Accessing documents and managing processes from mobile devices is more than a convenience. It’s become a necessity. In their personal lives, knowledge workers are more likely to search the web, shop, bank and do other online tasks with their smartphones than on a desktop or laptop computer. They expect the same practical functionality at their jobs.
According to the Association for Intelligent Information Management (AIIM), "There are 3.3 billion smartphone users in the world today (43% of the world's population), it's become more important than ever for businesses to empower their workforce with the same mobility.” Mobile technology for use with document management and workflow automation solutions enables teams to stay connected and productive.
How to make working outside the office more productive
These are just some of the advantages of mobile access - employees can:- Assign and monitor workflow tasks.
- Complete approvals from home, during business travel, or at a job site.
- Eliminate the chance of losing paper documents if they are brought home, to a customer site or to a tradeshow
Reduce risk of violating HIPAA, GDPR and other state and federal compliance regulations. For example, a visiting nurse might transport paper files to the home of a patient she is visiting. This is a HIPAA violation that can be prevented if the nurse access health records from a tablet with software that offers permissioned access.- Complete and sign forms to initiate a new workflow.
- Easily review documents to make business decisions quickly.
- Collaborate on projects remotely.
How mobile access is benefiting today’s forward-thinking companies
For an event management company that handles trade shows, launch parties and corporate events, the advantages of going mobile are significant. Before the company introduced mobile access, project managers received invoices on-site at an event location. They held onto the invoices and associated documents to process them later. The project managers had to keep track of a folder of paper documents, which had the potential to be misplaced or lost, throughout an event. Once back at the office, they entered information manually into multiple line-of-business systems. This took time away from more value-added tasks and sometimes meant working overtime.
After the company implemented document management and workflow automation with mobile capability, the project managers could review and verify the invoices they receive in the field. Then, using their smartphones and DocuWare PaperScan app the invoices are scanned and uploaded directly into the system. The centralized document management solution automatically imports the scanned documents. Then they are brought into an automated workflow for immediate processing.
Why your organization needs a mobile strategy
For businesses looking to become paperless, mobile access along with remote scanning capability and automated workflow are an essential part of that transition. By implementing a centralized document management repository and offering mobile capabilities, organizations enable quicker responses and more efficiency. Instead of managing paper while out of the office, employees can process transactions, review contracts, and scan and route receipts and reports from their smartphones or tablets.
Like the event management company mentioned above, businesses that embrace mobile capability exchange bottlenecks caused by paper processes for time savings and new efficiencies.
Editor's note: This post has been updated for accuracy and new content has been added.
Have you implemented a mobile strategy at your organization? Let us know how it's working for you in the comments section.
