Less Paper or Paperless
As we head further into 2015 it seems that we are moving more and more into the digital realm, and that, like tape recorders and typewriters, paper will soon be something of the past.
At RSAWEB we have been moving across from paper to a digital environment for a while now, and as an Internet and hosting providing we are constantly striving to find new and innovative ways to make our work flows and day to day jobs easier and more streamlined – namely, via the use of the Internet and the Cloud.
I personally have been working hard on moving myself and the RSAWEB team across from a paper heavy environment to a digital one, and so I thought I would jot down a few ideas on ways I have found of cutting down on paper use – take a look at a few of my suggestions below:
Changing your invoicing systems:
Banks and cell phone providers started emailing statements to save paper a number of years ago, and many other companies are slowly joining them and moving across to paperless invoicing.
I found that Banks and Cell providers started emailing statements to save paper. the key here is make sure you do your research. Before you spend money on paperless systems spend some time reading, there may be a free product out there for you to use.
On document management:
· Tip: The best tip I can give here is the find the best solution for you and your company.
There are so many options out there to assist with document management and storage, such as Evernote and Dropbox.
Many Internet Service Providers (ISP’s) offer cloud services, which act as a virtual server where you can save all your documents and access them from anywhere. This allows you to capitalise on high-end hardware without needing to be “plugged in” via Ethernet cable. It also ensures that you can access your documents at any time and from any location providing you have Internet access.
On signing documents:
The business of printing, signing and scanning a document back in, should soon become a thing of the past.
· Tip: There are a few programs out there that can help you send documents that you need to have signed and you can save the contract as a PDF and upload it, then send it to the person who needs to sign it. They simply click and sign with their mouse or touch screen.
A few options include:
· Echo Sign by Adobe
· A local option called Quickly Sign
These programs are easy to use and allow you to track a document from one user to another and manage the process very easily.
On Staff Management:
When it comes to employees’ documents, why have all that paper? What a waste of space, let alone a fire hazard!
· Tip: There are quite a few HR programs out there that will calculate leave and link it to salaries; you can also add forms for leave and then email your salary slips to staff rather than printing them out.
A few other examples of print heavy industries turning towards paperless experiences:
Many publishers have gone digital, choosing to stop printing their monthly magazines and to rather supply them online resulting in no more paper cuts while reading your favourite magazine!
Wedding invites are being emailed now, some people still have their invites made for the keep sake purposes, but others would rather save money and use it on something more useful.
Photographs are also not being printed as much anymore, they are either all stored on a cloud server or sitting in a digital frame (where you have the option of seeing a few different pictures that rotate), a DVD or an external hdd.
Novels went digital a few years back and now one finds oneself seeking the latest and greatest Kindle or other E-book reader on which to do all their reading.
With more and more people moving away from paper now, don’t you think it is time you did the same? I’d love to hear if you have any other tips on how to move across to a paperless environment – please comment on Twitter or Facebook and let me know?
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