Documents are a vital asset for all companies. Traditionally, business documents have been hardcopy paper records ”“ invoices, bills, personnel files and thousands of other types. However, today’s business has many other types of documents to deal with, including audio and video files. This mixture of traditional hardcopy media and electronic media poses serious challenges to organization, recording, document retrieval, decision-making and more. Document indexing can offset those drawbacks.
What Is Document Indexing?
Document indexing in its simplest form refers to a means of organizing and storing documents for later retrieval based on some logical system. However, in today’s world, it refers to the digitization and organization of documents for easy retrieval and access. In a document imaging and indexing system, any hardcopy document is scanned and turned into a digital image. Depending on the document in question, this image may be a static file, or it could be turned into an editable document against future needs.
The 7 Benefits
As you might imagine, document indexing offers quite a few benefits to businesses of all sizes. The seven most important benefits are as follows:
- Storage ”“ Storing hardcopy documents requires space, and that space cannot be used for anything else. Indexing documents in a digital system requires only as much storage space as is necessary for the storage medium (generally just a computer).
- Access ”“ Accessing stored hardcopy files can take days. That’s particularly true if your records are stored offsite. Digital document indexing ensures that you can find the file you need in just minutes.
- Decision Making ”“ Often, critical decisions must be made based on information contained in stored documents. If you’re unable to locate your document, or it takes days to access it, your decision-making is slowed. This can have dramatic repercussions on your company. Digital document indexing speeds up your decision-making process exponentially.
- No Manual Searching ”“ Locating stored hardcopies requires manual searching. Someone has to access the file area and then waste valuable time digging through the mess. With digitally indexed documents, you can easily find the document you need through a text-based search.
- Information Flow ”“ Hardcopy documents slow down the flow of information through your business, affecting every aspect of your company. With digital document indexing, that information flows at the speed of electrons.
- Knowledge/Information Preservation ”“ Paper documents don’t last. Many things can damage or destroy them. Each lost document is knowledge and data that you no longer have. Document indexing protects that invaluable information.
- Better Collaboration ”“ Collaboration between various departments and management teams in your business is vital, but it can be difficult if you’re relying on paper documents. Digital documents are easily shared, easily transferred and easily viewed, ensuring that everyone can be on the same page at the same time.
Document indexing offers a long-term solution to the problems of document storage, organization, protection and access. Any company, regardless of size or industry, should be able to appreciate those substantial benefits.
– Data Czar @ DEO
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