The average UK organisation handles 3 million items of post a year, 42% of which will be copied.
The rapid rise of technology and the expanding use of mobile devices led many to begin predicting a future with a paperless office. Many of us would reasonably assume that paper use in the office has reduced drastically, however, the figures aren’t there to support it;
- The average UK organisation handles 3 million items of post a year, 42% of which will be copied.
- 200 billion individual pages are printed by UK organisations each year, 48% of which is retained in storage.
The research that would show the time and resource needed to support this amount of paper usage would make for some difficult and eye opening reading. The implications financially, physically and not to mention environmentally are high and, particularly in this climate, we could all afford to make this area of our business more efficient.
There may come a day we can proudly say the majority of offices across the UK are now paper free, but we are some way off that despite all the technology now available. We have come to terms with this reality and prefer to concentrate on a ‘paperlight’ office, reducing its use where possible. It is the pursuit of this that is integral to ARL’s digital mailroom service and the successful implementation of it for many organisations.
Digital mailrooms, simply put, are designed to handle all forms of inbound communication, process them as required, digitise them and then upload into a client’s workflow system, ready to be actioned by the right people.
The advantages of a service like this are extensive and wide reaching;
- Much reduced operating & storage costs
- Increased staff efficiency & productivity
- Quicker decision making & reduced errors
- Improved customer service & satisfaction
- A secure environment
- Reduced physical storage requirements
- Automatic audit trails
We specifically designed the ‘paperlight’ solution for our clients as we recognise the obvious financial and non-financial benefits for law firms who face ever-changing efficiency and cost challenges. So until we see an office environment that is completely paperless, why not join the movement towards a ‘paperlight’ office.