Going Paperless: The Consumer’s Perspective

The benefits associated with going paperless involve more than simply saving a large chunk of change on printing expenses. Document management software helps contribute to business intelligence and expedites the time it takes to perform otherwise manual tasks. Still, the average day-to-day office operations consist of paper-based transactions that could easily be done electronically.

How come this is still an issue?

It’s not as if digital communications are new to enterprises – computing technology has been around for almost two decades now. Some business professionals who prefer to stick to their guns for the “satisfaction” of holding a physical document in their hands are not only hindering their own companies but also consumers trying to capitalize on a streamlined electronic workflow.

Robert Evatt, a contributor to Tulsa World, claimed that organizations utilizing intangible document management methods make his life as a consumer all the more easy. However, companies that remain in the Stone Age, cluttering his desk with bills, insurance claims, and other necessary forms, force him to make storage space just to ensure that all of his financial ducks are in a row.

“An email telling you of a past-due bill can be viewed, closed, and forgotten,” claimed Evatt. “A past-due bill on paper can sit on your counter as a nag and a worry.”

For this reason, consumers such as Evatt typically abandon outdated services for organizations that operate through paperless document management systems. Accessing vital information and acting upon it is much easier than frantically searching for an electric bill on a cluttered desk.

A youthful perspective

Generation Y is surrounded by computing technology on an everyday basis. It’s no longer surprising to see 12-year-olds watching YouTube videos on their smartphones or first-graders writing up reports about dinosaurs through Microsoft Word. Yet, for some inexplicable reason, teachers continue to hand out tangible assignments, and many administrators require parents to physically complete registration forms. Will this madness ever end?

Thankfully, there’s hope. According to WHNT​-TV, city school officials in Huntsville, Ala. are now allowing parents to register their kids online. Huntsville City Schools IT Manager Sandra Simmons told the news source that all the hard copy associated with the process would be eliminated when providing information to administrators. For example, nurses will easily obtain student health records through document management software.

The next step for schools involves sending students their assignments. Hopefully, it won’t be long before we live in a world where kids no longer need to frantically search through their backpacks for a single sheet of crumpled paper.