Document management has been an integral part of every company, business and organization since each business started operations. Some have been in existence for well over 100 years, while others have only come into existence recently. To protect each organization, there has to be rules regarding the filing and storage of all documentation.
For the purposes of this article, the term “business” includes businesses, organizations, companies and all other establishments needing to keep records. Every business is different in many ways. Structure, location, responsibilities, size, accountability and nature of the business being conducted are all different facets of any business and have to be taken into consideration when creating any document storage and filing system.
Regulations Need to be Followed
Regulations are created by whatever governing body the business has to answer to, whether it’s in legal terms or with regards to personal privacy laws or policies. As an example of the latter, a hospital has a duty of care to ensure all patient records are kept confidential. At the same time, however, information needs to be easily accessible. Decisions may have to be made very quickly sometimes with regards to a patient’s health and the decision may be a matter of life or death.
Some businesses that may have been in existence for fifty years or more could have millions of records and most of them would be paper based files. This means there would be very large storage areas full of important information that may not be easily accessible because the information is pre-computer age material. Such businesses would need to facilitate a more modern approach to a document management system in keeping with current, ever changing regulations.
Rules regarding methods for record keeping can be made by Federal, State and Local governments, hospitals, universities, schools, places of worship, defense forces, major corporations, social and sporting clubs and so the list goes on and on. Because businesses interact with each other, the most sensible approach would be to use a standardized style of document indexing system.
A thorough understanding of the rules and regulations of records management that govern your particular business is vital. Any business has to comply with rules set down by various controlling bodies. The only way to ensure you comply fully is to use an indexing system that will enable you to keep total control over all records and yet have them readily locatable and accessible if required at any time.
Some laws are complex and can sometimes be intentionally vague to allow for new technology developments. There can be stiff fines and even jail time applicable for serious breaches of document management retention guidelines. CEOs, managers of large businesses and other enterprises are more frequently turning to companies that specialize in storage of document management and filing systems to help them maintain the increasing amount of information that they receive.
Ease and Flexibility
The document management system should offer great flexibility, be easily accessible to anyone needing information, be user-friendly and reduce the amount of space necessary to maintain permanent records. It shouldn’t be a tedious time-consuming task.
Intelligent Document Management Software
Record keeping in the past has been generally alphabetical, numerical or a clumsy combination of the two. Because of new technology and ever-changing rules, an intelligent document management software, like The Paper Tiger Document Management and Filing System Software, is really the best choice because of its versatility. If files can be located by simply conducting a ‘google-like’ search from your computer, it will be much easier to comply with all relevant rules pertaining to your specific business.
Disposal of Records
It’s also necessary to know how to dispose of records permanently and correctly once they’re no longer required. If this isn’t done properly, there can be serious repercussions. A certain bank discovered this the hard way when some of their old computers containing hundreds of confidential customer files went up for auction on eBay. Needless to say, there were heavy legal penalties imposed.
Businesses have different lengths of time for which records must be kept. A standard figure for most businesses is seven years. If your business operates in different states or countries, then the way you set up and maintain your document management system will be forced to comply with the rules of those states and countries.
Any system you decide to use must be able to cope with these extra complications. Technology will continue to improve and more reliance will be placed on utilizing it to replace older, more archaic systems.
Ensuring you’re following the rules regarding the filing and storage of all documentation is a mandatory part of every business and using a smart document management software, like The Paper Tiger Document Management and Filing System Software, will enable you to have the greatest amount of flexibility to cope with this enormous job.
Tags: document management software, The Paper Tiger 'Finding' Filing System
