How Does Document Management Software make Accessing Information So Easy?

The one need that every organization today has, is to make the search for files and documents a more speedy and efficient process. Instead of wasting precious minutes to find a file, wouldn’t the employees rather start working on the document? Wouldn’t this be an ideal situation that lessens the time and hence boosts productivity? So, what do present-day businesses need to make this dream come true?

A document management software: therein lies the answer!

What makes a document management software the right answer?

The first question that comes to mind is, “What makes a DMS better than my Windows file management system? After all, my system has been working well for decades now! So, why change?” Because, the world is running around you, and your business can’t possibly be expected to crawl! A document management software does such an awesome job of promptly searching files, and the reason for that lies in how it organizes those files in the first place. It has not one, or two, but multiple ways of document organization that far exceed your PC’s file management system.

Here are some of the ways a DMS makes organizing and searching for documents an easy and fun process:

Organizing by Folders:

The trick to finding anything quickly is to first keep it in an organized manner. So, when the DMS systematically organizes documents into various folders and sub-folders, it makes tracing them quickly a piece of cake. The software only has to expand the folder tree to give you the needed file. A decent document management software allows you to import your folder tree from your PC and retain its hierarchy. It means, you can drag and drop entire folders from your laptop or computer, as it is, without the need to rearrange files. The software allows you to arrange folders process-wise, project-wise, department-wise, and so on.

Search becomes Super-easy:

If you have ever used Google or any other search engine, a DMS will only feel like an extension. You will simply be required to type in your search phrase or term and the software will show you a list of files that match your search words. From hereon, you can select and open the document you were looking for!

Adding Efficiency Through Advanced Search:

You can even make use of advanced search to retrieve a document by using several search criteria, such as Added on (Date), Created By, etc.

Smart Search Needs Only Part of The Whole Text:

A DMS generally uses OCR (optical character recognition) to extract text from images. But, it’s not just that. Text is also extracted from other kinds of documents, such as word files. For instance, if you type in a search term that is part of the text contained in a document, the software will show you a list of all the documents that contain this particular text.

Final word

A major advantage of using a DMS is how easy it makes to access information. A document management system provides a central location for all documents, files, weblinks, and so on. Employees can finally bid goodbye to hard drives and USB sticks, and instead, log in to their DMS from any device and any location to access information with incredible ease!

Why Use a Document Management System? Here are the Top 5 Reasons

Before we delve into why using a Document Management System would be a definite gamechanger for your business, let’s look at what a DMS actually is.

Document management, which is also referred to as Document Management System (DMS), is the use of a software to store, track, and manage electronic documents as well as electronic images of paper-based information that has been captured using a document scanner. It’s a system perfectly designed to offer an easy and efficient way of keeping a record of all the different versions of a document, which your users can update as and when they need to.

Now, let’s look at the top 5 ways that a Document Management System can benefit your organization:

Offers Ease of Input

Uploading files to a DMS is super easy. Regardless of whether you want to upload a digital file or you have a physical piece of paper carrying information – there is no dearth of ways that you can make it happen. You have the option to use a scanner, or send yourself an email with the file as an attachment, or directly upload if it is a digital file, amongst other ways.

Allows Effortless Indexing of Documents

Storing a document can only be called efficient if retrieving it is easy. And that’s the reason why DMS offers an effortless way of tagging or associating various documents with specific terms that make searching the document a seamless process. This way, not only you, but your staff who have been assigned these documents, can easily retrieve and access them, when the need arises.

Provides a Seamless Workflow Automation

A Document Management System boasts of a simple and seamless workflow which can make even the most complex pathways feel like a piece of cake. The in-built business process management as well as workflow offered by a DMS ensures that documents get routed to their places, automatically.

Stringent Security Measures Are in Place

With information comes the question of security; any organization would have data security right up in their top 5 priorities. The biggest advantage, therefore, your business can avail from a DMS is document security through features like access control and high-level encryption.

Keeps You Up-to-date with Document Updates

No matter which user updates a document or makes changes, the Document Management System will always let you know every update and change made to a file. It makes it easy for you to communicate with the user or take a corresponding action.

Final Word

There are so many benefits of introducing a Document Management System to your business, but these 5 are the top ones. If you want a more productive, secure, and easy easy way of storing, managing, tracking, and retrieving documents, you don’t need to think twice before employing a DMS!

Why is a Document Management Software The Need of The Hour?

If there is one question that every business needs to answer, it has to be: how to manage all the records and files and documents? The days are gone when the question had just one answer – a traditional paper-based system. It was not only demanding on the trees, but also on the office spaces, for it required folders, shelves, drawers, filing cabinets, and whatnot. These things would consume precious space, and even more valued resources, such as time, in order to maintain everything.

The times we live in have brought us innovation in every field, especially technology, and document management is no exception. A DMS (document management software) is a giant step in technology that exponentially simplifies the process of both storing as well as managing files and documents. Your office needs no more than a desk, a chair, and a computer or laptop that carries a document management system!

The Impact of Document Management Software

Who can forget the days when offices had to get multiple copies of the same document to distribute; folders and folders of paper meant that tracking their location, making any updates, and frankly just storing them used to be a headache, not to mention expensive. But, a DMS makes it super easy, not-so-expensive, and highly efficient to manage all information, no matter where all your employees are.

Moreover, this paperless approach is especially helpful in these post-pandemic days when businesses all over the world are learning to go office-less. Indexing documents and tracking them are right at our fingertips; cloud-based storage systems mean that geography is no more a constraint; electronic data backup services allow businesses to tackle any data debacle they may face. The list goes on.

In Conclusion

Companies, all around the world, have started realizing that the use of a good document management software helps automate not just document management activities, but also core business processes, which in turn improve decision making, promote collaboration, and finally, accelerate time to market.

Clearly, the concept of the paperless office is hitting home at a much greater speed than businesses can handle, unless they start making the transition today.

Document Management Software Program: A True Godsend for Modern Work Collaborations

Team collaboration is more than just a trendy idea; in the corporate world, it is a necessity today. In order to harness the best out of your team, workplace collaboration is a must. But, the definition of workplace is changing with changing times. Consequently, work collaborations look a bit different in the post-pandemic period.

How can you improve your team collaborations?

There could be many reasons you want to hold a meeting. One of them is when you need to discuss certain points from a certain document with your team. Now, the traditional way to get this done would involve getting a photocopy of the document for each team member, and calling a meeting to read and discuss all the points. Then you might proceed to rewrite or edit the document using MS Word to yet again follow up with a paper-based approval process. Finally, you would get all the members to sign the hard copy, publish this final document digitally, and make it accessible to the team. Though a tried and tested process for decades, it still is neither cost-effective, nor time-effective, nor very eco-friendly.

Instead, with a document management software program in your hands, you can speed up the process many times, therefore saving time, cost, as well as paper. Not just that, when you share the document with all the stakeholders, a DMS program makes sure you do so in a safe and secure manner. As every member of your team reviews the document, they are able to suggest the changes they want to see by highlighting parts of the document, and leaving notes for others to see. This way, every member not only leaves notes, but is also able to see the notes left by all others. And there is no need to have countless physical workplace meetings to get such multiple revisions or changes done. Once the final review has been made by everyone, the final document can be routed for approval, signing, and finally get published for all users to see. No need for paperprintouts, no need to meet physically!

This latter method, clearly, makes the document sharing process not only super-efficient, but super-easy as well.

You and your team can make decisions much faster; you will find the performance of various process-related tasks and rollout of contracts, policies, and such other documents much better than before. The result will inevitably be – more efficient operations.

How is sharing documents different from collaborating on documents?

By sharing documents, you are granting access to the other users to at least open and read the document. If the privilege extends, the users can also make edits to the document and/or leave comments/suggestions. While you are granting such access, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the users will in fact open the document and work on it.

On the other hand, collaboration is about sharing a document with certain users with the specific goal of modifying that document, assuming these users have been provided the relevant access. While sharing of a document usually takes place when you might have the final draft ready, collaboration is done in the revision or preparatory stages. This is the stage where you want your team to come up with ideas and recommendations, when you are looking for reviews, improvements, and corrections. This is the stage that is followed by a final revision by all the members, approval, and lastly, publishing of the document.

Five ways that a DMS program is truly a Godsend for modern workplaces, are:

  • Document Management Software program allows you to create digital workflows that automatically route the document to the team member who needs to approve the document and later sign it off.
  • You can easily and efficiently organize your multiple documents into various folders, tag them, manage them project- or client-wise, and more using a DMS program.
  • With the incredibly advanced search feature included in the DMS, you can search documents in no time.
  • You will decide which of your colleagues do you want to collaborate with, and therefore give access to the document, ensuring safety and security of information.
  • In addition, the DMS program lets you view the previous major versions of the document as well. It even allows you to choose to revert to one of the earlier versions of the document and make that the current version which you can now share with others!

In conclusion, DMS is the technology all workplaces need to make the document sharing and team collaboration processes more automated, and therefore seamless.