Business people are by nature record keepers, and whether they save all those paper documents out of habit, for their tax accountants and the IRS, or even because they are required to by law or regulation, America’s filing cabinets and storage rooms are filled to the brim with more fodder for the files being generated by the second.

The trouble with all that paper, of course, is that it takes up a lot of space, requires file clerks and other business people hours to file and retrieve the documents when needed, and it can easily be ruined by such disasters as fire and floods. And, since all this filing is a human activity, sometimes searching for misplaced/misfiled documents is a labor-intensive task itself.

There is, however, a way of maintaining those important documents and records in a digital format that can vastly reduce storage space and make retrieval as easy as a few keystrokes and mouse clicks. Plus, documents stored and retrieved digitally are just as legal and acceptable as the original paper itself, completely in compliance with record-keeping requirements of such agencies and laws as the IRS, The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), Sarbanes-Oxley, as well as courts, insurance companies, and other document-hungry entities.

The good news is that a better, safer, more easily accessible filing system is very easy to create -- and if you want to keep the paper and files in storage, that’s just fine. Collecting dust is a ubiquitous, if not thoroughly satisfying, hobby.

All Copy Products specializes in taking that important mountain of stored documents and records and creating a valuable and secure molehill of digital documents through its exclusive Scanning Services Division.

For small businesses and those needing only a digital solution, rather than more sophisticated document management solution, here’s how it works: All Copy Products (ACP) personnel take all of the document and records files – invoices, work orders, accounts payable paperwork, etc. – and perform an inventory of them at the client’s location. Working with the client, ACP determines the filing parameters to discover how that business wants to index its files and records. These documents are then scanned into a digital format, usually as PDF files, and then tagged with the key words requested to make searching for and retrieving the digital documents easy and, most importantly, quick.

The paper records are returned to the client – all indexed and filed correctly – for storage or even destruction.

All of the digital documents are placed on CDs, DVDs or other digital storage media for quick and easy retrieval when needed. Multiple copies are made so there are backups, and ACP even can keep client digital records at its location for even more secure backup. Most clients electing this service then have ACP come and do the whole process again at regular intervals – quarterly, semi-annually or every year – to itemize and digitize all documents and records generated in the interim. The storage media are then updated to reflect the entire catalog.

“What we’re trying to do in a digital environment is to replicate what the client does with the paper records,” says Rick O’Connell, ACP Scanning Services Manager. “Each and every client has their own system for filing records, and that’s just fine. What we deliver is that system in a digital format, which saves every client time and storage space, plus offering piece of mind that the documents will never be damaged and can be easily retrieved in seconds.” 

Larger companies and those with greater needs for document management services come to ACP for more sophisticated solutions, and ACP offers a number document management software solutions and consulting services to meet any needs. Among the most popular such solutions are FileBound, Alchemy, Prism: Doc Record, and GroupPoint. 

With Scanning Services at ACP clients ultimately find that the system simplifies their record keeping and delivers a high level of service to the businesses’ own constituencies, says O’Connell. If a vendor needs a copy of an invoice or work order, for instance, the document can be found in seconds on the digital media, printed out and mailed or faxed to the vendor, or even quickly attached to an email.

“We call that customer satisfaction,” adds O’Connell. “The needed record is found very quickly, and the vendor or business associate of our client is amazed by the speed and the accuracy of its document request. Everybody’s happy and it took a fraction of the time that paper retrieval would have taken.”

For complete information on all of the Scanning Services, and the full range of office and business solutions available at All Copy Products, phone 800-332-2352. All Copy Products is headquartered in Denver, with convenient additional locations in Boulder, Colorado Springs and Fort5 Collins in Colorado, as well as Tempe, Ariz. and Cheyenne, Wyo. 

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