Digital document management software

Therefore we'll continue this list by featuring some of the other DMS solutions worth considering:. Samepage is a little different to standard document management as it's more about creating a single focal point for all communications, projects, and document sharing tools. The aim is to simplify everything in a single app as opposed to having multiple software applications for different tasks. The interface is simple and easy to use, with collaboration built into the heart of it.

In that regard it makes Samepage a potentially flexible solution to cover multiple needs. Dokmee advertises itself as an enterprise content management solution, to organize, secure, and manage files.

It supports a number of document formats, and also provides document imaging and data capture as part of its service. Everything can be smartly indexed using AI, with files automatically stamped for indexing, as well as rules-based routing to make storage and archiving easier, which is all done through secure hosting in the cloud. As expected, collaboration is supported, with permissions and auditing options available for easier file management. Templates are available to customize the document folder tree throughout your system.

General accessibility rules can also be set up according to company policy. Abbyy are perhaps most famous for their file reader and scanning services, but they also provide a digital document archiving service which allows for the secure storage and use of documents.

Access can be tracked and logged, and existing documents can be reused and edited as required for reissue. Meta keywords can be applied for easy search on top of normal search functions, and distributed easily via the web or email as required. One potential limitation is that Abbyy services are primarily built to store documents in PDF format. We've also featured the best cloud document storage. Docuware is now offering a free trial in partnership with Techradar. Nicholas Fearn is a freelance technology journalist and copywriter from the Welsh valleys.

He also happens to be a diehard Mariah Carey fan! North America. The best document management system software makes it simple and easy to manage files within a team, as well as improve workflows or work with collaboration tools.

Simply tell us your needs 2. Receive free quotes 3. Compare prices and save money. Do you currently use a document management system or software? Quite simply, they are computer software used to organize, index, store, manage, and track documents in digital format. Moreover, many document management systems help you convert documents into digital formats with the help of scanners pretty easily.

Dealing with a massive amount of data is quite challenging, especially when the document is in its physical form. In fact, a lot of business productivity is lost simply on overcoming documentation challenges.

Once converted into electronic formats, it gets easier to navigate through documents. Ultimately, you spend less time searching for them and can concentrate more on mining information. While there are organizations that can benefit from advanced features such as having an API system coded or even routing documents through specific locations for more advanced security or for ISO purposes , companies can easily start using a document management system within a few hours based on their specific needs.

Document management tools are pretty easy to use. Most of the steps overlap, whichever software you use. You can log-in and start creating content right away.

Evernote is compatible with a variety of documents, including photos, spreadsheets, articles, timelines, and notes. Most document software tools allow these documents as well. Next, you can start adding users to your business account. They will be able to access documents and make edits and changes in the repository. Evernote also allows you to make notes, set up work chats, create shortcuts and tags, scan documents, and collaborate in real-time with your colleagues. The software should allow you to archive your documents in a central repository, for ready access and immediate retrieval of information — for example, Zoho Docs.

The document management software should provide easy and extensive integration with third-party applications like Gmail, Outlook, Salesforce, Google Drive, and more. It helps in the seamless interchange of documents. Evernote Business is a great example. Business scenarios involve numerous documents. Therefore, you should choose a document management tool that allows bulk uploading of documents. Businesses use document management tools to handle and store sensitive and classified documents.

The compromise of such data usually has far-reaching consequences on businesses and might even threaten their existence. The software should allow high-resolution previews whenever you want.

There are plenty of other essential attributes that users look for, including a wide range of templates, real-time chats, level of automation allowed, records management feature, and more. These were some of the best document management software available. With this digital transformation, long gone are the days of paper documents. Cloud storage is clearly the best option.

However, all these tools have different sets of capabilities and USPs. However, if you have the budget and require an enterprise solution with more advanced features, then you might want to go with Smartsheet. Are there any document management tools that you like to use? Let me know in the comments.

That in addition to their easy-to-use software makes it a great choice for managing your paperwork. Document Management Software DMS is simply a kind of software or system cloud or premise-based that allows you to receive, track, manage, organize and store documents or files and reduce paper use. The software may or may not allow editing and creating documents directly within its framework.

Some platforms may give you the option to integrate with your existing document creation and editing apps to make it easier to upload content. Apart from giving you the basic functionality to manage your files, some DMS may take it a step further by allowing you to restrict file access, backup and track file versions, protect your business data, and streamline your workflow from one place. A good DMS on its own pretty much does the same too. Whether your business is looking to be more eco-friendly, cut down wastage or simply save space by going paperless, using a Document Management Software for your business comes with lots of benefits.

The number one reason why many business owners try to avoid paperwork is that it can be a timewaster. Going through file after file just to find one piece of paper or a document can be a drag and reduce your output for the day.

With the steady rise of work-from-home jobs and businesses, it has never been more critical to have quick access to company docs and info from anywhere. As we mentioned earlier, looking for one piece of paper in a pile of documents can be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Just type in your search query and watch your screen light up with options. Apart from easily retrieving documents, it also gives you options to label and tag your docs for easy organization.

As your business is growing, so will the data you collect grow with it. Worse still, as the papers continue to pile, you may end up losing track of small details. Having a DMS will prevent such trouble. Business data is sensitive. This security is not only against external threats to the business and its security, but also internally to keep the wrong info away from the wrong eyes. A good DMS will allow you to restrict file access based on user roles and function.

Certain businesses have stringent and complex compliance protocols which can be both confusing and demanding. Without the right tools to simplify the process, you are prone to making costly data entry mistakes in your business documents too. Having a DMS can help you avoid fines, license-related troubles or even criminal liability by automating document creation to follow any necessary compliance guidelines. For example, the Sarbanes-Oxley anti-fraud law comes with strict security and policy regulations regarding documents and records.

Whether your team is working remotely, on multiple projects at a time, or simply looking to reduce paper at work, good file management software will increase overall productivity. By providing a centralized point of access, organization, and storage for all your documents, everyone will be able to quickly find what they are looking for to run more efficiently.

It also means if there is a need for real-time collaboration on documents and versioning, you can do it quickly and with zero hitches. Sharing and tracking file sends, edits, and views are made simple, ultimately saving you time and allowing you to do more. Often the goal of using document management software is to reduce paper and make it easy to organize, find and share your documents when necessary.

You may also be looking for extra security for sensitive information. With lots of options out there that can be customized to suit your business needs, it's easy to get a little confused as to which option is the best fit. You may find yourself asking questions like. Remember to keep your unique business needs in mind before committing to any software.

The points below will give you more insight into the general things to look out for before choosing a document management system. Regardless of how many features any software has, it would be useless if the software is difficult to use. One of the most important elements of any software is usability. Ease of use is a huge part of the software experience and its efficiency. Because of this, be sure to take advantage of free trials where possible and let your team use the software.

Apart from easy usability, you should also consider set-up and software installation. Some software have a complex set-up process and may even come with added set-up and installation fees. Others are simple enough for you to do by yourself. Reach out and interact with the customer support team of any software you are considering to find out more about how to get set up and also how easy it is to do software updates and maintenance.

The last thing you want is something that ends up taking more time to keep up and running compared to how much time it saves. Another key aspect of good document management software is how it allows for ready file sharing and permissions. The basic function of a DMS may be reducing paper and making things easy to find, but it should also allow you to readily share files and restrict content where necessary.

This is especially important when your team is collaborating on editing a document or a project. Do you tend to have large file sizes to share? Or perhaps you handle more photo and video content than text documents?

Some software comes with restrictions and limits on the kinds of files you can send and their size. For example, Hightail lets you share files up to GB in size whereas other software may limit you to just 25GB or even less.

Choose software with file sharing features that best suit the kind of documents you share. Again, if it's important knowing whether or not your recipient has received and viewed your content, be sure to ask if that customization is possible from the sales team before you subscribe to any service. Pay attention to details like file previews, document size limits, file expiration and download notifications.

Do you need to work on a document with multiple users simultaneously? In line with collaborating on documents is being able to track all changes made to a document at different points in time. That means this is a serious productivity block in most workplaces. A good document management software will allow you to track all edits and changes done to documents.

With many people making changes and edits to a document, it is possible that a big chunk of important information will get lost in the process or simply lose its meaning. You can simply go back to the exact point in time where the change was done and pick up from there.

MasterControl for example, takes versioning to another level by including time-stamped audit trails, which allows reconstruction of all events in the creation, modification and deletion of an electronic study record. Sometimes you may not have time to get your paper records to a scanner to scan and upload. Other times you may not even be close to a scanner in the first place. This is where OCR and scan to upload functions come in handy.

Scanning lets you convert your paper document into a digital format that is readily shareable or uploadable without needing to type it out. It is the first step in digitizing any hard copy document. Your document management software should allow you to do this easily via an app. There are already tons of apps on both the Google Play Store and App Store that let you quickly convert documents to pdfs, jpegs or soft copies simply by taking a photo.

Some document management software come with mobile apps that have this added functionality, e. Apart from easily uploading your documents to the system, your software should also be able to read the text in an image and make that content editable and searchable.

The best document management systems use OCR to create metadata that will help you search for and find your documents easily later on. If your business does a lot of paper invoicing and contracts, chances are you do a lot of signing. It's not uncommon to also have letters and other official communication signed. Signatures are an important way of authenticating documents and transactions. Be it a native e-signature feature or a third party app like DocuSign , a good software should allow you to digitally sign your documents before sending eliminating the need for printing.

You should also have the option to share or send a document to another party for them to sign using the software. The whole point of a document management software is to improve efficiency and save time. One way of doing this will be reduce how much time it takes to create new documents by using templates. For files that will be used repeatedly like invoices, contracts and proposals, your software should automatically create these documents based on previous documents so that all you will have to do is just edit a few details, rather than type it from scratch.

Apart from helping you create documents quicker, your workflow should also be more automated. A workflow is simply a repeated process or pattern that helps you achieve needed outcomes in your business. For example, every invoice may need to go through accounts for approval and signatures after which it must then go to operations for follow up. Your DMS should allow you to create an automation that lets any new invoice automatically go to the accounts manager for authorization after which the operations manager gets a notification to follow up.

This eliminates down-time and speeds up processes in your business. Be sure to take into account what your team needs and the normal processes that paperwork has to go through in your organization, so you can pick a software with the right level of customization for your business. The best business management systems allow you to customize workflows to suit the way your business operates easily and fits into your operations seamlessly.

Sometimes certain information is simply off limits to some of your employees. Perhaps, you want to keep department info within a department. Your DMS should help you limit user access to sensitive information based on their roles. Ideally, there should be an admin panel on the backend that allows you to give individual users permissions to access certain files based on their roles. Also in line with document security is making sure that your software helps you meet any necessary document compliance or requirements.

Consider all necessary regulations and compliance needs for your business and see if your software makes provisions for them. Other security features that may be helpful to look out for include file expiration dates, password protection and download notifications. From an IT perspective, a good DMS should also come with added layers of security and encryption to protect all your uploads and defend against malicious attacks.

This means things like a secure encryption and other layers of security to keep your data safe. The best document management software allows administrators to set permissions by specific groups, as well as to change permissions on the fly if you need to make an exception while keeping the default permissions settings the same. Thus it is important for your document management software to support and work seamlessly on mobile devices.

Apart from emails, the ability to work remotely and get quick access to documents and collaborate on projects while on the go is important to the growth and well-being of any online business. Hence the need for mobile-friendly software that makes access on the go easy. Some business management software may provide mobile apps that give quick access, allow editing and collaboration on documents or files, while others may just give limited functionality on mobile.

Either way, your software should make provision for a good mobile experience. Whether you use the software mainly through a web browser or an online portal, it should be as easy to use and access on mobile as on PC.

Apart from ease of use and access, you should also look into how smoothly an app runs on mobile as all apps are not created equal. Testing out the software with a free trial will help clear any doubts about what exactly you and your team are getting in terms of mobile functionality. Again not all the software mentioned here have all these features baked into them out of the box.

But like we mentioned earlier, your industry, the kind of business you do and how large your team is will determine how much feature power you need. From making it easy for anyone in your company to find the files they need to getting rid of expensive and bulky physical storage units or simply saving you time by automating document creation, a DMS is a worthwhile investment for your business.

The question now is how do you maximize and get the most out of it? How do you let it really boost overall productivity and efficiency in a way that is tangible and measurable? But any software is only as good as the one who is using it and how that person maximizes its output.

Also remember that consistency is key to effectively managing your business data using a document management system. Entering and saving all documents following a standard protocol will save you from having to overhaul the entire system a few months down the line. Remember the software is just a tool, which is only as good as how well it is used.

Try to focus on what specific problems need solving with your current document management methods. Do you struggle to retrieve old documents?

Or have problems tracking versions? What about invoicing and marketing materials? Your software can only solve these kinds of problems if you show it how to.