Coleman Data Solutions
Document Management As A Solution
Large volumes of necessary documents are produced by your business on a daily basis. Each document is tied to different business processes. Your documents are created, forwarded, checked, stored, and then they are all retrieved later on an as needed basis. This takes up a lot of resources in time spent managing your documents in these ways.
Is it possible to optimize this process and cut out some of the associated costs? This is where document management comes into play. A document management solution improves customer service, while saving you time and money.
Business Process Example: Selling Products
• An initial request comes in
• Placement of order
• Creation of invoice
The process of selling products involves the creation and interaction with a range of both paper and electronic documents.
A current offer can be stored on a local computer in a Word or Excel file. Your customer emails may be stored on your exchange server. The paper order is filed in a folder and then in a filing cabinet. Your invoices are saved in your accounting program.
So when your customer calls, you need to collect all of this information form these various storage areas. What if one of the paper documents is already ‘busy’ – say other staff are using it currently? That stops the customer interaction process until it is available to access and use. The cost here involves delay in responding to customer requests, which can negatively affect customer relations.
In contrast, businesses that implement a document management solution have a clear advantage. Electronic document management systems manage all of your documents that are created, stored, & accessed - repeatedly, on a daily basis. A DMS files your documents correctly and electronically. Every authorized employee then has access to needed documents from their own work area.
Locating information is done through electronic document management by either a full text or word index search of the software. Other customized filters can include date ranges, storage dates, subject, and more. The results of your search queries are visible in a detailed list and can be clicked on to go into the detail of those selected. It does not matter what format, which can include:
• Paper format
• Emails
• Text
• PNG, JPG & other image formats
• PowerPoint
• RAR
• Faxes
• Excel and Word
• PDF
With a document management solution, you can respond to client inquires in seconds – no delays. So you save time and your business contacts are happy as they get the requested information with no interruptions. This is just one specific example of how a document management system can solve problems.