So by now I’m sure you’ve heard about the ActiveRain and Kodak Paper-less Challenge. My post today is not about the steps I am going to take to help my office become paperless, it’s about the steps we took to get there.
Having all our files stored on paper was becoming a huge storage burden, with boxes upon boxes of the previous years files needing to be stored. We were running out of space and didn’t want to rent space simply to store paper. That was how the idea for us to go paperless was formed.
So knowing we had a problem and isolating the problem was the first of many steps. Next came figuring out the steps and equipment needed to help us achieve our goals.
This was where my mother the computer junkie came into play. First she analyzed what we were going to need in the lines of hardware and software to make this work. Here is what she came up with:
- Main server system for storing files
- Dual Desktop Systems to handle incoming and out going faxes
- Network capable printer
- Scanners to in put all current files into system
- Laptops – 1 per person
- Digital cameras for all photographic needs – 1 per person
- External Backup Drives to protect data
- External Power Backups to allow proper system shut down during sudden power outages
- Central router, hub and switches to network hardware
- Anti-virus software with multiple licenses
- Microsoft office with multiple licenses
- Home Inspection Reporting Software with multiple licenses
- QuickBooks with single license
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Adobe PhotoShop multiple licenses
I know this sounds like a lot, but we operate more than one business from one in home office and all are virtually paper-less. With the exception of some of the software licenses and a copy of QuickBooks we already owned most of what we needed to accomplish our goals.
Next was preparing the server, desktops and laptops with all the needed software and networking the system to communicate. This was just a two-day project (did I mention my mother is a computer junkie). The longest step was in scanning of all the previous files and documents then shredding all the hard copies.
After that the rest was simple. Simply do everything that was done on paper on computer. Send all information via pdf. files and assign a username and password for Clients and Realtors to access the server and retrieve their reports. For the few that just refuse to join the information age, we will print out a copy of all their paperwork and send it out via snail-mail.
Now this is not to say that this process was easy or painless. It did take us around two-years and a serious level of commitment to get to this point, but we are now as close to paper-less as we can get.
"This post is written as a submission to the ActiveRain & Kodak Paper-less Challenge contest. I have the chance to win the high speed KODAK SCANMATE i1120 Scanner, great for helping real estate professionals reduce their stacks of paper by scanning contracts, photos and business cards in seconds."
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