Efficiency is extremely important in running a successful business, and there are a variety of aspects within businesses these can be found. That’s easier said than done; businesses are often complex, so where do you begin first? I’ve addressed just 7 areas that can be streamlined within a business using tech solutions, hopefully inspiring more ideas dependent on your type of business.
fileSMART
fileSmart is an Electronic Business Document Management System used to streamline your business’ costs. These savings come from paper costs and postage through email and not having to shell out for storing documents in filing cabinets or having to pay for offsite storage.
fileSmart not only reduces cost and office space, it is also environmentally friendly, an area all modern businesses aspire to. fileSmart is scalable to nearly all documents, and due to it being an electronic application, it receives upgrades to improve areas such as imaging and programming technology.
Consolidate Software
If you use one piece of software for order entry, another for accounting, and another for inventory control, this shows you could benefit from an integrated software platform. This would also eliminate the need to employ someone to key in data from one system to another. There are loads of packages out there that will meet the needs of small companies, as well as the larger ones too.
Phone it in
Running between voice mail on your mobile and office phones wastes a lot of precious time. VoIP systems not only provide personalisation, but they come at a low price, as low as 40% than that of a traditional phone system. It also offers voice mails, which can be dealt with like attachments – clicked, dragged and dropped. These kinds of systems are fairly new, but more and more businesses are installing due to the added reliability too. Learn more about VoIP systems from providers such as Megapath.
Hit The Web
Your company’s website is the client’s main portal to what you have to offer. You don’t need to worry too much about graphics; ensuring visitors can get the information is more important. Using an online FAQ list will cut down the time clients spend calling you up asking basic questions, and it will also prevent frustration on their behalf. Setting up a website isn’t difficult either, as there are many web hosting companies that offer reliable websites relatively cheaply with tools to help set up online purchasing and billing too.
Servers
A server acts as a digital filing cabinet for the ever-growing piles of documentation that build up. Compared to “daisy-chaining” PCs, servers offer much more reliability and improve your business. Another great aspect and benefit by storing important documents on a central server is it’s far easier to back up all your important documents on a daily basis.
Reduce Unnecessary Travel With A/V Tools
Ask yourself if every travel decision is really necessary. Does the cost/benefit work out in your favour? Have you even considered the cost/benefit analysis?
Ensure every trip made includes a benefit for the company, one that’s measurable in local currency and not foreign. There are many audio and video conferencing tools like Skype available to offer a business meeting strategies instead of the need to travel. Ask any sales people within your team to consider these options first; there’s also self-booking tools they can pre-program into their system to alert them whilst using their calendar, something like “Before you enter an event, have you considered a conference call?”
Barcode Technology
Barcode tech is a form of optical character recognition (OCR). This consists of machine-readable data used to store data. Not only less expensive and more reliable, it’s also easier to use than other forms of OCR. Traditionally, barcodes have been formatted into bars and spaces, although the sizes, shapes, and styles have become more complex as technology has evolved. Normally, the accuracy for barcodes is higher than other OCRs, as barcodes are standardised; other types of OCR can be stalled by type text that appears in different fonts and sizes.
This form of technology has come a long way since its initial concept, developed as part of a partnership between manufacturers and supermarkets to improve their inventory control and decrease automation costs. What resulted was the Universal Product Code (UPC), which became so successful in automating the checkout process, it served to develop the barcode to different areas of business.
There are so many areas to choose from, maybe you want to find software for expense management to be more efficient in tracking finances or find automation in marketing. Hopefully, whilst you’ve been reading this article through, with your own business in mind, you’ve already come up with some of your own solutions in streamlining your business. There are many more solutions out there, so go online and find others specifically suited to your line of business.