Many companies have to deal with large volumes of sensitive documents. With an EDMS, they can automate a variety of document-related tasks, making time and resources that could be better used to make higher-level purchasing decisions and improving customer relationships.
Document management systems assist businesses to meet the requirements of regulatory agencies. They ensure that documents are stored and managed according to the guidelines set by the organization. This helps employees quickly access the information they require and reduces the risk of non-compliance penalties and legal action, and increases overall efficiency.
One of the most important features an EDMS should have is the capability of capturing and imaging. This enables a user to upload images of physical documents to the system or process digital files with optical recognition software. After capturing the images, the EDMS will label the files with metadata and arrange them in order to make it easier for authorized users to find and retrieve them.
An EDMS should also provide intuitive and logical file management with the ability to store files in logical folder structures and standardized naming conventions. The EDMS should also include the ability to locate files easily. Simple retrieval can be just as simple as searching for a specific identifier number of a file and more flexible searches use a combination of the unique identifier, in conjunction with other metadata, to generate an alphabetical list of the files that match.
Additionally, an EDMS should include real-time collaboration features to ensure that team members can collaborate easily on shared documents find here on any device or at any location. This can save time by reducing the need to send and wait for the latest versions of documents, and it improves communication between team members.