Study: Businesses continue to work toward changes in records management

August 12, 2013

There is significant evidence that bulk scanning services of older documents can help streamline operations in the long run, but businesses continue to find paper on their desks and offices. Sometimes, printed files are out of organization’s control if other branches deliver sensitive material in the mail or some clients are not comfortable with signing paperwork off a secure network, so businesses have to change their records management processes accordingly.

Nonetheless, companies understand that paperless solutions will drive work productivity and give them a return on their investment on their database management services software, according to AIIM. The organization’s research on the direction of the industry shows that the fight to reduce paper waste is improving, but there are many setbacks.

For example, 74 percent of respondents said that their practice encourages employees to use the office’s data capture services or processes, but only 24 percent of them have a policy reinforcing the same idea. This shows that companies are allowing departments to change their records management processes at their own discretion.

This issue can attribute to long-term inefficiencies if one office prints out documents from the secure server that could remain online if they were also a part of the network. The tug-of-war between offices explains why 19 percent of organizations continue to see an increase of their paper usage. Even so, 41 percent said that there is a decrease of paper use.

Those businesses that are still wary about changing their documents believe that signatures should be completed on pieces of paper. Legally, electronic signatures have been accepted forms of consent for at least 10 years. Instead of waiting for a fax or a parcel that includes the signature for a contract, data capture services can do that for you.

Tab Service Company is a Chicago based company with over 53 years of experience as a data processing service provider.  We provide business with outsourcing solutions for document scanning services, data entry services and mailing/lettershop services.  As a SOC2-approved organization, we apply industry-best practices to our approach with clients.