What Is Enterprise Content Management and Automation?
December 1st, 2021 by Van Ausdall & Farrar
If your business still stores important documents and information in a filing cabinet, consider stepping into the future by contacting Van Ausdall & Farrar to implement an enterprise content management and automation solution. An effective enterprise content management system can cut costs and dramatically improve the way your employees manage and view documents.
Keep reading to learn more about what an enterprise content management (ECM) system is and how it can help alleviate challenges most businesses face with the separation of documents from their workers.
What Is ECM?
Enterprise content management may sound like a big, scary term, but it’s actually quite the opposite. ECM is simply a way for businesses to store and manage information and documents in a digital format as opposed to the old filing cabinet system. An ECM makes documents – including emails, PDFs, scanned images, and Word documents – easily accessible to all employees no matter where they’re working.
The automation component gives employers the ability to automate some of the workflows, instead of manually having to hand documents to co-workers. This is especially impactful if you can’t physically hand items to employees when they’re working in other locations such as their homes.
What Are the Benefits of an ECM System?
One of the biggest benefits of implementing an ECM system is by giving employees access to the information they need in a timely manner. Other benefits include:
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REDUCING OPERATING COSTS
Without the use of paper and shipping fees, you’ll drastically reduce your business’ operating expenses. That’s more money companies can invest on new technology or hiring additional employees.
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IMPROVING EMPLOYEE AND CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
Trying to effectively manage all of your documents in paper form can be timely and unorganized. An ECM solution can help streamline the process, making documents easier to find. This puts back more valuable time in your employees’ day, leading to an increase in productivity. Customers will also benefit from the ability to download documents online.
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IMPROVING COLLABORATION
As more companies move to remote or hybrid work environments, it’s more important than ever to provide employees with the opportunity to effectively communicate with each other, no matter their location. With the elimination of physical documents, employees can effectively share documents online with the click of a button.
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CREATING EASY STORAGE
An ECM solution eliminates the need for office filing cabinets. With enterprise content management systems, documents are protected and securely stored. Access to documents can even be limited to certain employees within a company.
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IMPROVING THE ACCOUNTS PAYABLE PROCESS
An effective ECM solution can allow companies to pay bills online and avoid late fees, all while speeding up the process and eliminating the need to pay bills through the mail. Many local governments have implemented an ECM to allow the public to fill out forms and pay bills online as opposed to needing to fill out paper documents or drive to a physical location.
Contact Van Ausdall & Farrar for an ECM Solution
Van Ausdall & Farrar has been in business since 1914 and has grown into the state’s largest full-service business technology company for a range of industries, including state and local governments, insurance, healthcare, construction, and real estate companies. We work with multiple vendors who specialize in enterprise content and document management, so we can provide a solution that is right for your business’ specific needs. For more information about our services, contact Van Ausdall & Farrar today.
Posted in: Insights from VAF Blog, Cloud Solutions, Data Security & Compliance Solutions, Information, Process
