Continuing from the first part in this series, we’re here to talk about going paperless. Stay tuned .. part three will be forthcoming!

When transforming your office to a paperless office, you need help. There are paperless systems and technologies that can be used by large companies, but also by people working from home. You don’t need a vast amount of money or a large budget to utilize these paperless systems offered by different companies.

What technologies and systems are available for a paperless office at home?

What you Have

You already have the tools to start your paperless office at home. You have a computer on which you can store files instead of printing the documents, and you have access to the internet. You can use the internet to send emails, instead of mailing letters, and you can do your banking electronically. Your printer can be used to store documents as PDF files on your printer hard drive instead of printing the document. Essential documents can be printed. Save money and paper by printing on both sides of the sheet of paper.

Your printer is possibly an all-in-one that includes a scanner. Use the scanner to scan your documents into your computer, creating digital images that can be saved as PDF files. Store these documents in separate files on your computer. You can also share these files. Investing in a scanner will save you a lot of money on paper in the long-term. It is also an environment friendly action to take, because you will be using less paper.

Smart phones are more than cell phones and can assist you in becoming paperless. Your smart phones have a PDA, or personal digital assistant, which have great features and benefits. This means you can use your cell phone to record, read and send emails, store notes, and to share files. Using an electronic address book, you are another step closer to a paperless office. The advantage is that you have your contacts always with you, without needing to remember to take the address book with you.

It is vitally important to remember to back-up the data stored on your computer, and to do it regularly. Your computer can crash and you can lose all the data. It is good practice to schedule a time to back-up the data, preferably on a daily basis. External hard drives are not that expensive to use for back-up. If you don’t have that much data to store, you can also make use of a USB flash drive or a CD. Flash drives can hold up to 2 gigabytes of data, and CDRs can store 700 megabytes data. It is safer to use a CDR, which records only once, than rewritable CDs.

Computer security is important. Use a good antivirus to safeguard your computer, and also protect your data against hackers and cyber thieves. Ensure your computer firewall is enabled at all times for protection. Use intricate passwords that can’t be deciphered so easily.

Traditional fax machines are not necessary. Your computer software usually has the ability to fax documents electronically. This is another environment friendly action, because you don’t need to print the document to fax it. There are companies you can subscribe to that enables sending and receiving faxes via the Internet or email. The faxes are converted to readable images when opened.

Technology doesn’t stand still and is forever advancing. Paperless technology is also improving constantly. Technology such as NeatShoeBox, scans business cards, receipts, and other documents. The information is taken from the document and exported to software applications such as Microsoft Outlook or Excel and also Quicken.

What ideas and actions plans do you have in transforming your home office to a paperless office?

About Out of the Office Virtual Assistance:

At Out of the Office, we are committed to providing earth-friendly administration and offer ideas and ways to increase your productivity, decrease your workload, and work more efficiently. We nurture a successful business relationship, while continuing to grow as your business partner. We are focused on streamlining your administration, social media planning and execution, and offering creative solutions for your business success.

Interested in going paperless, contact us for a personalized coaching session!

Image credit: geralt | CCO Public Domain