Can your office go paperless?

The idea of a paperless office is growing in popularity, with more businesses adopting the cloud, unified communications and other tools that let them do work in a digital space, rather than a physical one. These solutions are useful, as they can help a business cut costs, as well as be more environmentally friendly. However, one problem that many companies run into is integrating their older paper documents with their new digital systems.

According to Ecopreneurist, the paperless office is a real, viable notion for most businesses. However, in order to prepare for the switch to 100 percent digital, there are three steps that a business has to take: adopting electronic signatures, paperless engagement solutions and document management.

For most businesses, contracts and forms make up one of the largest barriers to going paperless, as these documents require signatures. However, the U.S. Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act allows digital signatures to hold the same legal weight and value as a physical signature.

There are a variety of other services that help a business go paperless. Unified communications consolidates voice, email, video, fax and other collaboration tools with data systems. These solutions also help integrate client information, which can help improve productivity. However, document management may be the most vital of these alternatives services.

When attempting to go paperless, a business needs to convert its old records and files to a digital medium in order to eliminate filing cabinets and keep all of its documents organized. A document conversion service can help a business efficiently transfer paperwork to its new digital system without interrupting operations, and make document storage more efficient. Additionally, these solutions aid in preparing a business for data backup and recovery needs,assisting the company in preparation of a crisis.