Have you ever been in the midst of a task and thought to yourself, “there has to be a simpler way to do this?” We live in an advanced technological world and innovation occurs faster than ever before. Though, there are some areas where we don’t allow new technology to drive our processes. One of those areas for many is in how documents are handled within their organizations. Below we will look at a few of the manual and outdated ways that could use a new age upfit.
 
Unlimited Access
 
Security breaches are more prevalent when access points are left unchecked and unsecured. The same logic can occur with sensitive information within your organization. If everyone has unregulated access to printers, copiers and scanners throughout the office, then they can freely share and obtain sensitive material like patient records, credit card information or client lists that could be used nefariously. Industry regulations like HIPPA and Sarbanes Oxley are also often overlooked and lead to companies being out of compliance due to their inability to restrict access to sensitive data.
 
The best way to combat unregulated access is to implement user authentication at your devices. By doing this, users would have to authenticate at each device using a pin or ID badge to access print jobs and the features that your network administrator allows them. By using this checkpoint, you can also experience a savings in printing costs as unnecessary documents will not be printed and left at the device and through your ability to restrict color access to individuals or whole departments. The level of reporting and logs available to you when using user authentication and permissions is detailed and helps you stay in control of your environment with audit trails.
 
Manual Processing
 
Collaboration is more pertinent today than at any moment before as there has been a massive shift to remote working. How your documents are scanned, stored, retrieved and shared should reflect the ability to quickly and securely access them wherever you are. Many processes within organizations are repeated and move along many stages of approvals, such as invoices for payment. Having to manually check these documents and rely on email or a system that requires typing in information from the documents is outdated and slows down the efficiency of your workforce, not to mention delaying sales cycles that could increase the days of sales outstanding.
 
Through OCR technology, you can implement scanning workflows that automate your document processes to even include approvals. Say you have an invoice, you can scan with one click at the device and have it be disseminated into the workflow and automatically indexed and stored into your system based on a pre-set naming structure. Not to mention, it can initiate an approval process that alerts people that need to review purchases or other processes and have them quickly, without email chains, move the process along. Your ERP system can also be integrated with your documents inputted to avoid tedious data entry, simplifying your record keeping and day to day processes.
 
One-Size Fits All
 
When your employees approach the copier or print a document, do they all have the same features available to them This is often the case. If user authentication isn’t in place you can’t customize the user experience and implement permissions that restrict access to features you don’t want them to have. In addition, you are unable to access your cloud account to store and retrieve documents at the device because it has no way of knowing who you are. The Accounting Department for instance can’t have a specific workflow created for invoices because there is no way for the device to know who the user represents in your organization.
 
In order to offer custom features to your employees and allow them the most productive experience, you need to implement user authentication and diagnose how each department prints and shares documents amongst themselves and others. Understanding the workflows that are in play within your organization will help you to then tailor the experience of each user to match their needs through custom features that can include OCR, advanced indexing, and cloud collaboration. An example could be a medical administrator inputting patient documents, they could have a new patient workflow that prompts them with the different document types to choose from and necessary information that is used for the naming structure.
 
While the ability for technology to solve our problems or hassles exists, it sometimes is hard to know how to adopt it in a financially responsible way. At Copiers Plus, we understand this tension and want to help by offering a free analysis of your current environment and to help provide you with a way forward that you can feel confident in. Schedule your free consultation today at 800-648-7081 or online.
 
 
Drew Smith currently serves as Director of Communications for Copiers Plus. The company specializes in modernizing office equipment and increasing efficiencies in workplace communications throughout the state of North Carolina. To learn more about how Copiers Plus is providing their customers with innovative document solutions and enhanced printing transparency, visit www.copiers-plus.com. Drew would love to hear from you at [email protected].