Companies have been struggling to find effective ways to enter information into document management systems since the inception of the paper scanner. What began as a quest to streamline scanning and indexing paper documents, especially in human resources departments, has evolved into finding document management solutions for both paper and electronic elements such as email, images, PDFs, Word files and Excel files.
Following are ways your company can optimize its document management process.
Use Paper Scanners for Small Jobs
While the world is becoming more digital, most companies still deal with paper to some degree. You should keep paper scanners in the office, either as a small desktop unit or as a departmental multi-function printer, to convert hard copies into digital files that can be easily stored within your system.
Incorporate Barcodes to Ease the Burden of Data Entry
Manual data entry may still be the best method for small, ad hoc scanning jobs, but it is impractical for your larger, more repetitive projects. Instead, you should use barcodes, which can help you index and organize scanned paper images more efficiently.
For instance, many HR departments send out annual employment letters outlining wages, benefits, PTO, etc. In these letters, you can include barcodes that identify the type of form, the year and the employee’s name or ID. Once the documents are filled out and returned, all you need to do is scan the document, and the capture software automatically indexes and files it, eliminating the need to hand-key information.
Start with Digital When Possible
Electronic forms, or e-forms, help you remove the need to scan paper documents altogether. Your HR department should use this technology for job applications and flexible benefit reimbursement since the data can be used within a workflow process to intelligently route the document for approval.
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