10 Ways Document Digitization Can Save You Time

Document Digitization — Does it Save You Time?

Many people are still mulling over whether going paperless is a good or bad idea. Of course, any sort of a transition will be difficult, but the fact that the United States businesses spend billions of dollars a year on paper customer forms should indicate that change is needed. Just think of the thousands of paper forms you have in your office. Does that really help your productivity? They take up a lot of space, are easily destructible, and can’t be shared easily en masse. That is why we’ve determined document digitization is worth the time and money.

But you should first understand all of the benefits that document digitization can have on your business. Without this knowledge, you will simply be unable to make an informed transition into the digital realm. From working with our customers, we know that when you use paper for years it can feel like a quantum leap to go paperless.

10 Ways Document Digitization Can Save You Time

While it is human nature to cling to the past, sometimes it is best to welcome a change. That is why we have created a digitizing solution for you paper forms which can eradicate paper from your office. Not only that, but document digitization can save you bucket loads of time. In this article, I will be outlining the top “10 Ways Document Digitization Can Save You Time.”

1. Stress Free — Studies have indicated that eliminating stress can improve productivity. This is because your brain is able to focus more on the task at hand. Without the burden of having to constantly shuffle through papers to find something, you can focus on what’s really important. Additionally, studies have shown that the brain can’t really multitask. There is this common misperception that the brain is like a computer, and, like a computer, they can conduct multiple tasks at once. The only problem with this belief is that computers don’t operate this way. In fact, they switch from task to task at the speed of light. So if we really want to behave like computers, we would realize that even they don’t compute multiple tasks at once. Thus, by decreasing the clutter in the office, you eliminate the need to tidy up and work at the same time.
2. More Flexibility — Have you ever felt overloaded with how paper can seem to get you disorganized? Additionally, have you ever wanted to reorganize everything only to give up because the task is too difficult? Well with digitized forms, you are able to move forms around quickly in folders and rearrange as necessary. This saves time, because you would otherwise have to physically have to move the paper around if you wanted to transfer them to a new location. With digitization, you simply have to press a button and the form is instantly transferred.
3. Storage Tags — Going hand in hand with more flexibility, you also have the increased capacity to store files digitally. This is because you can assign a unique tag to digital files which makes it easier to find things and categorize them. Think of digital document tags as having a sticky note on a file with certain words to help spot it faster. The same concept is applied to digital documents. The biggest advantage is that tags can easily be searched through the document management systems elastic search or if it’s integrated into windows, then you can easily find tags within your hard drive.
4. Easy to Share — One can picture it now. A client or patient asks you to share a document with them, so you have to pull the file out of a manila folder, place the file on a scanner, and send the scanned copy to your client. Who wants to go through all of that? It’s much quicker to simply click on the file in your computer and share it over the web.
5. Trash Faster — Another beautiful aspect of ditching paper is that you can easily get rid of files fast. Although you can throw away a paper file in the trash, or shred it, just think about how much quicker it is to file away. Keep in mind as well that, when stored properly, online forms are able to be recovered (usually within 30 days). And I don’t know about you, but have you ever tried to chase down a garbage truck to get a piece of paper that was accidentally thrown out? It’s a fool’s errand. Once you’ve fully digitized your offline files, you’ll have the opportunity to recycle or eliminate all your offline files if your industry permits it. If your business is heavily regulated then it’s a must to keep both offline and online files for record keeping purposes. If you’re not in a regulated industry then you can recycle and or shred the files and free up a lot of space. With this space you can add more desks in your office or redesign your office to provide the wow experience. More desks in your office means that you can fit more business development representatives who can close more deals. With more deals closed, your business will be able to expand. And those are the things that make all of the difference.
6. Keeping a Clean Office — We’ve all seen it. The messy office littered with papers, nobody wants to work with someone like that (unless they are Albert Einstein). But, if you’re not an insanely smart theoretical physicist, you may have a harder time getting away with it. When you get rid of your filing cabinet, you are also clearing space for other important items in your office. It has been said that the most productive people are the ones who can prioritize and execute. Whatever gets in the way of that process will severely cripple your business.
7. Finding Files — What also increases your productivity when you have a clean office is your ability to find files. Imagine the frustration of not being able to find and important contract template that you need to have signed in order to close a deal. Very frustrating, and unnecessary. There’s many steps towards finding files. You have files inside a cabinet as well as files stored digitally. It’s extremely difficult to keep both of them in check and organized. This is where document digitization can help you stay more organized, and to find files a lot faster. Finding files can take hours, and is usually left for the assistant to handle. Imagine a world where the assistant would not have to spend three hours of their day to find, organize, and refile all your documents. The assistant would spend their day loving their job a lot more as well as working on tasks that can drive more growth.
8. Quick Modifications — In this digital age, things are changing incredibly fast. Without having the flexibility as a business owner to modify your documents on the fly, you will fall behind. That is why digitization gives you the flexibility to meet your clients or patients demands. Let’s say that you are negotiating a contract with a client. In a traditional system, if there was a major change that had to be made, you would have to go back to your computer, make that change, and then submit the revisions for your client to sign. Or, if there were specific terms that your client did not agree to, now you can change items and deadlines on the fly.
9. Collaborate With Others — Another important element to digitization is the ability to collaborate with others. Say you have a form that you want to start using for clients, for example, but you need to ask your lawyer a legal question. With digital forms, you can quickly and easily share the draft with them and have them offer advice. More than that, try to imagine that everyday scenario where important forms (contracts for example) are sent up the chain of command to be edited, annotated, and revised. This process already takes a lot of time, not to mention the added time to physically have to share that document with your superiors or subordinates. Why make things more difficult? Not to mention the tragedy that would result from the document being lost or damaged somehow...
10. Upload Files — Last but not least, uploading forms becomes a breeze with digitization. Anytime a client gives you paperwork that you need to save, you no longer need to worry about losing it. Now you can just take a picture of it and viola! The form becomes digitized and you can shred that piece of paper. Knowing how simple this is really makes one cringe at the thought of mailing a form to a client, customer, patient, etc. Adding two to three days to a process that should only take 24 hours is mind boggling.

Afterthoughts

It’s hard to see the value of a paperless office at first. Many times, we as businesses are so focused on the things we can see, touch, and feel. While we both know that paper takes up a lot of space in the office, and that is something tangible that can be seen, touched, and felt. It is much harder to perceive the non-tangible changes that can happen from going paperless. For example, employee satisfaction, client happiness, increased organization and productivity. The list goes on and one.

As a business, time literally is money. Without the proper systems in place to save your business time and money, you will either go broke or never grow past your current stage. That is a scary thought, especially if you have been working on this company for a while. It never feels good to think you may be underperforming. And we know that you are most likely trying very hard to seek solutions to increase the performance of your business. So we hope to be one, painless, solution to put into your tool kit.

On a side note, we know that the word digital can be a scary sounding word for anyone fifty years or older. We understand why that is. As technology becomes more and more useful in our everyday lives, it also becomes increasingly difficult to keep up with the changes. Younger generations tend to have a more native sense of how to use technology, so they are able to keep up with the rapid evolution. But when you were raised using a typewriter, transitioning to the newest digitization software can be a challenge. To aid in this struggle, we’ve tried to improve our customer experience for the older generation. We offer incredible customer support, so that you never feel like you are lost in the dark. Together, we can make that leap, and get your business on the road to digitization.

What will provide you some consolation is knowing that our clients have seen dramatic transformations in their businesses through using Formrly. They specifically felt that the ability to edit the documents on the fly as well as having everything on mobile was priceless. Furthermore, one of our users was able to save thousands of dollars in attorney fees. Talk about a bargain! When you start to add up all of the value being provided from such a straightforward solution, the results are mind boggling.