Paperless Office Solution

I’ve been a real estate agent for about twenty years now, and I’ve never seen a housing market like the one we have currently.  I’m finding that it’s difficult for clients to price their homes because homes in the areas they live near aren’t selling.  One of the foremost methods I use to determine a home’s value is the sale price of similar homes in the area that have sold.  With fewer homes sold, it’s hard to know similar home values, and it’s even more difficult to advice clients.  In order to determine values, I’ve started to incorporate our office database management system into my decisions.  In the database management system is the sale specifications of real estate sold by my company from across multiple neighborhoods throughout the county.

Sometimes it’s not even possible for me to compare sales in the same neighborhood, so I need to look at other neighborhoods to determine home values.  I like to think that with the help of our database management system, I’ve made my clients, myself, and my company a good deal more money.  It’s great to have all the information I need at my fingertips!

For anyone who’s ever been in a field that relies on creativity, you know that starting out as an artist is quite difficult.  When you’re a young artist, whether a writer, graphic designer, or three dimensional model designer, landing the first job can be difficult.  The most common problem is lack of experience (of course) and the fact that without a job you often don’t have samples of your work.  Without those valuable samples, companies that are hiring can’t know whether you’re a talented artist or just another scrub.  Chances are you do have a few samples from work in college or school, and it’s important to utilize those samples as much as possible.  Having a digital imaging system and scanner around at all times is an excellent idea.  Digital imaging systems are essential for all artists because you can submit your works for job opportunities at a moment’s notice. 

When choosing amongst digital imaging systems, be sure to browse around.  There are lots of systems that have different features and even function at different speeds, so make sure the piece you select is useful for your profession. 

In these tough economic times, practices that can reduce costs and are also friendly towards the environment are rare.  In offices, think about all those filing cabinets filled with papers, and think of all the money spent on paper and all the time spent filing.  With paperless management software, you can organize all your essential files on the computer, back them up on an external hard drive, and have no paper or filing costs!  This helps the environment and can increase revenues; it’s a win-win situation.

In addition, with all kinds of businesses and even the government focusing on green solutions, it’s not unfeasible to think of paperless management software as a potential tax write-off.  Save time and money by keeping all your documents on the computer; it’s the future of document management!

I’m Alice, and while I’m going to school full time, I work at a law firm part time to get experience.  When I started working at the law office I noticed right away that my boss could never stay organized, he had hundreds of legal documents strewn all around his desk, and his computer desktop was even worse.  I only knew a little about legal documents when I started, but I did know about organization.  I suggested to my boss that he purchase a legal document management system, to keep all his cases in order.  He said he didn’t need it.

Then a few weeks passed, and he ended up losing a case because he couldn’t produce the documents he needed for evidence.  It was then he agreed to purchase the legal document management system I suggested.  I installed the software on his computer, and a few weeks later, he told me he couldn’t remember how he lived without it.  Though I did work hard, I’m sure it also contributed to the promotion I got later that year!

Tax season can be a stressful time for a small business.  I have dozens of forms to submit regarding transactions, employees, write-offs, and organizing all the documents associated with those forms to submit to the IRS.  It’s a pain in the neck, and that’s why I’m glad I recently decided to upgrade to a document management system.  This computer system keeps all my essential forms, documents, and reports organized on my computer, allowing for ease of access and convenience when submitting such large amounts of paper documents. 

It’s also a great method to organize document printings (some of the tax forms can’t be submitted electronically).  When I need to print a whole bunch of documents, dozens, or even hundreds, the document management system allows me to find the documents I need and line them all up in the printer so they don’t get mixed up with others.  I’m so thankful to have this software tool, and I’d say for any small business, when it comes to tax season, this is essential! 

I run a small business, and despite our size, we often have thousands, even hundreds of thousands of small transactions each year.  It’s hard to keep all of our receipts in order now and then.  I just used a standard filing cabinet in the past, but now that we have so many clients and transactions on a day to day basis, it doesn’t make sense not to use a computer.  I use several hard drives to keep records of all our data, and while expanding storage isn’t an issue, finding a specific transaction when I need to is hard.

I found some electronic document management software online, and since then, I’m able to keep all of our receipts from transactions in order.  Not only does the software keep all our business documents more organized, but it makes them easier to access; even if the person accessing the documents isn’t familiar with the technology.  It’s a great tool for small and large businesses. 

For all those visual artists out there, whether you’re a graphic designer, a 2-D artist, or a painter, it’s important to keep your portfolio up to date and organized for those rare job opportunities that arise.  Any artist who has tried to get a job knows how hard it can be, and most would say your portfolio is what will get you a job over another artist.  With all the various samples of your artistic talents suited for different jobs, using digital document management software can be an easy way to keep things under control.  Using document management software will allow you to access digital imagery of all your art instantly, streamlining the job application process and also ensuring that you have an edge on the competition when time is a factor. 

When it comes to art jobs, the competition tends to be stiff, and having any edge you can on the competition will land you those dream jobs creating the kind of art you like, not just the generic ‘brand-X wants a new logo’ jobs that are all too common! 

The reason many large corporations run so efficiently is because of organizational processes and procedures.  Though corporations spend millions of dollars funding ways to run more efficiently, it’s possible for a small business owner to utilize the same solutions on a smaller scale.  For example, chances are your small business is in some manner operated through the use of a computer, and it’s likely that you have unorganized computer documents.  Purchasing software for a small business database will help you to organize all of your documents, and to create future documents in a manner that will make them accessible at a click. Database organization software is a great tool for owners and employees, and is sure to help your business work and function at a higher professional level.

I am the owner of a small business that has hundreds of invoices we distribute to our clientele on a monthly basis.  Keeping all those documents organized can be quite a hassle, as we have new clients, repeat clients, and clients who have cancelled their service but still request old invoices.  I found that utilizing electronic document management software is the best way to keep all of our documents in order.  Through this software I can browse through all of our invoices by date, name, and client; it’s a great way to organize and save time.I’d recommend data management software to any business owner out there; it’s sure to increase productivity and help your business to remain profitable. 

I believe that the Apple iphone is an essential tool for the devotee to digital document management.  The specific applications which I have installed on my iPhone 3G make it such a tool.  I have in excess of 90 extra applications on my personal iPhone, some of which have nothing whatsoever to do with document management.  However several are key to the way that I do business and the convenience I demand in dealing with my digital information.

 I have organized my iPhone using a free program called “Categories”.  Categories allows me to create folders for applications having some commonality of purpose.  Some of these categories icons have 15 to 20 separate application inside them.  One Category is “Reference” and it contains encyclopedias, dictionaries, Yellow pages, White pages, Spanish to English translator including an audio pronunciation guide, a currency equivalency application, and many others which provide information you might need when you may not have your computer available.  Another Category is “Cameras and Recorders” where I have a video recorder, the standard iPhone camera, a Snapture camera which includes black and white, grayscale, and color with digital zoom, and even a panorama camera.  Also it contains audio recorders.  Another Category contains money and accounting applications to keep track of expenses.  A fourth Category is for note-taking material, audio and text.  The fifth Category is what I call “Tracker” containing applications which use the locator capabilities of the iPhone to locate hotels, restaurants, homes for sale and even gas stations.  A sixth Category contains radio applications and music software.  Eventually TV apps will be included.  There is still another Category with sports and entertainment applications.  If you like to gamble the gamblers’ line on all sports games is available.  The latest scores and some of the plays of the day are there too. 

I have two Categories called “Connects” and “System Utilities” which are associated with subjects that contribute to Document management.  They include software applications which allow the user to have access to the file system of the iPhone.  This is particularly valuable because it is this application which will permit the transfer of internal files created by the phone to a computer for further use.  Files like photographs, video recordings, audio recordings, and later Word docs or spreadsheets can be accessed and used elsewhere without the need to depend upon email transfers.  The applications include spreadsheets and databases. 

Perhaps the most important application is one which allows the iPhone to be used like a hard drive.  Its function is more than that of a storage tool because not only can files including docs, photos, videos, web pages, powerpoints, and others be dragged and dropped from a computer onto the iPhone for transportation, but even more important the files can be opened by the phone itself and played or viewed without the need for a computer.  Imagine the utility of being able to drag a pdf  large legal file onto your phone and read it wherever you are without the necessity of having your computer with you.  No more trying to open your notebook computer on a crowded plane.  Oh yes.  There is one other application which is important to the professional dependent upon digital information.  There is an application called “iPhone Modem” which will act as a modem for your portable computer if you absolutely need to download something and there is no wifi available.  You use the Edge or 3G network of the phone as your network for computer connection.  There are many other applications in the works which contribute to your ability to rely on digital information.  GlideMobile.com permits Word docs and other Microsoft based documents to be prepared using a web app. and the projection is that an application to prepare such docs and retain them on your phone is near completion.  The iPhone can only get more useful.