Build a more scalable and efficient business with records automation
If information is the lifeblood that keeps any enterprise alive, then records are the blood cells. Whether they’re records of transactions, contracts, meeting minutes, or beyond, each piece must be efficiently stored and accessed; if an organization can’t retrieve a record whenever and wherever it’s needed, it might as well not have had it to begin with. That’s where automated records management systems come in.
Much like the circulatory system pumping blood and ferrying away waste, an automated records management system ensures key pieces of information are available to whoever requires them — and, just as importantly, that they don’t create inefficiencies or potential liabilities by overstaying their intended expiration date.
Here’s everything you need to know about automated records management systems, how to determine if your business would benefit from implementing one, several examples to get you started, and the ideal tool to complement any business’ approach to records management.
Our ultimate guide covers the benefits of records management, how to develop processes for your organization, and services that can help. Learn more here.
What is an automated records management system?
An automated records management system is any platform or set of services designed to handle the intake, processing, storage, retrieval, and disposal of a company’s records with minimal manual oversight. It should be able to ingest any physical or digital document and then, using either human-provided metadata or the type of information present on the document itself, intelligently sort and store the record based on enterprise-level taxonomy and associated access privileges from your records management processes.
An automated records management system should also internalize and implement an organization’s records retention schedule. With each document’s timeline determined and assigned at intake, the system knows exactly how long to keep all of an organization’s documents in storage. When the retention period expires, the system securely destroys the record, limiting the possibility of storage requirements swelling over time and cutting down on the risk of improper access by unauthorized parties.
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How do I know if an automated records management system is right for my business?
While building efficiencies is a common goal for most businesses, not every type of organization will benefit equally from implementing an automated records management system. Smaller enterprises with only a handful of employees, or businesses that are in the midst of an organizational overhaul may find the strict documentation standards required for an effective automated records management system outweigh its usefulness.
Before you begin searching for the best automated records management system to fit your business’ needs, consider whether your organization fits these four criteria:
- You need records efficiency. The main benefit of implementing an automated records management system is its organization-wide boost to efficiency, as employees at every level and department need to spend less time storing records, retrieving them, and ensuring their secure disposal. If your organization only ever keeps a handful of records at a time, implementing automation to handle them won’t accomplish much.
- You need records scalability. If your organization tends to ingest or reference a substantial number of records at a time, using an automated tool to speed the process could result in massive time savings.
- You need records security. Organizations with strict compliance requirements, such as healthcare businesses that must abide by HIPAA or law offices that must meet their state’s legal requirements, stand to gain the most by entrusting their record management to an efficient and trustworthy automated system. However, any enterprise can benefit from measures that avert unintentional neglect or potential bad actors.
- You can handle a slow start. Your recordkeeping and accessing processes may be significantly slowed when your automated records management system is first coming online. This initial time investment will pay exponential dividends later, but if your organization is at a point where it’s particularly sensitive to informational delays, you may wish to wait to modernize your approach.
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3 examples of automated records management systems
With the groundwork of the automated records management system definition and business requirements laid, here are three real-life examples to kickstart your research.
eFileCabinet
Secure automation is the unifying principle behind eFileCabinet’s records management offerings, helping businesses create efficient workflows while customizing and controlling each detail to meet internal specifications. Its Rubex document management tool uses handy templates to make record storage fast and easy and its powerful search options help employees find what they require with minimal support needs.
Hyland OnBase
OnBase is an enterprise information platform that’s well-suited to automated records management. With a single platform that supports low-code configuration and easy deployment across the cloud, Hyland’s flagship product helps businesses automate processes to manage important content while working with other applications to deliver information wherever it’s needed.
Kofax
Kofax’s record management solutions focus on employing future-proof technologies such as AI and optical character recognition (OCR) to automate busywork while retaining a fundamental commitment to security. Its powerful and flexible platform scales information capture for multiple types of records across organizations.
Our recommendation: Ricoh fi-8170
Those in the market for tools to enable and accelerate automated records management have no shortage of options. We take great pride in having spent the last 50+ years researching, designing, and developing some of the most advanced and powerful electronics in the world, including our professional-grade Ricoh fi and SP series of scanners.
Built to purpose for the most demanding document handling jobs, fi and SP scanners are capable of processing tens of thousands of pages per day at the highest levels of accuracy. Their intuitive integration capabilities with all existing work suites minimize time-to-value for businesses looking to invest in tools that will pay dividends for years to come.
The Ricoh fi-8170 is a modern document digitization device built to support demanding workflows. Its 100-page automatic document feeder and scanning speed of up to 70 pages per minute mean your organization will be able to quickly digitize paper records for easy intake into your automated records management system. In addition to working through large stacks of standard-sized documents, its newly engineered feed path allows for reliable scanning of thicker business documents such as ID cards, folders, and booklets. Click here to learn more or shop the rest of our production scanner line.
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