by Kevin J. Fry

The Paperless Industries : Introduction

Many of these industry changes will not be able to take place until government procedures are in place to handle digital documents being transferred from one computer to another. There is the chance that this information would not be secure and that may be why the government may not adapt to such things. Many of the paperless solutions rely on the stability of computers, ability to back-up and retrieve information, security of information, and the accessibility of information when required. If a municipal building where to adapt a paperless environment in a hall of records, the paperless abilities in the industries would become more easily adaptable. The other area to consider is the consumer, and the client, the witness of documentation, which is considered to have importance of originality. Specific names (maybe social security numbers), dates, and other personal information would have to be incorporated into these documents to ensure that there was no tampering of digital documents and digital security. It doesn't look hopeful in the near future, but it's an amazing idea. If we follow this pattern of thinking, here is how other non-government corporations, industries will be able to better their less paper environments.

The Paperless Industries : Real Estate

This industry has become a pretty much on-demand industry due to the fact of technology. Cell phones and PDAs with Internet access have made it possible for agents to see what properties are available, look at pictures, all of the information about the house, and call the proposed buyer or any other person relating to the sale from the road. So now, there is not a lot of paper in the pre-process of the sale, but when it does come about, there are forms after forms. Loan applications, agent confidentially agreements, processing through courts, property tax, service agreements, etc., stemming from local government. Examples of titles, transfer documents, agreements

The Paperless Industries : Non-Profit

Non-Profit organizations can accumulate records upon records. With scanning technology, these records could be digitized onto the computer. With neat organization skills, these records will be available to anyone within the company, depending on what type of security measures are in place. These same companies would save on paper and mailing costs, if information on products and services could be sent on a CD-ROM to the customer. Records must be kept for many years, and it would be smart to backup this information to different formats, and in different places. examples of non-profit organizations Start Quote From: http://www.blackbaud.com/files/Newsletters/FiscalFitness/2007/5-07_FiscalFitness.htm In light of today’s strict accountability standards, managing a paperless office is widely regarded as a crucial practice for many successful nonprofits. Paper documentation is extremely costly in terms of materials, storage space, and staff time spent filing, copying, and searching — not to mention the devastating toll it takes on the environment. If disaster strikes, a paper-based organization’s most critical information is left vulnerable to total loss. But even without taking these factors into account, stricter governmental compliance regulations are compelling nonprofits to make the switch. End Quote accessed 2007-07-16

The Paperless Industries : Legal

The legal industry gets complicated with the reduction of paper, because of all of the paper in court rooms; files, motions, transcripts, etc. But, if there is a will, there can be a way. Like most other organizations, we can scan this information into the computer, or do the data entry from the forms into a database. legal document examples Start Quote From: http://crookedtimber.org/2007/06/23/the-myth-of-the-myth-of-the-paperless-office/ Lawyers will never ever stop using paper. The paper trail is the most important part of any legal file. You send an email? You print it out and put it on the file. You pdf a document? You print it out and put it on the file. Computer back up or not, having the hard copy, arse-covering stuff on file is essential. There will never be a paperless legal firm. End Quote accessed 2007-07-17 Start Quote From: http://crookedtimber.org/2007/06/23/the-myth-of-the-myth-of-the-paperless-office/ For what it is worth, I’m a lawyer and I have never seen anyone do what you describe. Maybe different practice areas have different customs? (I’m a litigator with a big corporate firm in NYC - maybe deal lawyers do things differently.) Actually, I was thinking as I read this thread of the absurd amount of time I spend dealing with tech people in order to gather and extract all of my clients’ electronic documents for discovery purposes. Paper files – to the extent that companies still archive them – are an ever-shrinking percentage of what we typically gather for litigation purposes. End Quote accessed 2007-07-17

The Paperless Industries : Medical

Through patient records, doctor studies, charts, and information, the medical field would benefit greatly from a paperless environment. Even in these days, fax machine numbers can be sent to an image file on a computer. Signatures could be captured on a PDA, and documents could be transferred from one hospital to another in less than seconds. medical document examples hospital web sites dr. information Start Quote From: http://www.cscpaperlessoffice.com/Electronic-Medical-Records.htm?gclid=CIqhuNvirY0CFSMKGgodFgYi1Q "We were able to save at least 5 hours per day when we stopped pulling charts by scanning." - Office Manager, Bridgeport Podiatry "Electronic prescriptions alone pay for the software investment - the benefits are huge." - Office Manager, Cardiology Associates End Quote accessed 2007-07-17 Start Quote From: http://www.escription.com/customer_stories_bidmc.htm Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), of Boston, MA, is a large healthcare institution and teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School serving nearly a quarter million patients a year. According to CIO, Dr. John Halamka, "Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is committed to paperless medical records and is one of the most wired hospitals in the country, yet only 40% of all clinical information is recorded electronically. Inpatient notes are still handwritten, over 400 paper forms are used in the process of care, and many documents appear only in the paper chart. The five year goal is to achieve an 85% electronic medical record." End Quote accessed 2007-07-17

The Paperless Industries : Insurance

Today, on-line companies have been coming into the public eye. Such companies such as eSurance.com and Geico.com claim saving you money and easier ways of finding your insurance quote on-line. Through the Internet, these companies can deliver an on-demand access to insurance. http://www.automateinfo.com/ http://www.esurance.com/ Start Quote From: http://www.esurance.com/FAQ/companyfacts/13.asp Online account management is probably the most visible measure Esurance takes to protect the environment. We estimate that Esurance's paperless customer experience and electronic document storage will save approximately 239 trees in 2005 alone.* And because even virtually paperless companies still have to use paper sometimes, Esurance sponsors tree-planting organizations around the country. End Quote accessed 2007-07-17 The new thing on the Internet is something called XML. This plain-text database language calls to describe a database structure that allows one web site converse with another one, through the Internet and doing some very simple programming. This same format is being used by individuals and companies to post headlines, compare prices, and even know when something has been updated on a web site.

The Paperless Industries : Transportation

GPS tracking is now working in several industries. What GPS does is gets rid of the use of maps. By automatically tracking your location, and putting in your destination, this tells you where to turn, and how to get there. Bus routes could be tracked to a stop and what minute it was there. Cab companies can tell what cab has a passenger, what does not, and what, where, when, and how a driver will be there because of times, routes, and availability are all programmed into a dispatching computer to route these drivers. This ultimately gets rid of the need for maps as the price of this services goes down, and being told where to turn by the computer keeps your eyes on the road and a back-seat driver nagging you. different GPS devices services explained. - - ez pass

The Paperless Industries : Import / Export

International trade and business dealings, through land, sea, and air can all be routed through a local network of computers. Businesses decide what they're looking for from around the world, and the distributors find the trade route to distribute the products. Companies like UPS have tracking systems set up on locations to find out exactly where your product is, and the estimated time it's going to be there. Signatures are digital in format, and all of this information can be viewed on-line. This kind of technology can also be used in conjunction with IP tracking like of what WalMart is doing. A pallet can have it's own IP address and the contents of that tied along with it. examples of import / export companies, documents

The Paperless Industries : Retail

The retail industry has distributors and customers. Distributors will send invoices along with the items. If the retailer and the distributor both have the capability to connect to the same network, or have a technology advanced relationship, there would be no need for invoices to be sent with the items. Invoices could be made available through the Internet or another network, and bills could be paid the same way. Now days, boxes used in shipping groceries often have bar code identification as to the product. The retailer could scan these boxes and match it up with the downloaded invoice verifying everything that was sent. SuperValu, a grocery distributor, allowed on-line access to stores and retailers allowing them to see their master price books, invoices, and other computer applications that allowed streamline communication from the distributor and the retailer. Everything that was sent as mail in paper ream boxes (thousands of sheets of paper) was available at the proper person's fingertips. retail manuals I’ve been thinking of writing a book on the retail industry mainly due to my past experiences in this market. I’ve always wanted a computer job like I do now, but seeing and working in industries really makes you see how you can re-think their paper product solutions. I was previously a grocery manager for three years, and my experiences there consist of so much paper, it’s unbelievable about how much paper is actually used over the amount of several stores. There are companies out there that will allow you to develop a manner of a streamlined retail solution. If you ever need my help, I’m also available for a price as a consultant. There are many different types of retail ranging from nick-knack items, to clothing, to grocery, to technology, to you name it. Companies like eBay offer a marketplace for people to get together to buy and sell new and used items, which automatically opens up a new home business. The amazing thing is that this business would be virtually paperless. Rather than going to the clothing store and buying a new shirt you find a person with the same new shirt, and willing to get rid of it for half the price, but you do need to pay for the shipping. By doing this little transaction, you save money, and hence, get an e-mailed receipt and pay with your paypal account. No paper money, no receipt, virtually paperless. You may have to wait a little longer for the item, but it’s neat that such transactions actually happen in this day in age. Major supply chains such as WalMart, Target, and others, offer a streamlined solution for you and your product. Employees at Target for one are kept on a tight leash as far as wondering off. Headsets allow other people in the company to contact you at any time, without the customer hearing annoying announcements over the loudspeaker. But ultimately, they have the right idea. Any retailer needs to hold the customer in high regards, and increase productivity on it’s employees. In my experience with management and other supervisory roles, the hardest thing to find is a good employee that shows up to work every day, and will go with the flow as far as company policies. Working hard seems to be impossible for some people, but in the United States, as far as I have seen, we need to have a better foundation to create a solid foundation for ourselves so that we can be all that we can be, without joining the Army. We must take pride in our work no matter what we do, and in everything we do, have it glorify God. As soon as we start feeling better about ourselves, and see things differently, the lines of communication will open between the company and the person, the person and the customer. This may be when a less paper solution can be started is when the lines of communication are opened, and we can start thinking more about how to improve on everything the company stands for. Training is something that must be done from person to person, and not through a manual. A good teacher could go a long way, and that teacher should have been in almost every possible situation in order to properly train new employees in that field. It’s those little secrets that could really help out a new person in a time of uncertainty.

The Paperless Industries : Libraries

Of all companies, Adobe has made a software package that allows users to log in and to 'barrow' books and other acrobat files. These files will expire when they're up, but then allow you to barrow other files. This is done through an on-line server, but the technology of it is a possibility that a person could bring their PDA to the library and then take out material that would allow for the person to take the media home with them. On the expiration date, the document would then be available to another person in the library. borders device information

The Paperless Industries : Food Service / Restaurants

You sit down at a diner and the waitress comes over to you with something in her hand. It turns out that this is not a pad, but a PDA. She takes your order, from the device and it is immediately sent to the cook. When your order is completed, your waitress is immediately notified through her PDA and your order is brought out to you. On the PDA, menus can be programmed into it and it would provide a streamline ordering technique that would allow productivity and emphasize customer service.

The Paperless Industries : Credit Card / Banks

Invoices, statements, and receipts can all be scanned into your computer once it's received or through the mail. One way of decreasing the amount of this paper is to have an alliance-like agreement with the company and the person, along with the merchant or provider of merchant services. When I had Sprint as my cell phone provider, I could do everything through their web site. See my bill on-line, pay my bill on-line, etc. MasterCard has created a system where all you have to do is tap your card on the terminal to make a payment. By adding another form of communication from the merchant to your credit card company, a receipt could be sent after the approval message to the credit card company, and their computer system could send you a receipt via e-mail, instead of getting one at the register. This would be a totally paperless transaction. Even if you do sign on the POS terminal, that image could be transferred with the information as well. This system would allow a total paperless method to every purchase you make. All you'd have to do is go on-line to see what changes where made to your account throughout the day, and this would make a faster way for you to contact your credit card company if there is something wrong. The faster things are recognized, the more likely someone would be caught for fraud if that such situation were to happen or your credit card was stolen.