The idea of the “Paperless Office” is one that makes the wish list for nearly every organization that I speak to.
Having documentation immediately available for retrieval without having to sort through filing cabinets saves employees’ time, improves customer service, increases document security and disaster recovery, and reduces an organization’s carbon footprint.
Why doesn’t every organization go paperless?
In a perfect world all businesses would run paperless offices. Documentation would be seamlessly shared across the enterprise eliminating overhead and streamlining processes. The reality is that it can be tough to get past the inertia of existing business processes. Change is hard. A true paperless office scenario requires many different processes to change with a unified goal of making them paperless. Without a comprehensive plan in place across all departments for electronic document distribution, filing, retrieval and approval, the paperless initiative can quickly break down. It can be tough to even know where to start.
For Microsoft Dynamics NAV users, Zetadocs for NAV provides the plan. Zetadocs provides NAV users a clear blueprint for starting the down the road to the paperless office and completing the journey step-by-step.
Step 1: Install Zetadocs Express
Starting with NAV 2009 R2 RTC, NAV users all have access to Zetadocs Express at no additional cost. This foundational edition of Zetadocs provides all NAV users with “drag and drop” archival of electronic files and emails to any NAV page. This allows NAV users across the organization to electronically file, index, and view electronic files right inside the NAV client. Zetadocs Express is a major upgrade from the NAV “record links” feature due to its superior interface and permanent linking mechanism. Zetadocs Express gives everyone in the organization with sufficient permissions a window to view and contribute to the document management system without the need for a user license. Zetadocs Express provides a powerful foundation for a paperless office and costs nothing but a few hours of your NAV partner’s time to set it up.
Step 2: Evaluate Advanced Features
The Zetadocs family of Solutions includes a set of modules for enhancing the functionality of Zetadocs Express for those users who need a little bit more. The modular nature of Zetadocs allows organizations to upgrade specific users while the remainder of the users retain the Zetadocs Express feature set. Advanced features include electronic document distribution for e-invoicing and statement runs, batch scanning with auto-filing for dealing with paper in sales or purchasing departments, and electronic approval workflow for approving PO’s for submittal or invoices for payment. Zetadocs brings organization’s comprehensive paperless vision into focus by giving users across departments the ability to archive outbound documentation, like sales invoices and PO’s, along with inbound documentation, like vendor invoices and shipping documentation. The circle is completed when archived documentation is presented to approvers with a snapshot of NAV data so that they can make an approval decision quickly and confidently from anywhere.
Step 3: Make a list… check it twice
Zetadocs Express and the advanced Zetadocs modules provide the framework. Now it’s time to connect the dots. Your NAV partner can be a big help during this step. Partners are integral in the process of designing and implementing Zetadocs for NAV. Make a list of each user in each department. Ask what each user’s job function requires in terms of document distribution, filing, retrieval, and approval. Some users will need only Zetadocs Express for its viewing and drag and drop functionality. This may be for users who do not have to email documents and do not contribute very much to the document repository. Other users may deal with higher volumes of archiving. For example, an AP clerk who gets 100 invoices per day could benefit from batch scanning and auto-filing those invoices as opposed to dragging and dropping each one with Zetadocs Express. Other users may need batch emailing capability for sending invoices, purchase orders, or customer statements. Other users may need approval or approval initiation capability. As part of your list, include the NAV pages on which you want to have the Zetadocs document fact-box. This information will provide a full, high-level view of your organization’s paperless vision. With the help of your NAV partner this will help to determine which, if any, modules should be added to Zetadocs Express.
The blueprint is there. Make the paperless office a reality in 2015.
Ryan Pollyniak
Partner Channel Manager
Equisys, Inc.
