Document Management
Document management (DM) software is a tool that can help businesses and organizations to manage their files. With the majority of modern-day offices on their way to becoming paperless, efficient and effective document management solutions are more necessary than ever before. Without the right software, managing digital files can be just as difficult as organizing printed files.
A lot of businesses struggle because they don’t have a dedicated document management system in place. Other businesses may find themselves using a variety of services to manage, modify, access, share, and archive their files. But whatever aspect of document management your organization is struggling with, you can save time and money by streamlining your document management systems. With dedicated document management software and processes in place, members of your team will find it easier to collaborate on spreadsheets, reports, and other projects.
Read on to learn about some of the various features
PDFs
One of the challenges of moving to a paperless office is preserving the organizational structure previously used for paper documents. In addition, paper documents make it easy to add notes as necessary. There are a variety of PDF editors that can assist in meeting these challenges in the digital era. Programs such as Adobe Acrobat Professional, FoxIt Reader, Mac OS X Preview, Skim, PDF X-Change Viewer, and PDFill are some examples of both free and low-cost software that can allow users to annotate, edit, and merge PDF documents.
Collaboration
When implementing document management systems or software, it’s important to pay attention to collaboration features. Some common features include check-in and check-out options, which allow users to lock access to a document to prevent editing overlap. Version history is another useful feature which gives more than one editor access to earlier versions of a file. This can prove useful in situations where various editors have worked on a document, in addition to times when files become corrupted and users want to revert to an earlier version. Other useful features include track changes and commenting, and where these features are concerned cloud document management software, such as Google Drive for Work and Microsoft Office 365, offers some of the most efficient options. Dropbox Business and Evernote Business can also prove useful for organizations that wish to edit files online.
Document Scanning
Organizations trying to move to a paperless document filing system will require scanning services. Scanning paper documents can free up much-needed office space, increase security, improve ease of access to information, increase collaboration, and boost the mobility of your workforce as employees no longer need to rely on paper copies of important documents. If you need to scan a large volume of paper files, document scanning services are available to ease the process.
Law Offices
Law offices are a common example of businesses that can stand to benefit from document management software. Indeed, there are specific document management applications available for law offices. These include Amicus Attorney, PracticePanther Legal Software, Content Central, Legal File, AbacusLaw, Filevine, Clio, Minutes Depot, and WordLX are just a few examples of document management software used by legal professionals.