Every 4 to 5 years or so you sign another contract on upgrading your current MFP’s. The payments are strenuous and with the economy still in the trenches, the payments are anything but fun. Yes, they are needed in order to run your company and you obviously work in a very paper intensive industry. You have a clear vision as to what your output and volume will be each month/year and when the contract comes due you search for reasonably priced machines that will essentially mirror what you currently have. 4 years go by and the cycle starts all over again, another bid war with copier salesmen calling you 10 times a day telling you that they are the best company ever and that their service is outstanding. Perhaps some of these reps are telling the truth yet others are just trying to make a buck. I’m sure this sounds familiar and if it doesn’t than you’re 1 in a million.
The beauty of software is that it allows you to slowly move into a paperless world. Scanning documents and sending via email is not only paperless but it is so fast. Time is money and everything is done immediately. PDA’s and cell phones can receive documents and can be redistributed without ever seeing paper. Not only are you saving money but you are helping the environment in so many ways. Archival, retrieval and sending documents are all done in seconds and you never see the cost of a piece of paper. It allows you to audit output and cut paper in half over a 3 year period with immediate savings of 20%. You may have needed that 60, 70, 80 page per minute machine before but you have just decreased your paper output by almost half and no longer need that large of a machine. Not only have saved money on the actual hardware but you have decreased your paper consumption tremendously.
Lastly, it builds morale within a company and makes employees feel better about them-selves. Technology is moving forward and we need to believe that paper will not control us. Employees will honestly feel that they are more important hence working more productively, efficiently and smarter.
Where do you want to be in 5 years? Take the time to research it and I guarantee you’ll find the answers that you have been searching for.