depend upon the nature of your organisation and its needs, as well as its budget, but the number of alternatives available means there is something for everyone.
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