=================================================

Paperless Solutions for Business

Written by Jonathan Nichols

University of Central Florida

Information Technology

============================================

The amount of paperwork in which many businesses today must deal with is enormous, as well as the cost associated with managing it.   It is greatly inefficient as well as unreliable.  A surprising amount of today's business offices are not automated, much less integrated.  There is a serious need for a cost-effective, integrated digital solution based on available technology.  The solution to this problem will bring today's outdated paper-based office into the digital world while integrating with legacy technology already in use.  Outdated businesses must be linked to the electronic world.  With electronic filing and paperless solutions technology, business offices will have the ability to access documents instantly instead of wasting precious time searching through an antiquated paper filing system.  Office workers will be able to instantly pull up any needed document on their workstation.  Documents can be archived electronically, making them easily accessible, saving both money and time for the business.  Clearly, efficiency is the largest benefit to businesses; efficiency that comes from being able to instantly access information.  This goal can be accomplished via the integration of paperless solutions technology, data archiving, database design and implementation, internet technology, and the latest and most cost effective hardware. 

        Three words exemplify the effects of converging technologies within a business setting; Integration, Automation, Innovation.   Paperless solutions technology presents the opportunity for business owners to maximize efficiency, reduce their long term cost, increase company reliability, reduce their storage space, and raise the morale of their employees.  All of these benefits are extremely achievable with technological innovation.  A well developed electronic filing system creates optimal efficiency for any business.  While the short term cost might be higher, the potential for long term savings is enormous with a well designed information system.  These savings are seen more and more the longer the system is in place.  Business owners see savings in time, supplies and storage space.  Electronic storage methods are much more reliable than outdated filing systems as well.  With a proper data backup system in place, business owners can rest assure that their data is well secured.  Employee morale is sure to increase as well.  Once the employees are past the initial learning curve, they will feel much more comfortable around their new system.  It will eliminate needless efforts spent searching through outdated paper filing systems, and greatly reduce the office stress level in the process.

        This high tech system from an outside perspective might seem extremely expensive and extremely complex, but to a well trained IT professional, it is relatively simply to instantiate within a small business. The first step would be to set up a networked databases system within the business.  Proprietary software can be used such as FileMaker Pro, or a custom designed database can be set up for the business.  MySQL for instance would be an excellent choice for a small to medium sized business.  It is an open source database management system readily available to the public.  The system can be designed to specific business needs, or a database can easily be imported from GUI programs such as Microsoft Access.  There are also numerous databases systems specifically designed for electronic filing.  These systems make use of a binary object system to store digital images; images such as scanned customer forms, business receipts, contracts, or countless other paper documents that the typical business sees throughout the day.  Medical offices for instance use proprietary software to store electronic medical records which can be accessed years later.  This is crucial for the medical industry, as new HIPPA regulations require that medical records now be stored for up to seven years.  A busy practice will quickly run out of storage space being forced to utilize outside storage facilities, further adding to their overhead.  A proper storage system is crucial to having a paperless office, and the efficiency gained from it.   

        Once a database is set up, the next step is to institute a scanning system.  For smaller businesses, the typical desktop scanner will do the job nicely.  These scanners are becoming more accurate, more efficient, faster, and less expensive by the day. There is even specialized software for autocorrecting the document images.  Instead of filing the actual paper document within a filing system, the document is scanned and placed within the electronic filing database in about the same time it would take to manually file the document.  Documents such as business receipts and monthly utilities would be stored within their own directories, and individual client documents such as signed financial forms and customer records would be stored under each individual client’s directory.  For some businesses, it might be rather difficult to convert from a paper filing system to an electronic filing system, especially in the medical and financial industries where documents must be stored for years.  For these transitions, high speed bulk scanners must be utilized.  These scanners are able to scan hundreds of documents at a time and thousands of documents in a single day.  Specialized onboard hardware is customized for digital image correction.  The scanned images are auto-resized, color enhanced, straightened, lightened or darkened, and finalized into a perfect digital document.  Optical character recognition software would then be utilized to search through and sort the digital images into their respective categories within the electronic database.   Particular areas of the document such as the social security number or phone number would be used to sort the documents into customer records.  A bar code system could be easily established to read and sort the images as well.  There are countless software systems for optical character recognition, bar code scanning, digital image sorting and electronic filing.  

        Once the system is in place, the business owners and managers will have access to any document, at a time, at any location within the network.  Office workers needing to access a specific document or view all documents relating to a specific client, will be able to do so in a fraction of the time it would take with a paper filing system.  A web system could even be established to connect the office network to the internet, allowing clients or other businesses to view specific documents.  To this point, these technologies have only been available to enterprise-level corporations, but soon, every business will utilize this type of system.  The technology is readily available and affordable; it simply takes a welled trained individual or team to integrate the technology within a business setting.