Misconceptions of the Paperless Office

According to recent reports, more paper than ever is being thrown away and 35% of companies are ordering more paper than they were five years ago. So what's the problem? What is stopping businesses taking paperless steps?

The paperless office. Yes, we do talk about it a lot but judging by these reports, it needs discussing a lot more to change people's misconceptions about adopting digital business processes. So, let's take a look at the most common excuses that have prevented companies going digital with their document management.

It's too expensive to go paperless

This is not the case. In fact, you may well be wasting money with your current system on document storage and file retrieval costs among others. If you don't have the infrastructure to handle the digitisation process yourself then the smart choice would be to outsource to document scanning services rather waste money on attempting it yourself. Plus, outsourcing usually costs a lot less than you realise for the services it brings.

I can't get rid of aLL of the paper in my office

This is a common misconception about the paperless office which shows that perhaps it should have been called something else. While achieving a completely paper free office can be achieved if you really set your mind to it, the paperless office concept is really just to encourage the use of LESS paper and adopting more efficient and environmentally friendly means of doing business. Now this idea is easily achievable!

I will need to train my staff again

In this increasingly digital age, we are all surrounded by digital products on a day to day basis whether that's mobile phones or computers so if you adopt the right document management software, it will be simple enough that it can be picked up by anyone with a basic knowledge of computers.

My documents will be less safe in digital form

Again, not true. This rumour is constantly fed by news of digital files being hacked and information leaked but if you use safe servers and file encrypted documents with passwords, your digital documents will be completely safe from the risks of loss, theft and damage that paper documents are increasingly susceptible to.

Paper is too important for my business

This opinion is definitely just a mind set. In the same way that we claim we can't live without our mobile phones , it is simply a case of adapting to change. Where you would usually use paper documents to share important files with colleagues, you can just send a digital file over email. It can even be edited in real-time with apps such as Google Docs.

Going paperless won't change anything

There is such a broad range of benefits that come with going paperless that it's incredibly likely that it will bring at least one positive change to your company. You could;

• Save huge costs on storage
• Speed up file retrieval times
• Improve customer services
• Give your documents more security
• Increase office efficiency
• Boost green credentials
• Save/reclaim office space
• Boost employee morale

...the list goes on!

It's always been done this way, why change it?

What kind of attitude is that? If everyone thought that way, we would still have walking as the only mode of transport and be cooking dinner on bonfires! Progress is important to improve everyday life. Sometimes you might not even realise the positive effects a change can have until you make it. Just think about the evolution of the telephone to smartphone. All I can say is you'll never know unless you try and the benefits speak for themselves.

How Pearl Scan can help

Here at Pearl Scan, we offer a wide range of paperless office and document scanning services which can be tailored to suit the needs of each individual client. Our services can ensure the process from paper to paperless (or at least paper-light) is a smooth one with optional extras including OCR processing, cloud hosting and document retrieval software. If you would like some more information about the paperless office and how your company can benefit, check out some of our blog articles. For a free, no obligation quote for paperless office solutions, get in touch today.