eBridge Solutions Blog

A matter of distribution

Though more and more documents are arriving electronically, paper is still a large part of most businesses. What are all the ways you share important paper documents with clients, employees and vendors:

• mail
• fax
• inner-office mail
• overnight services
• courier

What if there was a way to eliminate these methods and save some time and money in the process? One way businesses nationwide are changing the way they handle important hard copy documents is by turning them into digital format.

Mail is too slow. Faxes are on the way out and waste paper. Even e-faxes need to be stored. Inner-office mail is slower than traditional mail and rarely makes it to the right person, plus you need to have a mail room.

Let's dig deeper into overnight services. A typical package costs about $25 to ship next day. If you are in a business that relies on signatures, you probably use FedEx or UPS on a regular basis. A scanned copy of a signed document, however, is considered a legal copy. So, you could e-mail documents to a client, have them print and sign those documents and then scan and return to you. In minutes, not hours, days or weeks.

Or, take it a step further. Set up individual file cabinets online for each client and allow them to scan their signed documents right in for indefinite storage. 

Why is that important? Well, how much more cost-effective would it be to e-mail documents instead of overnight them? How much clearer would a scanned copy of a document be than a fax?

Who can afford couriers these days? And isn't e-mail faster than any courier you could hire?

Look at the ways you distribute new and existing paper in your office. Going digital can speed up your way of doing business, making you more profitable and successful. As an added incentive, you won't have give your courier a holiday bonus this year.

You'll labor less by adding document management

As the office empties, I thought I'd write my blog in celebration of the upcoming holiday: Labor Day. 

Labor Day is a holiday celebrated in the United States and Canada on the first Monday in September to honor the laborer. It was inaugurated by the Knights of Labor in 1882 and made a national holiday by the U.S. Congress in 1894.

Honoring the laborers of the world is admirable. Giving us a day off (hopefully with pay) is even better. But, if you want to make every day a little less laborious for your employees, consider taking something away: paper.

One of the biggest frustrations workers face is dealing with paper.

It gets thrown away. It gets coffee spilled on it. It's on Joe's desk when Susie needs it.

To share paper, you have to fax it, mail it or courier it. Auditors have to come to the office to review it. It's just cumbersome.

So, this Labor Day, give your employees a gift that will keep giving: document management. With document management systems (particularly those that are web-based), your staff will be able to work more efficiently with less effort, because:

• documents can be found via index value or keyword searches
• they don't need to leave their desks to find files
• they can work remotely - when traveling or at home
• they can share documents with a few mouse clicks
• more than one person can view a document simultaneously

Since it is labor-themed, Labor Day is the perfect time to think about adding document management to your office operations. Give your employees something that will last long after the fireworks, BBQ sauce and picnic baskets are gone.

P.S. As an added bonus, if you need to actually work this weekend, you won't have to get out of your swimsuit.

What if I hate my new document management system?

Well, a few things come to mind with that headline. First, you must not be using eBridge Solutions, because it's the easiest web-based document management system out there. How could anyone hate it?

Second (and a more serious answer), don't worry. If you really hate your new document management system, there are things you can do to either make it better or switch to another method of storing your paper and electronic documents. Let's look at some options...

Make your user experience better
Perhaps when you were going through your document management system training, you didn't learn all of the tips and tricks that make the system user-friendly. See if anyone on your team is using your document management tool successfully. If someone is, ask them to give fellow users a refresher class. That may be all you need to have a better experience with your DMS!

If no one is having a good experience with your document management system, write down all of the reasons why. You'll need these so that when you choose your NEXT document management system, you have a better idea of what features will be critical to successful adoption and implementation. 

Switch document management providers
If you like the concept of document management and have management/staff buy-in, but the system you purchased or subscribed to isn't doing everything you need it to, SWITCH. If your current provider offersa true document management system, the documents you've added should be stored as TIF or PDF images (or some similar non-proprietary format), so you can easily upload them into another program. You should be able to transfer meta data or index values as well.

Give up and go back to storing paper
Take all of the documents that you scanned into your document management system and store them on your hard drive or in-house server.  You'll need to figure out how you and your staff will be able to find the documents. And, you'll be responsible for backing up the data and ensuring it is protected from disaster. But, it can be done. This is my least-favorite option and one that I wouldn't recommend, but it's an option nonetheless!

What would I recommend? Switching to eBridge Solutions. In 2009, 94% of our customers said they were 'Satisfied' or 'Very Satisfied' with our services. Why not you?

Click here to sign up for an online demo!

CVBs and document management: it makes cents

eBridge Solutions is headquartered in Tampa, Florida. I say this because everyone in the State is looking toward the Gulf of Mexico, watching and waiting to see what the BP oil disaster is going to do to our beaches... and our livelihoods.

One group working over time since the disaster are the 90 or so Florida convention and visitors bureaus (CVBs). Every time I turn on the television, there is a commercial for Pensacola beaches. Every time I read the newspaper, there is a special Florida hotel rate on Clearwater Beach. The organization behind many of these promotions is the local CVB.

It is the CVBs job to encourage business and leisure travel through outreach programs, advertising and joint planning with hotels, event destinations and restaurants. There are countless meetings, marketing campaigns and RFPs going on. That leads to a lot of paperwork. So, for CVBs to survive this summer, many are turning to document management as a COST SAVING measure.

Using document management, CVBs save money by:  

• eliminating files, file cabinets and some office supplies
• eliminating off-site storage facilities
• allowing staff to email documents with two mouse clicks
• putting documents at your staff's fingertips for quick retrieval
• allowing auditors online access to certain documents
• increasing compliance with record retention mandates

If your CVB hasn't started to go paperless, now is the time. Watch our document management demo or call one of our National Account Managers at (877) 676-6067 x 324 today!

Document management as a business imperative

Business at eBridge Solutions is good. We're steadily growing this year, which is more than I can say for many companies. But, we aren't growing as quickly as we were last year. There are many reasons our salespeople are getting from prospects for pushing back or delaying their contract signing. Budget cuts. Staff cuts. Focus on more critical projects. It's frustrating to say the least.

What's going on?

Well, document management is a wonderful tool. It works perfectly in almost any business environment. Using document management, business can save time, money and space. They can also improve customer service and compliance with industry regulations. All while contributing to the green movement.

So, why isn't everyone using it?

I think it's because many people see document management as additional work for them. In fact, our sales team gets more resistance from Office Managers and front-line employees than anyone else - the people who think they will be doing nothing but scanning.

Initially, it will be a little more work. But, there are two things to consider:

1. You don't have to scan in every file in your office right away.

2. Once you've scanned or printed a document into eBridge, you'll never have to search for it again in an overstuffed file cabinet. So, your future workload will be reduced.

Gradually adding documents to your online file cabinet will increase your comfort with eBridge Solutions and help you quickly realize how valuable finding information in seconds can be.

Three months into your experience with eBridge Solutions, you'll understand what I mean. Give it a try! You'll be glad you did!

Reason #8 to love document management: eliminate couriers!

eBridge Solutions' web-based document management system is the most efficient way to share documents with your customers. Reason #8 to love eBridge Solutions: Let your customers scan documents into your electronic file cabinet and eliminate couriers.

By putting your trust in eBridge, you know your important documents are in safe hands. Your customer scans in their documents that you can then pull up in your own secure electronic file cabinet. This ensures your documents won't end up in the wrong hands, they won't get lost in the mail or accidently taken from the fax machine.

Even waiting just 24 hours for an important document to be delivered can feel like an eternity, by scanning your documents directly into eBridge you no longer have that down time waiting for the courier, overnight delivery service or snail mail. Once a client scans their document into their file cabinet, it will be available to you in mere seconds.

On top of all of that, eliminating couriers with document management will save you hundreds, if not THOUSANDS, of dollars a year. For one low monthly fee with eBridge Solutions you will reduce the amount of paper products you buy, virtually eliminate all postage, photocopies, fax machine and off-site storage.

It doesn't get much better than that. Visit eBridgeSolutions.com for more information and contact a sales representative today. Say 'Bye Bye!' to your courier and 'Hello!' to savings! 

Reason # 2 to love eBridge Solutions: Access your data 24/7, 365 days a year!

Whether you're hard at work in the office on a Wednesday, catching up on some work at home on a Sunday night or you have to find a certain file when the office is closed for a holiday, with eBridge Solutions, your documents are always accessible no matter where you are or what time it is.   

The web-based feature makes eBridge the perfect solution for the workaholic, the traveler and all those weekend warriors who are "just trying to catch up". It can save employers time (why go to the office if you don't need to?) and money (documents don't need to be mailed or couriered to off-site employees). It can also increase the levels of service your business provides.

Several of the industries eBridge deals with REALLY benefit from this any time, anywhere access - funeral directors and realtors. Think of it (sad as it may be): a funeral director gets a call at 3 a.m. from a family who has lost their loved one. Instead of having to go into the office and find out whether the person wanted to be buried or cremated, the director can log into their online file cabinet and pull up the pre-arrangement paperwork.

Or, in a happier example, a realtor who gets a call at 8 p.m. from a seller who has accepted an offer can open their file cabinet and e-mail the acceptance letter to the buyer instead of running to the office.  

As long as you have access to a computer and the Internet, eBridge Solutions is anywhere you want (or need) to be.

Reason # 7: eBridge is SUPER easy to learn!

What is the most annoying thing when you purchase a cool new product? When learning how to work/use it takes forever! You want to start using that cool new product right away, and you want to know the ins and outs of it the same day so you can make use of all of the product's amazing features. Well, that's exactly what you get when you add eBridge Solutions to your business. This brings us to reason #7 to love eBridge Solutions: You can be up and running in two hours or less. 

Our training staff is amazing; they're friendly and extremely helpful when training new customers. While our web-based document management system usually only takes about an hour to learn, we schedule them for two hours just to ensure we don't miss anything.

We also offer free monthly training webinars on our web site for all eBridge users, in case there's anything you need to brush up on regarding our system. 

You really can't find an easier way to implement document management into your business. Check out eBridge Solutions' web site and find out for yourself! 

Document Management can keep auditors out of your office

One of our current client's favorite features of eBridge Solutions is our index-level security. He is in the financial services industry and he gets annual audits. Each year, prior to the event, he sets up his auditor with a user ID and password and then restricts by index level what documents he can see.

If he needs to see applications, for example, our client gives him the right to see applications, but not certificates. Or, he can allow them to see both. This means the auditor doesn't need to come to the office anymore. He can log in remotely, find the documents he needs, print them out and he's all set.

It saves travel and, more importantly, the stress of having an auditor in your office for three days.

If you work in a regulated industry, a web-based document management system can do more than get you organized. It can make your auditor's life easier, which in turn, will make yours easier, too.

JP Morgan agrees that a paperless office is possible and profitable

It may have been touted ever since the computer was invented, but according to a new report from JP Morgan, the paperless office is now technically and economically feasible. Which we at eBridge Solutions have always believed!!

Released last week, the report states that the banking giant has helped 25,000 of its clients eliminate more than 24 million paper documents from operations in just 18 months by promoting digital processes.

It added that the campaign, which urges firms to replace paper documents such as payslips, invoices and bills with digital alternatives, aims to further reduce the volume of paper used by clients by 77 million documents.

The move towards less paper-intensive processes can also save companies money, according to the report. On average, filing and maintaining 500,000 pieces of paper costs firms an estimated $250,000 in workflow management, another $115,000 to research lost files, and about $150,000 in storage and disposal costs.

"Companies often pay extra fees for their paper trails, since the paper documentation they request often duplicates information they already receive from their banks online," the report adds.

Cutting annual paper use by 500,000 sheets can save a company $515,000 a year - more than $1 saved per sheet conserved, according to JP Morgan.

The report also argues that online billing and invoice solutions, remote capture solutions for payments received, and online banking and payment systems mean firms are capable of achieving a "zero-return" environment, where they send and receive information electronically without the use of any paper.

This is great news. The kind we love to hear. If you haven't made a step toward your paperless office, take a tip from JP Morgan and go ahead.