The Datamax Thinking Blog

Are you ready for a simple way to integrate hard-copy legal documents into a document management system (i.e. like Worldox DMS, of course)?

You can extend the value of your multifunction copier to your business by using it to remove paper from your office. Being able to access digital versions of case matters is a big deal in the legal industry – it allows you to spend more time serving clients and less time shuffling papers.

And, as an added bonus: No more hauling heavy stacks of paper around the office – now you can save that workout for the gym!

When writing these posts, I usually make it a point not to focus on a specific product. However, today is an exception.

Information needs to be secured REGARDLESS of format. The best part? With a good plan, you can secure both digital and paper documents.

61% of data breaches within companies of less than 500 employees involve paper records.*

And now you’re probably counting or trying to calculate how many employees are in the office right now (and thinking about the amount of paper).

Just think about this for second: what if your law firm was on the news? Not because you won a high profile case, but because the firm had a data breach. Even worse, think about if that data breach was the result of something as simple as one of the lawyers accidentally leaving their briefcase at Starbucks (a briefcase containing two legal pads with client information written on them inside) or mistakenly throwing old case files away in the dumpster.

For the majority of business records, the legality of digital document images as legally valid substitutes for the originals has been settled for years.

Research* indicates that “Legal” is most resistant of any department to paper-free work processes.

How many paper documents are in your office that you don’t really need? If you do need all of those documents, how much are you spending for file storage off-site? Are rooms filled with filing cabinets of old cases (and are those rooms and those documents physically secured?).

You can – legally – get rid of that paper. Better yet, paperless (or at least less paper) processes are faster, more efficient, and have solid ROI. So remove that paper and turn office space previously occupied by paper into something useful – another office for a partner, a break room for employees to take a breather, a client meeting room, lobby or whatever else you need.

Read on for tips on how to get this done.

If you take advantage of document management software for productivity – and use your copiers as the beginning of an automated document process – you’ll add to your bottom line.

For 19 months from 1860 to 1861 the Pony Express was the fastest way to move information from coast to coast. Leaving from St. Joseph, MO or from Sacramento, CA; the relays of riders could make the 2,000 mile trip in 9 to 12 days.

Couriers are important. Wells Fargo began as a courier service, transporting packages and gold (remember all those stagecoach robberies in those old Westerns?).

Today, finding the right information (or even have that information proactively delivered to you) when you need it is key to business success.

How often do you spend 10, 20, or even 30 minutes irritably flipping through manila folders in a filing cabinet looking for that misfiled customer invoice? Or how many times have you been frustrated by not being able to find the correct version of an important document?

Using documents to get your work done shouldn’t and doesn’t have to be that frustrating.

Even electronic documents can be lost if you don’t take the time to ensure an effective workflow and index the documents for future retrieval.

Moving documents through your office and getting them to the right people at the right time so that decisions can be made (and invoices paid!) is important. 

It’s also easy for documents to go astray. Paper documents placed on someone’s desk could quickly end up at the bottom of a stack, never to be seen again. A sensitive document printed to the color copier down the hall could be accidentally picked up by a co-worker – and could even be a privacy or other compliance breach depending on the level of personally identifiable information contained in the document. 

Even electronic documents can be lost if you don’t take the time to ensure an effective workflow and index the documents for future retrieval. 

Operating with digitized documents means that you print less. So, not only is this a greener practice, this translates to less spending on supplies like paper and ink.

For companies trying to be more environmentally conscientious in their everyday practices, technology is often overlooked as a means to go greener. However, advancements in technology make eco-friendly easy by offering solutions to older methods of doing things. One of these technologies is electronic document management.