This testimony from Donna T. is just another great way to use Paper Tiger Document Management Software and Filing System.
Paper Tiger, especially the online version, can be very useful to anyone with disability issues or for caretakers. It’s much easier to get a call from a caretaker asking where Mom’s (whatever) is, and being able to say, bottom drawer in the hall cabinet in the blue box, (than to tell the hired aide or relative who is helping, try the cabinet in the hall on the first and second floor, or her bottom drawer in the bedroom or…. ) Instantly (and now even from work), with your < Paper Tiger > system, someone can just pull up Mom’s database and type in “Whatsamadoodle” and the location comes up – at least if you have a system that keeps things where they “go”. Works for Mom’s files too – accountant comes over (if you know one well enough) and asks-Where’s mom’s receipts for last April – and you can tell him “number 25 in the black file cabinet.” (which she named Keep)- he would have thought “receipts” and never found it with her old system.)
Do you hate filing? Now you can Find Anything in Your Office in 5 Seconds or Less…Guaranteed! The number one paper management software product is now “in the cloud” – Paper Tiger Online is now available & customers can sign up for a FREE FOREVER account in 60 seconds!
Atlanta, GA (PRWEB) July 20, 2010 – Paper Tiger Document Management Software & Filing System has set the standard for helping companies and individuals get control of something they hate…filing the paper on their desk & in their office. First launched in 1998 as a desktop software product, Paper Tiger software is now “in the cloud” and available worldwide on the Internet (SaaS – software as a service).
Now anyone can start solving their problems with the paper in their office in under 60 seconds for FREE. If a messy desk is your problem, if your alphabetic filing system breaks down each time you have staff turnover, if members of your team want to be able to quickly and easily share information in the office or if you are wasting too much time each week looking for lost information, then Paper Tiger Online could be just what is needed. The new filing system product is designed for anyone who wants to get a better handle on the paper-based information in the office. Currently tens-of-thousands of organizations worldwide use the existing desktop (client) version of Paper Tiger software.
Paper Tiger Document Management Software and Filing System is a very powerful, yet simple indexing system for paper office files. It works like a search engine for paper files to help companies and individuals stay organized! People using the software can save over 150 hours per year by eliminating the time-consuming task of looking for lost information. Paper Tiger Document Management and Filing System software uses the power of the computer to index the hanging file folders in office file cabinets. This method works much better than old-fashioned alphabetic methods and is a great alternative to costly and time consuming scanning and imaging solutions.
Using Paper Tiger Online, customers will be able to access their information from anywhere with an Internet connection. They will no longer have to worry about what computer they are using (Windows, Mac, Linux, etc.) or if they have backed up their data. They can even see their Paper Tiger information on the Apple iPad, Apple iPod Touch, Apple iPhone, Android phones and most other web-enabled devices. The new software works with almost any Internet browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Chrome, etc.) Adding an additional member of their team to Paper Tiger Online is so easy, it just takes a minute and there are no networking/technical hassles!
“Finally, everyone including our Mac customers, can use Paper Tiger software. With our FREE FOREVER account, anyone can start using the software in under 60 seconds by going to our website!”, says James D. Grady, President & CEO of The Monticello Corporation, the makers of Paper Tiger Document Management and Filing System software. “Our total focus with Paper Tiger Online was to make filing & managing paper much easier to do. People want to stay organized & clear the piles of paper off their desk, but not spend their life doing it.”, Grady continues.
Tens-of-thousands of companies, government agencies and non-profit organizations around the world use Paper Tiger Document Management and Filing System software to get organized and manage their office filing tasks much more productively. What most people do not know is that there are only 5 things you can do with a piece of paper – (1) Toss It (2) Stack It (3) File It Alphabetically (4) Scan It or (5) Index It using a product like Paper Tiger Document Management and Filing System software. The paperless office never quite made it to reality, alphabetic methods quickly break down and become out-of-date, and scanning solutions are costly and very difficult to implement. Also, many documents (signed contracts, presentations, etc.) must be kept in their original paper form. Some people are uncomfortable with scanning documents due to the possibility that they could lose everything in the event of a technical malfunction. For a complete list of these options and the pros and cons of each, see our Document Management Decision Guide.
About The Monticello Corporation, makers of Paper Tiger Document Management and Filing System software.
Founded in 1995, The Monticello Corporation’s mission is to enhance its customers’ businesses and personal effectiveness by providing the training, tools and motivation to help them solve their problems with filing and document management. The company’s main product, Paper Tiger Document Management and Filing System software, was created as a type of inventory management system (like a chart of accounts) for physical hanging files (you know, the green, yellow, blue and red ones in your file cabinet!)
Monticello got its name from the legendary home of Thomas Jefferson, U.S. president from 1801-1809. An avid collector of books and music, Jefferson transferred his personal library of more than 6,000 volumes to the Library of Congress in 1815, doubling its size and permanently expanding the scope of its collections.
Time Management at work and play!
by Denise Russos, Progressive Organizing Solutions and Paper Tiger Expert
This article gives us a great plan to better manage our time so that we can get things done! Please note in #5 where Denise coaches us to keep your work place, desk and filing needs simple and streamlined. The Paper Tiger Document Management Software and Filing System (Paper Tiger Online or Paper Tiger desktop version) will help you accomplish this very efficiently and be able to later find what you’ve filed!
Too many times we work in places that we never feel like we get our work accomplished. There are days that we constantly seem to be interrupted over and over again, so much so that by the time we leave work, we realize that nothing that was supposed to get done, actually got done!
Here are some statistics about how typical office workers feel about their days at work.
“Research shows that this is how office workers spend their typical work day:
- 28%: Unnecessary interruptions (with recovery time)
- 25%: Creating content (productive work)
- 20%: Meetings (may or may not be conclusive with action plan)
- 15%: Searching for information (half the time, search does not yield results)
- 12%: Thinking and reflecting (productive, creative work)
So what do you do?
1. Have a clear objective of what you want to achieve for the day or the next 2 hours and let nothing distract you. If you need to focus and concentrate, then turn off the chats (digital or not) and the email alerts.
2. Get a draft copy of your work out in the designated time – even if it is not perfect. Start with a framework and fill in the content as you go along. Keep the momentum going, it is progress against perfection.
3. Do not allow yourself to be interrupted unnecessarily – turn off the emails alerts, online chats and let the answering machine do its work if you are doing creative or productive work. Manage your emails with filters and rules.
4. Take breaks in between chunks of concentrated work time – enjoy your brief coffee break. Do a little stretching, take a deep breath, relax your neck and your shoulders and then come back to more focus work.
5. Keep it simple and clean – your work place, desk and filing needs to be simple and streamlined. Make good use of the trash bin. This un-cluttering will clear your mind for more creative and productive work.
6. Set yourself up for efficient work before hand – get your documents, files, and references organized each time before you wrap up work so you do not waste time looking for files and tools the next time you start work.
7. Enjoy your work – that will fuel you to be productive at work. (Retrieved from The Desk Demon Network)
Wow! Can you imagine feeling that if you work every day for four hours a day that you really only get one hour of work done every day? That’s such a tremendous waste of time!
So let’s say you use the formula above to be more efficient at work. Do you think this is feasible?
There are two of the items above that I want you to focus on.
The first is #1. Have a clear objective. Write it down and pretend it’s written in Gold and decide you will achieve that goal!
The second is #3. Stop letting interruptions rule your day.
Recently I’ve had a co-worker interrupt me 11 times in one day. Her interruptions hit the high time today when knowing that I was on the phone, she walked into my office, talking to me very loudly, so loudly I couldn’t hear the person on the phone.
You may be that person who is interrupting your co-workers and not getting your work done because of it.
If you are, then work on understanding why. Are you a person who needs to be around other people more than working alone? Whatever the reason, work on focusing on your work in shorter stretches of time and then taking a break.
There are many ways to increase your productivity at work, and time management is just one of them.
Hope this helps,
http://twitter.com/DeniseRussos
In 1998, we revolutionized the way the world files and manages paper by introducing Paper Tiger Desktop. The first product was based on a simple concept…enlist the computer to create an easy-to-use index of the paper in your life (or your organization) so that you can Find Anything in Your Office in 5 Seconds or Less…Guaranteed!
The first product allowed people to:
* Clear their desk.
* Stop trying to remember where they filed things.
* Easily share information with others in the office.
* Make it possible for the office manager to actually take a vacation knowing that everyone will use Paper Tiger to find what they need.
Paper Tiger customers could move beyond the piles everywhere or a broken, non-functional alphabetic method to using a computer to better manage their ever-increasing flow of paper. All of this without the cost, hassles (very time consuming), and risks associated with using a scanner to digitize their paper files.
Forget About Backups, Operating Systems, and Your IT Department!
So, now in 2010, as the world of technology has evolved, we are very happy to announce Paper Tiger Online! This product is amazing. Using Paper Tiger Online, you will be able to access your information from anywhere with an Internet connection. You will no longer have to worry about what computer you are using (Windows, Mac, Linux, etc.) or if you have backed up your data (we automatically do it for you!) You can even see your Paper Tiger information on the Apple iPad, Apple iPod Touch, Apple iPhone, Android phones and most other web-enabled devices. The new software works with almost any Internet browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Chrome, etc.) To add an additional member of your team to Paper Tiger Online is so easy, it just takes a minute and there are no networking/technical hassles!
If you are currently a Paper Tiger Desktop customer, your database can be imported to the new Paper Tiger Online. The entire process should take you about 10 minutes. If you have any issues, we will prepare your database for you to import!
The Paper Tiger Online application and your data are hosted at the industry-leading, IT hosting provider Rackspace. Rackspace is a publicly traded company that has over 80,000 cloud hosting clients such as Paper Tiger Online. We have taken every step possible to guarantee 100% application uptime and maximum security of your data.
Looking Ahead with Paper Tiger Online
The future of computing belongs to the Internet. We have grand plans for Paper Tiger Online. As people in business struggle to manage both their paper and digital worlds, there is a need for a 21st century filing system that is adept at both paper and digital, and this information needs to be available on any device. You can let your imagination run with what we are building! As a Paper Tiger Online customer, you will be able to take advantage of the new features, as they become available.
Best of all, the cost to use Paper Tiger Online is very modest and will fit almost any budget. There is a wide range of PLANS/PRICING available – there is even a limited FREE FOREVER account for the modest user that allows up to 100 Items (hanging file folders).
Special Pricing for Our Loyal Customers
As a current Paper Tiger customer, by ordering now and paying for a Paper Tiger Pro yearly plan, you will receive a 30% discount over the regular monthly price. The great news is that by subscribing to Paper Tiger Online during the launch period, you are locking in this price permanently. That’s right, for as long as you have your Paper Tiger Online account, your cost will remain at the discounted price that you paid when you signed up. If you are a current Paper Tiger desktop user, contact sales@thepapertiger.com and ask how to get the special price. This offer ends at midnight Tuesday, September 7, 2010.
Order with confidence, there is no contract and you can cancel whenever you wish. You can even export your data at any time for safekeeping or if you decide to cancel.
We hope you will join us by subscribing to Paper Tiger Online. We look forward to your feedback and suggestions.
Sincerely,
The Paper Tiger Team
Record keeping is a vital part of any business. Whether you’re involved with law, accountancy, human resources or taxation, thousands of records are created and need to be maintained for many years. Legal record keeping doesn’t have to be complicated.
A document management system isn’t a money making part of the business. However, accountants, consultants, lawyers, real estate agents, government, schools – no matter your type of business or organization — rely heavily on accurate records being kept. An efficient document management system, like Paper Tiger Document Management Software and Filing System gives everyone access to records when needed.
If six lawyers are all working on one major case, they’ll all need access to the same files. Instead of the old, clumsy way of having to go through filing cabinets to find them each time, each person merely has to use their keyboard to quickly locate the file and retrieve it. Once the file has been dealt with on that particular occasion, information in the system is updated and the file can be returned to its original storage place.
In professional occupations such as lawyers, doctors and accountants, regulations are changing all the time. They must also deal with an ever changing volume of local, state and federal laws and ensure they comply with them all. If they implement a smart document management system, every time a new law is passed and information is received, it can be added to the relevant files so everyone has the updated information.
The old problem of files sitting on people’s desks eternally waiting for certain documents to arrive before they can be actioned is gone. This will reduce the amount of time spent on filing and retrieval of files.
Human resources and payroll departments of large organizations rely heavily on the correct filing and retention of personnel files on a permanent basis. This is a legal necessity and is vital for the company to be able to access the records when dealing with salaries and any other personnel problems that may arise.
Businesses may operate in different states and countries where laws differ. These laws must not only be recorded and stored correctly, but be easily retrieved when necessary. Once the new software has been implemented, thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours will be saved. This time and money can be devoted to the more lucrative parts of the business.
Legal record keeping doesn’t have to be complicated. It’s in everyone’s best interest to use the most user-friendly document management system available. Your business will become far more profitable if you do so, because money and time can be focused on the important aspects of your job. The mundane filing and retrieval processes will be faster and more efficient.
In this article, Sherry Borsheim of Simply Productive and a Paper Tiger Expert, provides some instruction for what to do with the paper that comes into your life.
There are only FOUR things you can do with paper: File, Act, Schedule or Toss. I use the acronym F.A.S.T. As you open your mail over the wastepaper basket, keep the F.A.S.T. principle in mind as you sort it accordingly.
FILE
ACT
SCHEDULE
Items to schedule in your dayplanner (paper planner or electronic planner).
TOSS
Items which do not enhance your life can be immediately tossed! (NOTE: “Toss” means “get it out of here.” One form of tossing is to give it to someone else who would find it useful.)
Ask yourself these questions to determine whether or not to toss something:
About the Author
Sherry Borsheim, owner of Simply Productive, has been helping people to work smarter, not harder for years. She specializes in resolving paper, time and information management issues. To learn more about eliminating the paper pile-up and in vastly improving your productivity, contact Simply Productive at 604-233-7076.
You can visit Sherry, access her free article archive and grab lots of free stuff at http://www.simplyproductive.com. Sherry lives in Vancouver, BC Canada with her husband (her high-school sweetheart).
Also check out Sherry’s Calm Your Choas special that will give you a JUMP-START on ORGANIZING your office, home and life. She will give you her trade secrets and steps to setting up your organizing systems, including recommending Paper Tiger filing system software for document management, to be organized and manage the paper files that you need to keep in hard copy format and other physical stuff in your life.
Published with permission.
Organizations face many tough choices in today’s business world. The struggle to keep up with new advances in technology and reduce carbon emissions is difficult. There is always pressure to cut costs and increase productivity. The positive news is that your document management system can be environmentally friendly whilst still being cost effective.
Whether you believe that global warming is an issue for the planet or not, it’s everyone’s responsibility to do all they can to minimize the impact their business has on the environment. Typical offices waste a lot of paper and power needlessly. This can easily be rectified by making some smart business decisions.
The First Step – Standardization
The first change should be to implement an intelligent document management software system, like The Paper Tiger Document Management Software and Filing System, that can eliminate the need for waste, save money, reduce power usage and increase productivity. If such a system is put in place, your current method of filing would change completely. Standardize the way that all files are labeled and that will avoid unnecessary duplication. Once individual documents are finished with, they can be added to the appropriate file.
Reduce Paper Usage
Because millions of documents are in different formats, they can be actioned without first converting them to paper. This immediately reduces the need for such vast quantities of paper to be used. A recent study calculated the additional costs associated with a single sheet of office paper, discovered that you have to multiply it by a factor of 30. This means that a $5 ream of paper would cost around $150. The average office worker uses around 10,000 sheets a year. One company calculated that if each of their workers saved one sheet of paper a week, they would save $700,000 per year.
If people start becoming smarter about their paper usage, the savings would be incalculable just for the paper alone. This means such signs as “think before you print” and “recycle that waste paper” should start appearing all over the office.
Documents can be edited electronically and saved on a CD or DVD for filing instead of printing because the files now have the ability to contain all formats. Paper won’t ever disappear completely, but a heavy reduction is vital.
Save Money and Boost Productivity
All staff will have access to the same filing system software and can instantly locate relevant files and documents at any time. This reduces filing and retrieval times and so decreases your overall costs while increasing productivity.
To decreases your power bill and carbon footprint at the same time, all staff should get into the habit of turning off all printing equipment when not being used. Of course, this is even more important at the end of the work day.
Once your document management system is in place and working smoothly, you won’t need as much room for file storage because everything will have been categorized in one of three ways; action, archive, or destroy. You won’t have desks overflowing with documents and files that haven’t been actioned or are just put in the “too hard” basket. And how to archive is simple with Paper Tiger. You would have a Location named ‘Archives’ in Paper Tiger, then simply conduct a Transfer Move of the file or files being moved to the Archive Location within your database. Paper Tiger will assign a file number in your Archives file to move the file to in the physical location. Files being destroyed or recycled can simply be Tossed in the Paper Tiger database, opening the item slot for another file to be inserted.
Staff will become more productive and office morale will be higher because they are able to work on more productive tasks. Proven statistics say that 20% of the work produces 80% of the revenue and 80% of the work only produces 20% of the revenue. Clumsy filing systems are time and money eaters. Now you can improve the percentages. Because of this increased efficiency and the smarter use of paper and all office equipment, your power bills should decrease as well.
The Impact on the Environment
If you stop to consider the ramifications of utilizing a more efficient document management system on other associated industries, it makes no sense to stick to the old methods. The paper industry uses vast amounts of pulp, energy and water and pump out tons of greenhouse gases. If the need for paper decreases dramatically, thousands of trees can be saved, more water can be conserved and less energy will be needed. If the number of trees being cut down is reduced, the result will be cleaner air and a healthier environment.
The Big Picture
It’s also vital to think of the bigger picture in terms of the next generation. You may not live to see the long-term effects of these necessary changes, but your children will. Should they have to live on a sick planet because their parents and grandparents badly damaged the environment through carelessness?
It doesn’t matter if you’re a small business owner or the CEO of the largest corporation. If you have filing to do, remember that your document management system can be environmentally friendly while being cost effective.
They hide in the shadows of the shelves and lurk inside big grey tombs. They linger on desks and chairs and creep along the floors. You’ll find them reproducing at an alarming rate in every in-tray.
It’s time to tame the paper filing monsters and boost your productivity once and for all.
Nobody likes monsters, but the office world is full of them. Your inefficient filing system is a family of huge hungry monsters with ravenous appetites. They eat up hours like seconds and dollars like cents. They turn the hardest of workers into slaves and scare off the most valiant of secretaries, clerks and administrators.
However, there’s a new breed of soldier entering the arena and he’s ready to do battle with these horrendous monsters. This knight’s name is Sir Document Management System — Paper Tiger Document Management Software and Filing System, that is. He has plenty of weapons in his arsenal to help you defeat your enemies. Wherever he goes, monsters flee in terror because his reputation precedes him.
Imagine Clean Desks and Tidy In-Trays
Imagine a world, not unlike your own. A world where there are no shadows or empty, messy tombs. Imagine clean desks and tidy in-trays. Fantasize about your budget being in surplus due to an increase in productivity, the likes of which you have never seen before. Dream about staff not taking sick days because they enjoy their work.
Only the most astute of kings will have the wisdom to see past the endless years of havoc and visualize the possibilities of a new and better world free of such monsters. A world where all your people file documents of all types in exactly the same way. Retrieval of archived files becomes very easy because the information is at your fingertips. A few clicks of your mouse and you can instantly access the location of the document a secretary who left the company two years ago had archived.
This user-friendly document management software is to monsters what kryptonite is to Superman; Lethal! Staff will be more productive because they’re not wasting countless hours looking for lost files and documents for important meetings. There won’t be problems with file duplication because of the Find First feature in this filing system. No matter how the person is thinking the day they file or the day they are looking for a file, they will be able to find it within a few seconds based on the keywords input when filed.
If you implement one little concept at the same time as you initialize this system, you’ll reduce the amount of wasted dollars and man hours even further. The tip is simple. As much as possible, manage each document only once. Receive it and make one of only three choices: archive it, action it as soon as practical or discard it.
Don’t Just Shuffle Documents From One Place to Another
Don’t play the game of moving a document from a tray to a pile for further sorting and then sort that pile into more piles because that’s what you’ve probably already been doing. Why do you think the monsters came out in the first place?
Paperwork won’t ever be eradicated. Well, at least not this century, but it can be controlled more efficiently and give you back precious time to concentrate on more important tasks.
Of course, you can also control access to certain materials. By using smart document management software you’re streamlining lots of different processes and that means efficiency and productivity will rise enormously.
Another benefit to using Paper Tiger Document Management Software and Filing System is that it reduces the amount of physical storage needed. More files can be archived and stored elsewhere if that’s more convenient. The system helps you locate archived files quicker than the old fashioned way of hunting through piles and shelves and filing cabinets.
Filing will always be a major component of any office, but handling it in the smartest way possible will save time and money and help you achieve your goals faster.
So in the end, it basically comes down to a simple question. Will you remain in the cobwebbed castle with the constant shrieks and howls or will you rise up and decide to tame the paper filing monsters and boost your productivity? Sir Document Management System is only a mouse click away!
by Stephanie Calahan of Calahan Solutions and a Paper Tiger Expert
We have heard it since the early 1970s – the Internet will make us paperless! Well, I don’t know about you, but my office is not close to being paper-free. One of the reasons for the plethora of paper is that it is just too darn easy to share information today.
Let me give you an example.
When I first started working in an office environment, the Internet and email was not really used to share information. If I had something that others needed to know, it got typed up and I had to walk to the copier and copy it on colored paper. (Different colors stood for different types of information.)
Before I made copies, I took time to think through who really needed the information. I would only make the copies that I really needed. Why? Because after I made the copies, I had to hand address onto inner-office envelopes.
Contrast that to today.
We get something in our in-boxes and decide to send it on. We hit forward and if we want, we could copy our entire address book! Ultimately that means that more information is given to more people at a faster pace.
So, how does that lead to more paper?
Most of us do not like to read information on the screen if it is of any length. We print it! Then the cycle continues over again and again.
Jonathan Spira of the Basex company has this commentary to share on the paperless office.
THE MYTH OF THE PAPERLESS OFFICE
Pundits have been proclaiming the imminent arrival of the paperless office since the 1970s. So far, they’ve been wrong. If anything, we print more today than we did back then.
Yet some still believe in this; those who engage in looking for the paperless office may be engaging in a Sisyphean task.
The New York Times ran a story on February 10 by Hannah Fairfield entitled “Pushing Paper Out the Door.” It speaks of paper-reducing technologies in homes and offices, citing families who scan their bills and opt for on-line statements. To Fairfield I say, “not so fast.”
Indeed Fairfield quotes Brewster Kahle, the founder of the Internet Archive: “Paper is no longer the master copy; the digital version is. Paper has been dealt a complete deathblow. When was the last time you saw a telephone book?”
To respond directly to Kahle, last week. My friend and fellow analyst Amy Wohl famously commented, around 1978, that she thought that the paperless office was “about as useful as the paperless toilet.”
But the article had a bigger problem. While it provided an excellent look on the move to digitization, it completely ignored the elephant in the room, namely a compatibility conundrum that has been with us since the first computer was turned on over 60 years ago.
Books, pamphlets, and broadsides printed hundreds of years ago are accessible without any special equipment. For that matter, the Rosetta Stone (dating from 196 B.C.E.), was also readable upon its discovery in 1799.
Contrast this with millions of files on 8″ or even 5 1/4″ floppy diskettes, various obsolete tape cartridges, and NASA’s earliest photographs of the earth – all mostly inaccessible with today’s technology.
One might presume that the technology revolution of the late twentieth century had increased our ability to preserve our history and cultural artifacts. In actuality, we have failed.
Moving all of our papers to digital form without a plan to ensure accessibility not only 5 years from now but 50 years and 100 years and beyond is not making information MORE accessible but risking that it will become LESS accessible.
Jonathan B. Spira is CEO and Chief Analyst at Basex.
What do you think? Can we go paperless? What have you done? Share your thoughts below by making a comment in the blog comment section.
Twitter.com/StephCalahan
Facebook.com/StephCalahan
PS: Don’t forget to keep your paper files in order with Paper Tiger Filing System and Document Management Software, which Stephanie highly recommends and also includes in her in-person or remote/virtual Office Miracle.
About the Author:
Stephanie Calahan is The Business Vision Catalyst and founder of Calahan Solutions, Inc. She works with purpose-driven entrepreneurs, visionaries, coaches, consultants, health practitioners, authors, speakers and all sorts of remarkable service professionals who are experts in their field, to help them embrace their brilliance, leverage their business and get their message out with power, ease and joy; so that they can make a powerfully positive difference in the world, exponentially grow their income and enjoy a highly-successful and meaningful business… while working less. Learn how you can have more freedom in your life! http://www.StephanieCalahan.com
by Stephanie Calahan of Calahan Solutions and a Paper Tiger Expert
I was reading an interesting article on record retention in InnerBusiness Issues Magazine, in which Greg Dickerson of Iron Mountain wrote “The 10 Deadly Sins of a Corporate Retention.” Record management is a struggle for many companies because it is not a direct money making activity. It does not seem important until it’s too late – you need information and cannot find it. He notes 10 common errors which reflect companies’ struggles with information management. How many of them match your company? Take a look at his article to learn more. Do you make any of these mistakes? Tell me what you think!
To your success!
Steph
Twitter.com/StephCalahan
Facebook.com/StephCalahan
PS: Don’t forget to keep your paper files in order with Paper Tiger Filing System and Document Management Software, which Stephanie highly recommends and also includes in her in-person or remote/virtual Office Miracle.
About the Author:
Stephanie Calahan is The Business Vision Catalyst and founder of Calahan Solutions, Inc. She works with purpose-driven entrepreneurs, visionaries, coaches, consultants, health practitioners, authors, speakers and all sorts of remarkable service professionals who are experts in their field, to help them embrace their brilliance, leverage their business and get their message out with power, ease and joy; so that they can make a powerfully positive difference in the world, exponentially grow their income and enjoy a highly-successful and meaningful business… while working less. Learn how you can have more freedom in your life! http://www.StephanieCalahan.com
In today’s workplace environment, it’s frowned upon to discriminate against anyone for any reason whatsoever. It also suggests that everyone should have the same ability to find suitable work. Employers must be seen to treat everyone fairly.
ADD/ADHD Presents Specific Challenges
People who suffer from Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) or Attention Deficit & Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) often have difficulty in workplaces for many reasons. If tasks are too mundane or take too long to complete, they can become difficult for the employee to handle.
This can create feelings of low self-esteem and may trigger the desire to quit work rather than cope with it. This challenge often proves to be a large obstacle to people who suffer from ADD/ADHD successfully finding and keeping jobs, especially if they’ve had a bad experience in the past.
Having ADD/ADHD means you have a chronic illness that can’t be cured. It doesn’t turn you into a “monster with 2 heads.” You’re still a human being who deserves the same opportunities everyone else has. Having a chronic illness that isn’t obviously visible doesn’t make it any less real. Add disorganization to the specific challenges of ADD/ADHD and you get more stress than normal, lack of concentration, confusion and a sense of panic.
Bring Sanity Back With Document Management Software
The great news is that document management software, like The Paper Tiger Document Management and Filing System Software brings sanity back into people’s lives. The Paper Tiger is very user friendly for anyone needing such a system. However, people who have ADD/ADHD have an added bonus in knowing that it’s so easy to use and is very logical, which means it doesn’t require an excessive amount of effort. This means files can be saved, archived, retrieved or discarded without the stress that traditional style systems have.
To better understand how filing system software can help you, just picture life without it. Desks piled high with overflowing folders full of documents. In and out trays full to capacity with more documents waiting to be added to the files. Everyone running around scratching their heads and trying to retrieve specific files so they can get back to the more demanding work. An unwieldy alphabetical filing system that forces people to waste hours of valuable time is something that makes no sense.
This picture can be summed up in just 3 words –
COSTLY, INEFFICIENT and FRUSTRATING!
Get Organized to Increase Office Efficiency and Moral
Imagine the possibilities if your new filing system software was able to help people facing these extra challenges to better cope. Just think how much more efficiently your whole company would run.
Now close your eyes and picture a row of desks with in trays and out trays containing just a few documents. The desktops have a few files here and there, and staff members are smiling as they carry out their daily tasks. That’s an example of how much impact the implementation of the right document management system can have on your staff and the company’s bottom line.
Naturally this software isn’t just for people with health problems. It’s designed to make life easier for everyone using it. Employers will have greater confidence in implementing such a user-friendly filing system. Employees will be able to better manage their time in order to focus on the more demanding tasks.
In any workplace, teamwork is a vital component of success. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. In a workplace, as in life, it’s up to everyone to cope with the cards they’ve been dealt. So if you can add the right document management system and increase efficiency for all, then that’s fantastic.
The one thing that people in all working environments agree on is that work should be manageable. The more user-friendly your filing system is, the better it will be for everyone.
Your IQ or mental capacity should make no difference. Knowing that user-friendly document management software brings sanity back into people’s lives, will enable you to create a better working atmosphere without breaking the bank.
The Paper Tiger Document Management Software and Filing System will get you on the right track and bring sanity to your life!
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There are 24 hours in a day. No more and no less. It doesn’t matter if you’re the CEO of the largest corporation or a school cleaner. However, moms are in a unique category. A mom is supposed to be all things to all people and accomplish miracles on a regular basis. The smartest filing system for busy moms is user-friendly and helps her to achieve these miraculous challenges each and every day.
Picture any mother. She has to be a wife, a mother, a sister, a daughter, an auntie, a friend, a chauffeur, cook, cleaner, dishwasher, record keeper, money manager and all-round multitasking super mom. This list is more than enough to exhaust a regular person and it doesn’t even include time for sleep, rest or hobbies.
Busy Moms Need Help to Get Organized
Think about your own circumstances. You may be a man or woman. Either way, you probably agree that moms need some help. The great news is that modern, versatile filing system software can help reduce the amount of time needed to accomplish some of these tasks. This time can then be focused on more important things. A filing system isn’t necessarily a grey shabby-looking filing cabinet with a bunch of messy old papers stuffed inside.
Filing systems are already used for so many purposes in every day life which aren’t recognized as filing systems. Your computer has files and folders in different places probably saved in a haphazard fashion on your hard drive with some things misfiled or duplicated because you’ve lost track of them. The shoebox in the cupboard has a pile of paid bills. That’s a file. A book shelf files books. That’s also a file. As is the shelf under the DVD recorder.
Make Life Easier
Anything that needs to be stored is a form of filing. Why not make life much easier? When you receive something, you have to make a choice. Action it, archive it for future retrieval if necessary or throw it out. As a mom, think of all the things you have to keep. It’s hard enough remembering where everything is, let alone trying to find something that another member of the household has put away because they think differently.
Kids’ school reports, paid bills, outstanding bills, bank statements, warranties, CDs, DVDs, legal certificates for birth, marriage, divorce, business names, mortgage details, important contact details for family and friends, kids toys, copies of wills and powers of attorney, medical records, insurance details, photos in albums, prescriptions, employment records, tax records and the list goes on and on. You could even keep a file for all the clothing each family member has so you don’t waste money needlessly.
Picture your home as it is today. Ninety-five percent of the time, stuff will be strewn throughout the house. It’s poor mom’s job to find the lost assignment due today. It’s also her job to make breakfast, prepare lunches for the kids, write a couple of checks, pay some bills, remember to ring Aunt Dorothy for her birthday, order some flowers to be sent to her, give the kids their pocket money and to juggle all these tasks simultaneously.
Would you remember them all? Probably not! It’s time to give mom a helping hand! Using smart filing system software, she can create one simple way to organize everything that needs filing and storing, no matter where it is in the house, the garage, the shed, or in storage.
Instead of using an old fashioned alphabetical system, she can use one where all titles are specific to what they record. For example – bills can be divided into power, telephone, rates, school fees, etc., but can be grouped together as paid or unpaid. They could be filed in monthly, quarterly or yearly or however you want them to be filed.
Your huge DVD collection could be sorted according to genre. CDs can be done the same way. You could have different numbered boxes and make that number part of the title. Kids’ reports and school work could be under their names or categories and sub categories. It doesn’t really matter what you call them.
Standardize the Way You Store Things
It doesn’t matter where you store things. The main aim of using an indexed filing system is to standardize so you and your whole family can easily retrieve things without wasting hours searching the house from top to bottom.
Some things may be in a filing cabinet if they’re documents. Some may be in drawers, boxes, hanging files, under beds, in the shed or garage, or perhaps stored outside of the residence. If a busy mom can save time when she puts things away and retrieves them again, think of how much free time she’ll have to do other things or simply to have a well deserved rest.
Motherhood is the hardest job in existence and it isn’t even a salaried position! So why on earth shouldn’t moms be able to use the same system that corporations use to save time and money?
Access can be restricted to whoever needs it. Hard copies of the index can be printed off and given to each family member or posted in a convenient place. Perhaps store a copy offsite at a friend’s house or at the bank, along with copies of all vital documents and a backup of all computer files.
Mom can run the household like a business and keep track of things more efficiently. A smart document management system can be the foundation for really getting the household organized properly once and for all.
The Paper Tiger Document Management Software and Filing System — the smartest filing system for busy moms will create a whole new way of life in which there is less stress and more time for the things that really count.
The Paper Tiger Document Management Software and Filing System is a very powerful, yet simple indexing system that will totally revolutionize the relationship you have with your filing cabinet. The filing system works just like a search engine for your paper files!
Do you know where your Paper Tiger Database is? Have you archived it lately onto a CD or flash-drive in case of computer failure?
The default location of each version of The Paper Tiger is below:
For builds 4.1.13 and above, you can find the database file at the following location: “C:\PaperTiger PTxxxxx41 Backups”
Note: XXXXX indicates Professional/Basic/Network, depending on the edition of The Paper Tiger you have. You will need to look for a .bak file extension.
For builds 4.1.12 and below, you can find the backup file at the following locations: “C:\Program Files\The Monticello Corporation\MSSQL.X\MSSQL\Backup”. You will need to look for a .bak file extension.
You can find version 3 database on your harddrive at: Programs files/The Monticello Corporation/*.ptd file. *indicates the name of your database.
You can find version 2 database on your harddrive at: Paper Tiger Single User 2.0/Databasefiles/*.ptd file. *indicates the name of your database.
Every business, company, organization and government body of any description has to deal with the serious issue of document management and how best to deal with such a complex issue. Frequently the main concern is only how to file the information. However, a user friendly filing system must allow easy retrieval of all documents or files at any given time.
Retrieval is the key reason why documents must be stored in the first place. Some material has to be kept for a certain period of time for legal reasons. Other files need to be accessed regularly so that more documents can be added or amended. On some files, you will simply take action and then shred or delete them.
A classic case is a hospital. If you were a patient in a particular hospital and only had to go there twice in a five year period, you would expect the doctor to easily access your records the second time and then add current information to that existing file. He wouldn’t create a duplicate file.
There’s no reason to have a filing system that doesn’t tell you where the relevant file has been stored whenever you need it. Society revolves around legal hard copy documents for everything from birth certificates to business licenses and legal contracts for major companies. Because computers are a major part of today’s lifestyle, it’s only logical to utilize options that can now be offered to help reduce the clutter that current paper filing systems create.
You may have an office with 200 staff that all carry out different duties. They still need access to the same document management system to retrieve vital information to carry out their specific work. Many staff members may even collaborate on some files if that’s what their duties dictate. Using specialized filing system software to record the location of all files within the company will enable faster retrieval and increased efficiency.
Documents can be added to files as time passes and, if you currently use an alphabetical system, it can become very confusing and cumbersome. This is because everyone thinks differently. One person might use a business name as the title, while another uses a person’s name, and therefore duplicate files can get created and as history of that “file” grows, so does the confusion.
To avoid such problems, it’s essential to have very user-friendly document management software. Establish set criteria for the naming of files and make that a standard right through the company. Then filing, retrieval, additions to and re-filing processes will become much more streamlined and save countless hours and thousands of dollars. The staff will be more productive and your business will achieve its goals a lot faster.
If your business doesn’t use an efficient document management system, documents can be created in a variety of different formats. Apart from hard copy paper-based documents, you’ll have faxes, audio, DVD, CD and PowerPoint files. There will also be emails that may be quite lengthy and have been viewed by numerous people. These may need to be added to specific files as well.
Using document management software, you can record the location of each item and the file in which it’s stored. If any of these various formats are needed again, simply access the file by checking your computer for the location. Then you have all the relevant information in one place.
Quite often there might be regular reviews of material contained in some of the files. Instead of trying to remember them or write them in a diary that only you can see, utilize the filing system software to set reminders so that anybody can access the information and action the necessary work. This means that even if the relevant person is away sick, the work can still be carried out.
When all the files are stored and labeled correctly as per the filing system guidelines you implement, you have the added benefits of knowing who and when files have been accessed and/or action taken. Compliance with all regulatory bodies is much easier when you have tighter control over your document management system.
In addition, using an efficient document management system will enable you to reduce the office clutter. The desks that used to be piled high with files waiting to be worked on will become a thing of the past. Staff simply retrieve the relevant information they need only when they need it. They’re not confronted with that depressing pile every single day.
No matter what decision you make, remember that a user friendly filing system must allow easy retrieval or it just becomes another time waster that your business shouldn’t have to deal with.
The Paper Tiger Document Management Software and Filing System is a very powerful, yet simple indexing system that will totally revolutionize the relationship you have with your filing cabinet. The filing system works just like a search engine for your paper files!
You can start with as few, or as many, of your files as you like by simply creating your index into the software’s database and printing the accompanying labels. Then, as you add new files, simply add them to your database and you’re on your way to a more efficient and cost-effective document management solution.
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.
