Posted by Stephanie Jones on Tue, Jul 20, 2010 @ 10:57 AM
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!
Posted by Stephanie Jones on Thu, Jul 15, 2010 @ 08:34 PM
Perhaps no other industry has been hit harder by the economy than nonprofits. They are getting a double hit: more clients, less money. It isn’t often that ADDING a new process will lower expenses. But the exception is the new buzz – document management.
In its simplest definition, document management is the process of managing documents and other forms of information such as images from creation to storage to sharing. It also involves the indexing, storage and retrieval of documents in an organized method.
Non-profits deal with so much paperwork. Volunteer applications. Donor records. Employee files. Tax records. Document management pay for itself through better organization, storage reduction and increased compliance and document security.
Increased file organization and staff productivity.
One of the biggest hidden costs that non-profits face is the time it takes to work with paper files. With a document management system, you can save money in your office with:
Improved retrieval time - obtaining paper from storage or an archive is typically slower than electronic retrieval of documentation. Let’s look at an example: It takes a $20/hour employee five minutes to walk to a records room, locate a file, act on it, re-file it, and return to his desk. At just four files per day, that’s more than 86 hours per year spent filing – around $1,700 in wages. At ten files per day, that rockets up to 216 hours per year – over five weeks’ time, or $4,300 – and that’s just for one employee. A document management system lets users pull up documents in seconds without ever leaving their desks, which eliminates those ‘water cooler’ conversations that tend to prolong tasks.
Improved staff productivity - less time spent searching for documents or trying to find the current version of a document. Faster document review and approval cycles, particularly where multiple reviewers and approvers are involved in the business process, are also benefits. Customer service calls are handled with greater speed and accuracy with immediate access to information. By reducing processing time organizations can increase the volume of transactions and revenue.
“Our document management gives us rapid access to the signed documents — volunteer affidavits, interviews, reference checks, Youth Exchange applications, Host Family applications, passports, insurance paperwork and more,” explained Michael Cloutier, youth director chair for Western States Student Exchange (WESSEX), a non-profit organization comprised of 24 Rotary International Districts.
Improved organization - Document management systems also eliminate the “lost document” cost – the time it takes to recreate a document that’s been destroyed or misplaced. Some suppliers estimate the cost of replacing each lost document at $250.
Reduction of storage needs.
In addition to organization and productivity, the physical cost of filing and storing paper documents grows over time as filing cabinets consume more and more valuable office space and off-site storage fees add up.
Additional cost savings come from the space in your organization that can be freed by eliminating most paper records. With real estate costs at $15 to $50 or more per square foot in many major cities, converting records rooms into usable office space can save considerable amounts of money. In other cases, you may be able to eliminate storage costs for years of old records.
Many non-profits have been able to add staff or services in the space previously occupied by filing cabinets.
Decrease in amount of equipment and office supplies needed.
Document management systems can save you money on paper, printer and toner costs. Users don’t need to print paper documents when electronic versions are available for use or reuse. It is also possible to eliminate fax machines, since documents can be e-mailed right out of most document management systems.
Touching on compliance…
Adding document management can also create potential savings. As a result of managing their information more efficiently, non-profits can be more forthcoming with their business documents to assist with regulatory compliance. This reduces their risk of potential fines and penalties in the event of an audit or lawsuit.
And the redundant off-site storage ensures business continuity should your organization experience any type of data storage disaster. All of the documents that have been added to your document management system (as long as it is web-based) will be there if your office experiences a natural or man-made disaster.
Eliminating paper, increasing efficiency and reducing supply costs are benefits that any business can use today. Becoming more compliant and building a back-up set of documents are hidden benefits that could pay off in the future should audit or disaster strike.
As businesses everywhere look for ways to do more with less, many non-profits are finding that document management can actually save them money.