Document imaging reduces office costs.

A common corporate objective is the reduction of printing costs and document handling time. Until quite recently, there were only extremely expensive and custom-made solutions to these dilemmas. Due to the drastic drops in computer equipment costs and an increase in the number of document imaging software applications, the ability to create a more paperless office has become an obtainable goal for most small to medium sized Real Estate companies.

The reasons for moving to a more paperless office are much more then just keeping up with the e-Joneses. Little known reasons to consider this technology include the fact that professionals spend 5 to 15 percent of their time reading information, but up to 30 percent of their time waiting for it; a typical four-drawer file cabinet costs $200 and occupies nine square feet; four weeks of executive time is spent finding information; three percent of all documents are misplaced files or lost documents; the average business document is copied up to 19 times; it typically takes seven minutes to find, retrieve and re-file a document; and if you pay $7.50 an hour while an employee locates a document, it costs you .875 cents per document to locate.

Managing electronic documents involves three issues: gathering, storing and retrieving. Gathering is accomplished through network capable scanners with imaging capabilities. Many of the current imaging software applications incorporate scanning capabilities into their storage and retrieving capabilities. Storing The e-documents is now quite easy, with the availability of CD writers and re-writers. The average storage capacity of a CD is that of a four drawer filing cabinet that greatly reduces the office space needed to store this information.

The last concern is retrieval of the stored information. CD jukeboxes hold multiple CDs that allow for access from many people simultaneously. The search capability for the software can be used to seek out documents even if the exact name isn't known.

Once real estate documents, management reports and government forms are entered into image storage, the possibility of loss is kept at a minimum. Copies of documents are easily made and archived in a way that is an industry standard, rather than a less available method such as microfiche.

If desired, the stored information can be made available to remote users by keeping it on web servers and accessing it through Internet accounts. Security should be a major concern if this is implemented.

By providing cost- intelligent solutions and methods to age-old corporate problems, electronic document storage fills a much needed niche in today's workplace.

(Since 1979, Software First, Inc. has provided property management and HUD software solutions to the New York area.)