Have you considered switching to a digital document management system? These days, more and more businesses are going paperless. You may still need print management and other physical document management services, but even if you can't go completely paperless, digital documents can help you make several improvements across your company. 

When people talk about going paperless, they often mention positive environmental changes. While it's true that digital documents are better for the environment - and we'll cover that in more detail later - there are plenty of other benefits that can impact your business directly. Below are some of the most important benefits of digital document management. 

Digital Documents Are Cheaper

First of all, digital document management can help your company save money, and those savings begin almost as soon as you start using your new platform. For one thing, consider how much money you spend on paper and ink. Printer ink is one of the most expensive office supplies you can buy. When you use digital documents instead of paper, you can cut down on your ink usage drastically by only printing what you absolutely need to print. 

Digital documents aren't just cheaper, though. They're also more cost-effective overall. Physical documents can interrupt workflow. Between the filing, organizing, locating, and making sure that everyone has a copy, paper documents can keep your team members from fully focusing on the important work. They lose precious minutes as they get their materials together, and those minutes add up over time. The human brain takes some time to get into "focus mode," and physical documents can interrupt that process. 

On the other hand, digital document management lets your team members access their documents within moments. Between search functions and impeccable organization, digital document platforms allow employees to dive into their work right away. They'll spend less time finding the right document and more time focusing on that document. As a result, your company will see more productivity, which can result in more time and money. 

Digital Documents Management Systems Are Faster

Speaking of saving time, going paperless means more work completed due to quicker document flow. This happens, again, because documents are sent electronically in a matter of seconds. 

Consider all the time that your company wastes on physical documents. For one thing, employees often have to wait in line for the printer or copy machine. Depending on how often those tools are used, team members can waste a lot of precious time waiting for items to print. Furthermore, what happens if the printer breaks down or the copy machine stops working? Everyone who's ever worked in an office is familiar with printer struggles. Those struggles happen often, so any chance to bypass the printer is a chance to save time and avoid frustration. 

Then there's the time that gets wasted when everyone has different versions of a document. When one person makes updates to a document, it means that the rest of the team is suddenly working with an outdated version of that document. Then, when team members meet up with one another, they have to spend several minutes catching each other up on the latest document changes. 

On the other hand, with digital document management, team members can work with the same document at the same time. They can all have access to the document in its digital format, making changes in real time. This way, everyone has the most up-to-date version of the document, so they don't have to waste any time catching up or making sure that everyone's on the same page. 

Digital document management can also help you save time on signature collection. With paper documents, getting a signature can be a long and tedious process. The paper has to make its way to the signee and back, and it has to do so safely. Furthermore, your paper may sit on the signer's desk for days, getting lost in the other papers that can clutter a desk. 

Some document management platforms have a solution, though, and that solution is the e-signature. Instead of waiting for hours, days, or even weeks for a signature, you can have a signature within minutes. When your content management platform allows e-signatures, you may be amazed at how much time you can save. 

Digital Document Management Systems Are More Secure

Next, digital document management provides more safety for your business files. Digital files are far more secure than paper files, and even hard drive-stored files can't compete with the safety of a cloud-based document management platform. 

Paper documents can easily be misplaced or lost. Even the most careful employee can drop a piece of paper on their way to someone else's desk. By the time they realize that the document is missing, that document may have fallen into the wrong hands. Digital documents remove that risk because they virtually eliminate the need for paper documents to travel between desks. 

Digital documents also protect company information from theft or natural disaster. While physical paper can easily be taken or destroyed, digital documents can only be accessed by those who have permission. Plus, if anything should happen to your office, you can still access your digital documents from virtually any location. 

Digital documents provide safety by preventing misuse and allowing secure sending and retrieval. Digital content management puts you in complete control of your information. 

Digital Document Management Systems Are Better for the Environment

Again, digital document management is better for the environment than paper documents. Digital documents let you cut back on paper, ink, toner, and printer usage. Digital documents let you reduce your company's carbon footprint, which makes your business more sustainable.  

Digital Document Management Systems Are Customizable

Not every document solution fits your needs. However, businesses can customize systems. Not all companies go completely digital. Whether you go completely paperless or just decrease the amount of paper you use, Vasion is here to help. We can customize a digital document management solution for your company needs. Get in touch with us today to learn more.

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