One such connection is with an IT service provider that happens to be here in our local town, Portland, Oregon. We know them well because of their proximity, and of course they know us well because they are a reseller of our Document Locator software.

To get to know them, and their expertise, everyone is invited to an informative webinar Resource One is presenting this week on their IT Platform (powered by Kaseya). It’s a complete, secure, reliable and full service IT Systems Management Solution.

Registrations are open: https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/594487326

Smart people are part of the equation. But they’re not the only factor, or perhaps even the most important. I’ve had the opportunity in the past to work with some very smart people – much smarter than me, in offices that were less than successful. Innate human intelligence alone doesn’t always pay the bills.

At the end of the day, every office has processes that need to be performed, decisions that must be made, research that has to be handled, and so on. These things pay the bills, and more. How intelligently these functional aspects of day-to-day office life are carried out can play a big part in the making of a smart office.

Getting back to basics, we wanted to shed some light on a smart office in a new 3-minute document management video. It’s for people just starting to learn about and research document management software.

Team Office has been around for 30 years… all the way back since 1980. That’s a long time in technology years. They have the proven experience and gold-plated reputation for serving the needs of business clients.

Jumping the gun just a little on a news release going out in the morning, I’ll say now that we’re very excited to be working with Team Office!

Craig Whitney, president of the Chamber of Commerce of Fargo Moorhead stated, “As the labor department releases the news that the number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless aid is soaring, Fargo Moorhead earns a national spotlight for its reasonable business costs, strong economic outlook and solid quality of life.”

Within the buzzing business ecosystem of the Fargo Moorhead area is a good friend of ours, Information Management Systems (IMS), who has been doing their part helping businesses in the region since 1995 with “precise-fit” technology solutions. One of those solutions, of course, is document management software. And in an area where business is buzzing, document management makes a perfect fit.

Here’s one reason why: Research has shown that, on average, one-half of information workers spend as much as 2 hours a day searching for the information they need. That amounts to $625,000 per year spent on “searching” in a company with 100 employees at an average cost $50,000 each. Reducing the time it takes to search and find information means that a portion of that $625,000 in time will instead be spent doing other more productive things that have a higher return on investment than thumbing through filing cabinets.

IMS will be at the Fargo Moorhead “Business After Hours” event this Thursday, April 22 with other leaders in the area. Stop by and visit with them to learn more about information management and how they can help you lead the way.

As news of the university’s discovery streamed over the radio, the question I asked myself (like I’m sure so many others did) is why would anyone be printing emails in the first place? Sure, everyone prints an occasional email now and then. But enough to save thousands of dollars a year in printer ink?

As the story went on, it became less clear if so many emails are really being printed as to save a lot of printer ink using the different font. So, it’s the discovery itself that is most interesting here. Not the discovery of Century Gothic over Arial as a toner-saving typeface… rather the example that such small, seemingly insignificant steps can lead to big benefits over time. If reducing the ink used when printing emails saves money, just imagine what savings can be had from managing email files electronically?

Every year ColumbiaSoft, like so many corporations, is eager to extend a cheerful holiday “best wishes” to customers and friends. It’s a way of showing our gratitude and appreciation, and just staying in touch.

But being a developer of electronic document management software, it just doesn’t fit our style to send paper cards the old fashioned way via the post office. We made the jump from paper greetings to electronic holiday cards a number of years ago, and despite some initial apprehension, it’s now so natural that we’d never go back.

Sure, paper cards do still hold some advantage. There’s something to be said about tangible, physical things that can actually be held in hand. It seems more permanent. But the fact is, holiday cards are by-and-large fleeting moments in a day. While the message (hopefully) will be held in the head… most people file, route, or toss the paper card just moments after they read it. 

I was reading somewhere that in the United Kingdom alone there are over 1 billion paper holiday cards mailed, and that one tree is needed for each 3,000 of the fleeting holiday thoughts. (That’s over 300,000 trees!). The numbers seem a bit high, and perhaps might be inflated. But regardless what the actual number is… I’m certain it’s staggering.

So… this year again we saved another couple of trees (not to mention several thousands of dollars in printing and mailing) by delivering our greetings electronically. Happy Holidays to you too!

Fortunately for us, the latter discussion over document storage space will not be an issue when we make our big move in just a few months.

That’s right, in just a few months time ColumbiaSoft will be moving a short distance to larger, more spacious digs with room to grow our document management brain trust, and expand our on-site training facilities. (But, it’s not the extra space that solves our document storage dilemma.)

From our own experience in helping customers who are on the move, we know that document storage is a common topic when office  locations change. We hear it all time: “We’re moving, and we don’t want to waste space at our new location for document storage and filing cabinets.”

Our answer, of course, is always the same: document management software.

Spectrum IT Services is a division of long-time Document Locator customer Spectrum CPA Group.With Spectrum’s IT division now offering outsourced IT services direct to customers, and having knowledge and expertise of the document management system from internal installations, joining the Solution Advisor network and recommending Document Locator to customers made a lot of sense.

Jonathan Biviano, IT Manager at Spectrum IT Services said… “Many of our customers are looking for better ways to manage information and lessen their impact on the environment, yet not everyone has IT resources on hand to tackle the challenge. We can recommend a proven software package in Document Locator as all or part of a solution that maximizes human and equipment resources. Spectrum IT does this either in partnership with existing IT staff, or as a company’s entire IT department.”

Welcome aboard, Spectrum! Read the full story in our document management news.