How Paperless Can We REALLY Expect to Be?

There is an emerging generation of programs and services that are changing the way you work and live. As these new machines and software make our business and personal lives easier, they can also reduce paper and make us both more efficient and “greener”. Computers showed up on our desks 25 years ago with a sparkling promise for the future. The question on everyone’s mind comes from the promise of the “Paperless Office.” I mean, weren’t we supposed to travel with jet packs and have no paper in our offices by now?

How close are we to actually being able to have a paperless law firm? Most everyone will concede that while strides have been made, we are not paperless by any stretch. What we DO have now, however, is the “Less-Paper” office and that is both achievable and desirable right now.

“Less-Paper”

It’s important to note that the “Less-Paper” office is all about reducing your dependency on paper through various emerging technologies and operational approaches. What does the “Less-Paper Office” consist of?

• More e-mail – less faxing: This is a natural trend that has happened all by itself. E-mail is now a faster, easier and more reliable method of transmitting documents than Faxing. So not only do we reduce paper, we are more efficient as well and it’s easy then to share the results of the interchange.
• Full cycle document management: Interwoven (formerly iManage) has lead this area for quite some time now, and with the introduction and maturity of their Records Management suite, the solution is now complete. A single program handles the documents you type, the ones you scan, the ones you have hard copy of and the e-mails to and from your clients.
• Larger LCD displays: This is one most people don’t think of but with today’s large, and wide displays, it is often easier to read onscreen than on paper. Thus less printing and reduced cost.
• PDF distiller on every machine: This makes it fast and easy to create and transmit documents to clients that are final copies, even including electronic signatures.
• Centralized and integrated document scanning: eCopy and programs like it make it simple to scan an incoming document directly to the appropriate staff and simultaneously to the client file. When combined with Interwoven the document is also automatically stored in the document management system as well!
• Strong internal policies to stop creating paper piles: Have that one partner who insists on his secretary printing his e-mail? Give up, he’ll win every time.
• An Intranet, Extranet, or other group communication tool for redundant documents, such as forms and manuals: This not only saves paper, but also allows policies, manuals and the like to be living breathing documents. By simply changing the original, all interested parties can be notified and their review can easily be confirmed. Saves paper, saves time and makes it easy.
• Make it easy to do the right thing: Ultimately, these tools all do the same thing. They make it easier to do it right, than the use the paper and that should always be your goal towards the “Less-Paper” office.

Bottom-line Benefits

A truly “Less-Paper” office requires these various methodologies to work seamlessly together. Some solutions require technology investments, such as software and hardware that scans paper documents and converts them to digital files; others require only an operational process change commitment. In fact, many times the most important ingredient is the operational paradigm shift that is required, led from the top down, that has yielded both environmental and bottom-line benefits.

1. Reduced costs and quicker access to information
2. More space (both physically and virtually)
3. Document security and easy information sharing
4. Ability to handle company growth
5. Access anywhere and electronic prescriptions
6. Less paper in
7. Less temporary paper
8. Less paper out
   

Ok, so we all agree that it’s a great goal with loads of benefits. The difference today from the past is that it actually now SAVES money and time to implement these programs! In the past the argument was over saving physical space and filing costs; now it’s a simple efficiency problem especially if it makes things easier. While it may seem daunting for firms that have their feet stuck in paper trails, today the “Less-Paper” office benefits far outweigh the cost no matter how you do the numbers.

The Right Tools: Helping You to Easily Do the Right Thing

A large portion of the “Less Paper” office depends on pervasive document management to successfully integrate Documents, Mail, Images and Hard Copies.

There are two basic types of document management that are driving the industry:

1. Straight Doc Management: Save, Retrieve, Find (such as Interwoven); This type of DM offers the most features and combines the all types of documents easily and seamlessly. More can be done toward “Less-Paper” with this type of product than the one mentioned below, however it does require additional work to integrate with Time & Billing and other software in a law firm.
2. Case-Centric Doc Management: Documents are stored and retrieved relative to the matter they concern: Most of the “All in one” products available today, such as Lexis’ Total Practice Advantage or Prolaw allow some form of document management. Generally, all forms of documents can be integrated, with the exception of hard copy. These systems have reduced feature sets and rely heavily on the user to first locate the matter and then explore its documents. While this can be more efficient for a small firm, and does have a positive impact on paper use, it will do less to remove paper than the option above.

The High Cost of Paper

According to a recent Gartner study that investigated other costs related to manual document processing and paper filing, the average document is copied, either physically or electronically, 9 to 11 times at a cost of about $36 per document. But it’s even worse than that: each document cost about $40 to file, and retrieving a misfiled document costs about $240. Each!

Excellent Back-up is Essential

Critical to the success of any “Less-Paper” goal is having and excellent system for backing up digital documents – BEFORE starting the conversion process. Considering Offsite backup systems and more robust disaster recovery options is a must towards the “Less-Paper” office.

Why is the time NOW? Economic Incentives

Many firms have held off from making the necessary critical decisions in the area of technology because of the initial cost of some of these products. Thus efficiency continues to lag, cost per month is higher and overall paper continues to propagate.

Luckily, the technology and business industries as a whole have responded to the needs for “Less-Paper” and the technological advancements that these goals require with significant economic incentives that impact your bottom line.

Included in this are:

• The Economic Incentive Package and Section 179 of the federal tax code allow you to deduct up to $250,000 in IT investment
• Microsoft Finance has reduced its rates to 6.99% APR.
• Lower cost all-in-one peripheral solutions that centralize imaging and printing are emerging that both reduce the cost of expensive copiers but also allow you to distribute services closer to the workstation for better workflow.
• Consolidation of solutions and companies make computing less cumbersome, like embedded PDF distillers and other solutions.

While you can’t expect a truly paperless office, you can easily achieve a “Less-Paper” office and end up saving money over time. Considering the economic incentives, there has never been a better time to invest in the technology you need to streamline your office.