Business consultants say "Lose your records and you lose your business". It sounds dramatic doesn't it? However, statistics confirm it.

In the event of physical catastrophe in the office, using Document Management software means all your records can be retrieved via a routine "restore from backup" action. In other words an effective Disaster Recovery policy is in place.

The main benefits of electronic document management are:

1. Electronic document management frees your staff from the drudgery of bulk paper filing and intuitive additional tools help streamline work processes even further.
2. Powerful filing flexibility - the same document can be filed under several references such as Name, Document Number and Date - not possible with paper documents or computer files unless copies are made. This lays the foundation for a very effective retrieval tool. Indexing a document is an easier and simpler task than giving it a complex filename and having to save it to a particular named Explorer folder.
3. Integrating the filing of other electronic files as well as paper documents enables you to achieve one consistent and logical filing structure for ALL your documents.
4. Paper and PC-generated files received from any source (Post, Email or Fax) are filed into one system. They can then be viewed or actioned by any user or users simultaneously across a network or web. The ability to share documents has several advantages:

• inter-departmental queries are resolved more effectively by reducing the time and physical effort required to communicate and move between departments.
• When talking to customers, questions can be answered instantly, as information such as specifications, price lists & delivery notes are available on screen without leaving one's desk.
• The need to print or copy documents reduces dramatically, saving time and money.
• No more lost or mislaid files.

A 4-drawer filing cabinet typically contains 8-10,000 pieces of paper, occupies 0.7 square metres (7.5 square feet) of precious office space, and takes around 100 valuable staff hours to fill. By the time it is full, many documents will not have been retrieved since they were first filed: as many as 1 in 10 will be missing or in the wrong place: and once full, it is a costly and inefficient chore to weed out old files – either for archiving, or for destruction. And a misfiled piece of paper is as bad as a lost piece of paper: in both cases, the information is not available.

Freeing up expensive floor space can result in large cost savings as space becomes available. More desks or new equipment can be added without having to consider larger premises.