With many businesses now having to manage their employees remotely, having excellent channels of communication and the ability to share files securely is essential.
Many online platforms offer file sharing services, but they don’t provide the additional intelligent features that you can expect from a Document Management system. With business owners being cautious with their purchasing decisions right now, why is a Document Management System (DMS) such a smart investment?
Security & Compliance
A DMS is secure because all users have unique login details to access the system. A digital audit trail is created when anyone performs an action (logging in, opening a file, editing a file, etc.), so administrators have a clear picture of what all users are doing within the system. You can set permissions to ensure users can only access the information that they need to. For example, a member of the Marketing team would not be given access to HR or Financial information, keeping your information secure and compliant.
Filing, Search & Retrieval
A DMS provides a central location for all of your digital files which can be easily accessed by all of your users. You can store a range of file types, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDFS, jpegs, etc. Paper files can be scanned and saved, so you can store all of your archive files too, or scan files on an ad hoc basis as you go. A DMS has a range of intelligent ways to search for what you need. Files are saved with metadata which makes it a lot quicker and easier to search for and find a document, typically just a few seconds. You can search by file name, file type, date saved, a word, phrase or number within a document (e.g. an invoice number) and more. Using a DMS will also standardise your filing structure so that files are saved in the correct place each time, reducing, if not removing, misfiled documents.
Having lots of paper files at home isn’t very secure or convenient. Not only do you need to find somewhere to store them, but you might also need to keep them safe from children or pets, not a problem you have when your files are digital and saved in a DMS.
File Sharing & Collaboration
It’s easy to share files securely with all of your remote employees. All users have their own digital intray where they can keep files they are working on before saving them in the right place in the system. They can also share files into another user’s intray. For example, an HR Manager could put a new remote working policy in her HR Director’s intray to be reviewed and edited. Users can access and edit the same document, so you don’t have lots of versions saved in multiple places – desktops, hard drives, shared drives, email attachments and more. Something which would be particularly hard to manage when everyone is working from home. A DMS also allows you to share very large files easily, something that not so easy to do via email or some online platforms. Users don’t have to click on links in emails or create new accounts on websites they may not be familiar with.
Employees can collaborate and edit their files within the system, by ‘checking out’ a document. This ensures that only one person can edit it at one time. Once they’ve finished editing it, they simply check it back in. The Version Control feature ensures that users are always working with the latest version of a file, but previous versions can be quickly retrieved if needed. No one wants to do hours of work only to realise they are working on an old version of a document.
Cloud
A DMS can be installed on an on-site server or in the cloud, and set up remotely, which is safe and contactless, causing minimal disruption to your business and employees. A simple system with up to 10 filing cabinets could be set up and installed within a few hours, so if you need a secure, intelligent way of sharing files as soon as possible, this is the perfect choice for your business. It can be accessed whenever, wherever it is convenient for your users, making it ideal for remote working. And when things finally return to normal, and people can go back to working in an office, you can continue to use your Document Management system in exactly the same way in the office, or with a mix of office-based and remote workers.
If you would like to find out more about Document Management and how it can help your business with secure file sharing, please get in touch.
