|
|
| Bar Bulletin |
September,
2003
|
| Technology Talk |
|
Document
Management Solutions:
Savings in Storage, Retrieval and Distribution
By Bill Siciliano
You
know you are ready for some serious changes to your document management systems
when you find yourself in these predicaments more and more frequently:
-
Documents
misfiled or lost, and your legal assistant spends hours searching for
them
-
Backaches
from hoisting boxes worth of depositions into your car, then into a courthouse
or conference room and back into your car again
-
Overwhelmed
staff because of the time and energy required for the large volume of
daily transcription of each document received
-
Crowded
offices since too much space is being used for file cabinets stuffed
with folders and papers.
Having
quick and easy accurate information retrieval is crucial to improving efficiency
and reducing the costs of doing business in this document-intensive industry.
Law firms of all sizes can benefit from some degree of the document management
solutions currently available.
Think
about how much better your work environment would be if an electronic version
of a document could be found and retrieved in less than 10 seconds versus
the minutes and hours required to find a paper document. With just a click
of the mouse, medical reports, police reports, depositions, discovery requests
and other legal documents are accessed within seconds in more and more law
firms. Having an image-enabled database can generate specific fields of data
anytime and from anywhere, whether you are at your office or working from
a laptop at another location. In addition to better accessibility of documents,
there are many other benefits of document management, including:
-
Easier
distribution of documents. Both internal and external documents can be
distributed via e-mail and/or fax.
-
Improved
security. There is a high level of file integrity since the face of documents
cannot be altered once they are scanned. Also documents cannot be lost
because they are backed up on CDs.
-
More
physical space. File rooms can be converted to desk space or for other
important functions.
-
Substantial
savings. Costs associated with the discovery process are greatly decreased
by making all of the case’s documents more accessible. Your staff
spends a fraction of the time finding information, thereby making them
much more efficient and productive. Costs of handling, storing and duplicating
paper documents are significantly reduced. Furthermore, a large amount
of time is typically devoted to sorting documents based on various factors
such as chronology, author, and depositions. Document management systems
enable images to be tied to databases in data “warehouses” and
indexed as fields of information, which translates into less time and
effort for the staff to sort.
When
searching for the right system for your firm, look for a provider who can
offer hardware, software, customization, training and support. Having the
right hardware and a responsive, top-notch service provider are critical
elements in building a document management system that will truly work for
you. An excellent resource is your business equipment provider. It is more
cost-effective to leverage your investment with a business equipment provider
who offers a full range of services and products and can therefore meet all
of your needs around the clock. Becoming partners with your business equipment
provider rather than viewing them solely as a vendor is an optimal way for
you to get the most return on your investment. By having a true partnership,
the end result will be a more efficient and effective document management
system – one that can save you money in the long run and help you garner
more wins for your clients.
|
