Document tracking systems are versatile instruments designed to automate various document-related processes, including managing, searching, accessing, and editing electronic files.
Through a document tracking platform, companies from any industry—be it manufacturing, financial services, or healthcare—can keep track of multiple processes, such as who opened the document, when they did this, how often they reopen it, and more.
Investing in this process management tool brings a pool of significant benefits with it, facilitating daily operations and providing all the necessary data on demand. But, how exactly can document tracking redefine the success of your business?
And, what essential features play a crucial role in this? Let’s learn it below.
What Are the Perks of Investing in a Document Tracking Solution?
Whether you are dealing with financial documents, medical reports, or legal contracts, document tracking software solutions can become efficiency boosters and time-saving tools in your business processes.
Other benefits of implementing such systems are defined as follows!
Paperless Operations and Transactions
The first and foremost reason why organizations adopt a document tracking system is the opportunity to conduct paperless operations and transactions, eliminating the need to store large quantities of printed copies of documents in filing cabinets.
Through such digitization, businesses can create a clutter-free space, where all paper documents and digital files are indexed and stored in a centralized location without occupying extra storage.
As a result, filing and retrieving company documentation is significantly facilitated, saving time and increasing efficiency.
Accessibility and Responsiveness
Another solid reason to integrate a document tracker system into your business processes is accessibility and responsiveness. This indicates that company employees can gain access to the required documents from any device and browser without experiencing compatibility issues.
Due to this flexible approach, all business stakeholders can work with the necessary files even on the go, with responsive access being ensured throughout all interactions.
Improved Productivity
Poring over extensive documents is a tedious and exhausting task that can consume most of an employee’s time. With an advanced document tracking search feature known as indexing, it is extremely easy to find the required documents in a matter of seconds.
This significantly improves overall productivity, allowing employees to focus on more strategic and higher-level activities.
Eventually, they can increase their workloads and complete a wider range of tasks, which results in labor and cost savings for the company.
Facilitated Audit Trails
A document tracker system incorporates an audit trail feature that provides a record of all user interactions with a document in a detailed and chronological order. Thanks to this feature, companies can keep track of all document modifications, as well as who made those changes and when.
This helps ensure the traceability of all interactions, including unauthorized access and suspicious activities, ultimately fostering a culture of accountability and transparency.
Enhanced Security
Any robust document tracking system is equipped with a multitude of security features and compliant with industry standards and regulations to ensure that a company’s sensitive data is rigorously protected.
Among these features are authentication and authorization, access control, data backup, disaster recovery, and more.
In the event of any unexpected data breaches, system breakdowns, or other failures, your data will always be secure, with the guaranteed safety and integrity of all your documents.
Better Collaboration
Document tracking systems allow company employees to easily access the necessary documents from various geographical locations and work on them in real time, significantly contributing to teamwork and collaboration, as well as ensuring smooth and quick workflows.
Collaborating simultaneously through the document tracking system, employees from cross-functional departments can effortlessly find solutions to arising problems, improve interpersonal communication, and stay on the same page in terms of cooperation objectives and goals.
Cost Reduction
One more key benefit that businesses can unlock with document tracking software is the significant reduction of direct and indirect company expenses. When it comes to direct costs, possessing a document tracking solution eliminates the need to invest in physical document storage, paper, printing, and more.
Indirect costs, on the other hand, are banished through increased efficiency and productivity, the prevention of human errors, and enhanced data security, among others.
Integral Features of Any Document Tracking Software
Once you are well aware of all the perks that document tracking solutions bring with them, the question of which features make all of the aforementioned benefits possible arises. If you are considering getting a document tracking system any time soon, ensure it comes equipped with the following functionality:
- Access control—this feature restricts the visibility and usage of your internal documentation, ensuring only company staff is granted access to it.
- Location tracking—through location tracking, organizations easily retrieve the needed documents, minimizing downtime and securing uninterrupted business operations.
- Audit trail—it provides a clear-cut log of all actions and user activity with the document, which is paramount for auditing processes, security, and regulatory compliance.
- Version control—with the help of this feature, employees maintain the entire history of all saved versions of the document and can retrieve the necessary variant if need be.
- Distribution tracking—it tracks the process of document dissemination, including who sends and receives files, keeping all participants informed while promoting responsibility.
- Collaboration tools—due to this advanced functionality, team members can work on a document simultaneously, solve real-time tasks, and boost productivity.
- Real-time notifications—this feature plays a vital role in alerting users about document updates, changes, and access, ensuring prompt actions and responses.
Final Thoughts
A document tracking system is a must-have tool if companies aim to streamline their document-focused processes, increase productivity across the entire organization, and maximize business outcomes.
This process management tool also allows users to handle the necessary documents from any location at any time, track document changes on demand, guarantee the comprehensive security of all transactions, and, most importantly, save businesses some costs.
