Is Your Office Paperless?

Discussion in Office Supplies started by luckycharm • Jan 6, 2017.

  1. luckycharm

    luckycharmActive Member

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    I work in a company where almost all communications are happening through computers; be it inter office memos, leave applications, purchase orders or whatever it is. We are saving a lot of money by being paperless. It is not only economic but also saves a lot of time, manpower. Another advantage is that it is easy to keep records of such transactions and it is also error free.

    For example in the case of a leave application once a leave application is submitted the system will report this through various hierarchies and also send an alert to respective officials. With the advent of smartphones department heads can approve or reject an application even if he is not in the office.

    I think from an environment point of view also this is good as it saves a lot of trees. I think we can apply this in our personal life too.
     
  2. Alexandoy

    AlexandoyWell-Known Member

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    I have just retired from my consultancy job. But prior to my retirement, I have advocated the total use of digital technology and do away with the printing. In fact, our boss was happy because we have been saving a lot from the printer ink which was expensive. Take for instance a movie script that is 100 pages long, it will consume much ink not to mention the paper. But going digital, the readers will just read with their monitor or phones and there is no more need for paper. However, official documents like memo are still on printed form.
     
  3. Nakitakona

    NakitakonaActive Member

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    I think this for me a bit of impossible to have a total paperless in doing an office work. I know there are recording of data stored in the computer but when the computer malfunctions, attacked by virus and it is beyond recovery anymore. What would happen to the business? That is a big loss. Isn't it? I would prefer a balance record-keeping with paper-and-paperless business transaction for that matter to play safe.
     
  4. luckycharm

    luckycharmActive Member

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    Security of data is really a matter of concern. It could be badly hit by many factors like hacking, virus attacks or natural calamities like earth quakes and flood etc. But even if we keep them in hard copies there is no guarantee that it can withstand unforeseen incidents like fire or natural calamities. I think it can be addressed to a great extent if we have a proper backup plan in place under an efficient IT team.

    Renowned companies like Apple and Google nowadays use to store important data in cloud servers. Cloud hosting has many benefits like a low downtime, high reliability. etc.
     
  5. Decentlady

    DecentladyActive Member

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    While all good things have been pointed out about going digital it is imperative that one realises that anything electronic can not be trusted 100%.

    What we can do manually is always a good backup.

    A simple powercut or short circuit can put all work in vain and you end up lost records.

    It is good to save but it is better to save wisely.
     
  6. kamai

    kamaiActive Member

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    My last job was almost completely paperless as most tasks were done in the computer. The times we used paper is when we had a work meeting and had to write things down. All the orders and plans were all typed down on exell or word. If we had to do paper work it would usually get lost somewhere anyway. So computer usage is most convinient
     
  7. efrain silva

    efrain silvaMember

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    My office is nearly paperless. Everything is done online these days. The only problem which this seems to create, on the one hand, is that when something digital crashes, there is no hard copy in which it is usually backed up by. It is also far more expensive of a setback than the old paper lack....
     
  8. abonnen

    abonnenActive Member

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    I work from home and my home business is not paperless at all...I tried to have my inventory list, calendars, etc on the computer but I found it harder to concentrate when working and looking at product information and to remember things since I don't have a cell phone to get sent reminders, so I use paper records. While I know it is better for the environment to not use paper I have a hard time using the computer for record keeping. I have tried many programs and apps nothing work edfor my business, however I do recycle paper by shredding it and using it for shipping material or just taking it to a recycling trailer.
     
  9. Ray1

    Ray1Well-Known Member

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    I am almost paperless at my workplace barring a notebook on my table to note down ideas which hit my mind from time to time. We have converted all routine reports by our marketing staff in digital form. We are planning to do away with paper order book used by the field staff in a short while that would further reduce the use of paper.
     
  10. Jamille

    JamilleActive Member

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    We can't afford to be completely paperless at this point as the laws of our country are yet to catch up with the digital times. If for some reason you need to take someone to court, it will be so much easier to prove your case by presenting hard copies or the paper trail. Hence, our paperless exchanges have been limited to harmless e-mails that serve as first notice or warning to employees or emails that announce forthcoming corporate events. Formal employee notices still have to be in hard copy, properly received and signed by the employee and kept on the 201 file. Departmental reports, however, have been largely paperless as these are either emailed to managers or viewed over a projector screen.
     
  11. tonyb

    tonybActive Member

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    My office is about 90℅ paperless as you put it. All correspondences are done through the system. Business activities, meetings, changes in the pattern of work are all communicated through the system. Activities and programs are in the computer. Personally I think the more paperless an office become the more efficient the work.q
     
  12. TheKnight

    TheKnightActive Member

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    Every single document or contract that goes through our system, needs to have at least two physical copies by rule. If the computer is wiped out of its memory or if there is a hacker attack, we'd at least still have the physical copies which are stored safely in a large room in their respective files. You'll lose a lot more money if you don't have physical back-ups in case of an emergency.
     
  13. overcast

    overcastActive Member

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    My company is moving paperless too. I guess it all comes down to how the paperless management is handled. Some of the times you can have hard backups. And some of the time you can easily lose that too. So we have to think in that direction. And we have to establish our paperless strategy like this. Avoiding prints is a good start for that.