Declare War on Paper

Declare War on Paper
by Jane Cage, COO, HTS

Here at the office I refer to myself as the “Anti-Paper” . . . It drives me crazy when I see the amount of information everyone sends to the printer when that same information is available on the screen. In this special “green” issue of our newsletter, it seems like the right time to talk about the vast number of trees we kill each year because we can’t get past the perception that we have to hold paper in our hand to be certain an item is real – or on the chance we will ever need it again.

There are three problems with relying on paper. First, there is no fault tolerance for paper, except another piece of paper – ironic, isn’t it? Second – paper can only be in one physical location. Both of us can’t look at the client invoice at the same time. How many times have you looked for information to find out it was on someone else’s desk? Third – paper can only be filed one way, and therefore only retrieved in the way it was filed. That kind of limitation has real effects on how well a company can function – should invoices be filed by number or by client? Should they be filed by date for easier removal to an off-site location?

Technology today has given us many great alternatives to printing to paper – some of which you probably have right on your own computer. Microsoft One Note 2007 has a built-in printer driver installed that allows you to send anything you would send to a printer into One-Note for future retrieval and use. I’ve found it to be invaluable for copies of contracts, statements, even order confirmations that before I would have sent to the printer. SharePoint is another great alternative you may already have on your network. Rather than printing copies for every member of your team, why not post the document to SharePoint for everyone to access? We stopped printing phone lists for distribution long ago. It was so much easier to post changes and find the latest copy on the SharePoint site. If you own a copy of a Adobe Acrobat writer, why not use it to file away information you may need to recall at a later date?

The most efficient way to deal with the deluge of paper is through the use of a document management system. A document management system is really a database of images. You can decide what index fields are important to you and then find the image based on any or all of the characteristics you choose. More capable systems include the ability to automatically read portions of an image so that the index data you need is filled in automatically.

My advice – think before you print – not only could you save a tree – you might actually be able to find the information you need again if you become “tech-smart” about what you do!