Paper is expensive, wasteful, less secure, and is slowly become obsolete in the future of business. While some businesses are starting to move away from paper, knowing how to make the transition from paper to digital documents can be difficult, and there's no better way to get started by implementing a well-designed Document Management System (DMS) into your organization.
However, when implementing a document management system for your organization, be sure to consider its various features. Not all document management systems are made equal. There are plenty of factors that set them apart from each other, and understanding what makes for a well-designed DMS is important for modern businesses of all sizes.
Here are 7 top document management features you need today for your organization to successfully implement a DMS that benefits your workflow processes:
Almost everything in business nowadays takes place online. Cloud access is essential because employees must be able to upload and download documents at any time and from any location. While web-based document management systems are quickly becoming the standard in the industry, there are still a number of options out there that don’t feature web integration. These choices should be avoided.
Managing a large number of documents can quickly become a challenge. This is especially true for businesses that are just getting started. The larger a company grows, the more likely there will be an increasing number of documents to manage. When choosing a document management system, one of the most crucial features to consider is organisational structure. Categorization, tagging, and rating will assist you in quickly locating the files you require.
Because your employees will be using your document management system on a daily basis, you'll want to make sure it has an appealing user interface. This is the first thing you and your team see when you log in, and it's one of the most crucial features. No one will want to change to a document management system which is difficult to use.
Finding specific documents and files can become increasingly difficult as your projects and staff members grow. Your team needs to be able to search through all of your content, but many document management solutions don't have this feature. A powerful search engine that can accurately search your company's knowledge base will come in handy on a frequent basis, saving you and your team a lot of time in the long run.
Since uploaded documents are always being updated, every business should have a document management system that allows for modifications and multiple versions of files. Everyone has been in a situation where they couldn't go back to a previous version. When unfixable errors are committed, it is typically necessary to create a new document. When you upload a document, the best document management systems save every version, allowing you to revert back to a previous version of a document.
It might be tough to keep a social community in check when you have a large crew. Permissions are important if you have a large number of staff in your company, since they allow you to select who has the authority to delete or edit files and documents, as well as who does not. Administrators can set specific permissions for each employee in the most top document management systems available, allowing them to maintain control and prevent essential documents from being altered.
File formats are continually evolving and new formats are being introduced. Although common file formats such as .pdf and .docx are popular in most workplaces, this does not rule out the possibility of other file formats being popular in the future. The more document management formats your system can handle, the better. This will ensure that you don't have any problems in the future.
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