What is an EDMS and what are the benefits?

EDMS, or Electronic Document Management System, is a variety of DMS (Document Management System), in which files and documents are stored digitally, usually on a computer or other device that can access files and networks. Often with EDMS, the files will be stored on a shared network within the office environment or over the web with cloud hosting, but sometimes the files are stored on a single computer.

EDMS is widely considered to be the future replacement for standard paper document management, although it is already beginning to have a major impact in many businesses around the world. This is due to the variety of benefits that an Electronic Document Management System offers over the traditional form of document management. These include better efficiency, space savings, cost savings, as well as improvements in staff morale, better environmental effects, among many other reasons that are applicable to the particular company using the system.

EDMS offer the ability to search, locate, and retrieve files and documents very quickly using simple text searches on a computer system. When documents are originally saved, they are indexed, a process of naming the files after particular elements of the document itself, such as the reference number, client name, date, and anything else that is relevant. This means that simply by typing one of the relevant items, the document can be found almost instantly, compared to searching through a traditional document management system, which can take much longer. Electronic document management systems can also use OCR documents, files that have been scanned into a digital file and then scanned once more using specialized software to extract the words and characters from the page to create the text of the document. digital file. searchable This means that a file that was once a physical sheet of paper can be digitized and searched in its entirety, making keyword research or research for particular projects much simpler as all documents can be find regarding the particular keyword or key phrase in a very fast manner. time.

Space is saved by using an electronic document management system due to the fact that, if possible, the original paper documents can be thrown away once the digital copies have been made. This means that office space can be reused more efficiently as all files will be stored on a hard drive instead of cupboards, drawers and storage facilities. If a company is storing their documents with a document storage facility, as many lawyers and solicitors are legally required to do, this may be a thing of the past as EDMS means the files are stored on their own systems, with no monthly or expensive fees. . time consuming retrievals as documents are available to access at all times from all systems that can see the source location. This can be a huge cost savings.

The EDMS is becoming very popular among the largest companies around the world, as the indexing and OCR services continue to improve all the time, but it is also easily accessible to smaller companies.