It’s on every boss’s wish list – a paperless office reducing costs, improving efficiency and helping the planet.
With 42% of the global wood harvest used to make paper, it makes environmental sense to cut back. Not to mention the economic savings of switching to a virtual office.
So what are the major challenges and solutions when it comes to cutting paperwork and embracing new ways for your business to function?
Challenge: Your outdated systems require printing of documents
You’ve been hanging on to the old ways far too long. You’re used to sending and receiving letters by traditional post, printing off all your emails and storing paper documents in traditional filing cabinets.
Solution: Switch to cloud storage
Digital documents are easier to store, organize, search and send. Plenty of providers offer packages to cover all your business document and filing needs. Say goodbye to bulky filing cabinets and old-fashioned back-up methods – your documents will be stored securely on the cloud for instant retrieval on any device with an internet connection.
Challenge: Your old fax machine chews up paper
It’s annoying, isn’t it? The traditional fax machine prints every incoming message, regardless of whether it’s important. It’s just not that smart! It will print you error messages, faded and unreadable text, and documents that are discarded as soon as they’ve been read.
Solution: Switch to virtual faxing
Would you like to read internet faxes directly from a computer screen, and decide if you want to print them or not? Then you need to update your technology and go for an online fax system like eFax. It’s a different world. Retrieve a document from the cloud and fax straight from your smartphone or tablet. Send large files and high-resolution images to email without delay or blockages. Get unlimited cloud storage for your faxes, all protected with high-security encryption. It’s hard to say no!
Challenge: You are still manually signing letters
Perhaps you thought there was no alternative to the daily chore of signing multiple pieces of paper, which are then folded and popped into paper envelopes before being rushed to the letterbox to avoid missing the last mail collection?
Solution: Use a digitized signature and send your letters online
Smart business owners now save time and paper by adding stored, digital signatures to documents before they are sent to recipients by electronic means. No paper involved, and you don’t even have to get out of your chair! Pop in a digital signature then fax-to-email anywhere in the world. Save heaps of paper, time and office labor on every job.
Challenge: Employees print first and ask questions later
You’ve decided to reduce your office paper, but your staff don’t know about it. They still print off everything that moves, building stacks of unwanted paper.
Solution: Promote a ‘think before your print’ approach
Introduce an eco-friendly plan for the office and encourage greener habits. Make it easier and more appealing to read text digitally; adjust employees’ computer screens to make text larger and background colors more user-friendly. Use online banking, sending and receiving bills and invoices via email, internet or virtual fax wherever possible. Train your staff in using new cloud-based technology.
The possibilities are endless – you just need to be willing to investigate new ways of carrying out business. Happy hunting!