Paperless
It is easy to think that the purpose of a paperless system is simply to help the environment and while this is a very positive part, it certainly isn't the full story. Imagine you had no filing cabinets, no boxes full of paper in store rooms, in addition to the ability to send documents at the click of a button and any paper that does still arrive, once processed can be recycled accordingly. This is certainly what a paperless system brings to an organisation.
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Advantages of a paperless system
Saves Time
Time spent filing, organising and searching for paper documents is reduced as a result it allows time to be spent on more productive tasks.
Saves Money
Removes the need to purchase expensive pre-printed stationary, for example, or printer ink/toner, along with reducing the reliance on printers themselves which can also come at a hefty cost.
Environmentally Friendlier
Helps the environment by removing the need for all the things that consume power, or that require manufacturing processes that are bad for the planet or just accumulate ‘stuff’.
Protected
Boosts security by allowing sensitive data to be stored electronically behind robust as well as efficient protection.
Effective
Facilitates the transfer of information by seamlessly sending and receiving documents electronically at the click of a button, even allowing for intelligent software to read incoming electronic documents and process them accordingly meaning nothing need ever be printed (Invoice recognition).
Additional Benefits
While the above makes a paperless system very attractive, it is sometimes difficult to envisage what this could mean for an organisation. A paperless system can be very broad reaching but can also positively impact all aspects of a company. Below is a taste of just some of the elements of a paperless system that our customers love due to the benefits they bring to the day-to-day.
- Remove Human Error
Reduce human error in processing, sending, receiving as well as filing documents. - Compliance
Benefit from HMRC compliance with digital delivery and storage. - Barcodes
Automate your document storage by taking advantage of barcoding functionality. - Mobile
Capture documents on the go with a mobile device available for iOS as well as Android. - Online
Document storage can be accessible securely over the web giving the entire business access to the documents they need no matter their location.
Key Features
Some of the other features a paperless system can bring are listed below as, for example, not everyone will have the same requirements. Not all features need to be adopted as some implementations can be phased to allow for a more manageable delivery across the business.
- Intelligent document distribution
Send documents via email, to a printer in addition to fax. Specify contact information extracted from your BMS/ERP or accounting system such as contact name, address, email address etc. Select stationery type using BMS/ERP or accounting system data (for example product, location, configurable fields, dimension code) to create desired templates. Archive documents into SharePoint, CRM or to a local network. Add additional email recipients automatically. - Batch email distribution
Email any document to any stakeholder. Send unlimited documents (for example as batches or individually) to any address by email. Attach relevant documents (e.g. statements, promotions, pricelists). Store draft emails before sending or send emails directly from the user’s mailbox without having to be reviewed in the Drafts folder in Outlook. Sender’s email address can also be customised to ensure emails are sent from a central email address, for example accounts@company.com.
- HTML Email Designer
Produce HTML compatible email. Personalise customer communication using data extracted from BMS/ERP. - Batch Archiving
Automatically archive to different locations, either individually or in batches. - Invoice Payments
Add ‘Pay Now’ buttons to outgoing documents. Choose one of the supported payment gateway providers: Worldpay UK or Opayo UK. - Document Security
PDF password protect sensitive documents individually or in batches with 256 bit PDF document encryption. Apply digital signatures to any document using advanced Adobe CDS Digital ID from GlobalSign. - Batch Scanning
Scan documents individually or in batches using a barcode. A barcode is added to the first page of a multi-page document to indicate the beginning of a new document. The intelligent solutions we provide will split the document when it finds a unique barcode ID. - Advanced Document Search
Allows any employee to search as well as retrieve documents outside of BMS/ERP using the Document Search tool, including, for instance: Document number, Transaction type, Date, Member of staff, Reference number, Project code, Nominal code and more. - API
Use a secure API to add capture as well as retrieval functionality to third party applications.
Manageable Implementations
In our experience an organisation would normally break paperless implementations into easily controllable phases. Listed below is what we normally find is the best approach to these phases. This allows a business to correctly prepare the relevant teams but also the affected processes in a much more manageable way.
- Phase 1 Document Distribution
This will automate the preparation and sending of external documents to customers as well as suppliers. It will also take care of all aspects of the document content but also the visuals. - Phase 2 Document Archiving
This will allow for all documentation created internally to be electronically archived with the ability to integrate this archive with other systems and giving easy and quick search functionality. - Phase 3 Document Capture
This will mean any document can be scanned as well as automatically archived into an electronic archive and/or the BMS/ERP system so everything is stored in the correct area and against the correct records. This can be done on a per document basis or in bulk. - Phase 4 Additional Features
We can then look at other handy features such as ‘Pay Now’ buttons on invoices, Auto attach copy invoices to statements or 3rd party API integrations to name just a few
Compatibility
There are many other areas to consider when looking for a paperless system, for example some of the systems that are fully compatible with a paperless system from EBS are listed below:
- Microsoft Office 365
- MS Outlook/Gmail/Yahoo/Tobit/Lotus Notes
- Adobe PDF/Sage CRM/MS SharePoint/Invu
- Any back office system that allows for document design
- Specialised features for Sage 200
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