Document Management for Teams
Communication has become a huge part of today’s business world. It might be verbally or in print, but anything that must wait more than one day is considered glacially slow in our digitally driven environment. One of the biggest bottlenecks is a payment or process that needs approval by several different people before it can be paid or completed. In the past, it might have been necessary to send someone around with a physical paper or to pass it from person to person to collect signatures. More recently, such things were sent by email. Both are cumbersome processes which eat up time and have the potential for a document to be lost or delayed.
It can be frustrating for an office manager to spend time questioning workers to locate a missing document or to find out how a project is progressing through laborious word of mouth processes. It can be doubly frustrating if that document somehow gets fatally mislaid instead of being filed correctly.
Document management for teams can obviate these difficulties, making it easier to coordinate efforts and keep everyone on the same page.
Document Management for Teams
This is where our Folderit Document Management for teams can really shine. From the document view, click “Start Approval Workflow.” Add the people who will need to approve the document. If it needs to be approved by a list of people in order, you can set it up serially so that it goes to each person in turn. When one person approves the document, then it will go to the next person. If time is of more importance than approval in a certain order, then it can be sent in parallel to multiple persons at the same time. A yellow dot beside the receiver’s name means that it has been sent, but not answered. A gray dot means that it has not yet been sent. A green dot means that it has been approved, and a red dot means that the document has been rejected.
Each invitee will receive a notification email that there is a document that needs their attention. If serial approval has been selected, as soon as the recipient approves or disapproves the document – with suitable commentary, as desired – it will go to the next person. When the document has completed its rounds, often within minutes, the person who initiated the approval process can quickly see whether the action has been approved or disapproved, and comments having to do with the decision. You can see how Document Approval Workflow in DMS can speed up processes and improve team communication.
Crypto Ransomware: A Prevailing Internet Threat
According to various predictions for the upcoming year, Internet users can look forward to an increase in crypto mischief, including crypto ransomware. Although hackers who engage in digital sabotage are endlessly inventive, Folderit can offer assistance.
Ransomware is a malicious code that can be downloaded onto your computer. It will pretend to be from friends or business associates, but will really be a virus that will lock up your data and then demand payment before giving it back. This can be devastating to any business, but especially to small businesses that have a narrow operating margin.
No method of protecting your business data is foolproof, but some good ways to protect you from having your documents held for ransom include, but are not limited to:
- Maintain a good quality antivirus program on your computer
- Maintain a firewall.
- Keep up with updates for the programs you use.
- Check the source for any downloads
- Back up your information using a cloud backup or a device that can be removed from your computer.
- Be aware of the email addresses normally used by your colleagues – and be suspicious of any that are unfamiliar
- Review all programs
- Read subscription screens carefully when downloading new software to make sure you are not downloading extra material. For example, certain antivirus software is habitually offered with certain utility software packages.
- Never have more than one antivirus program active on your computer at the same time. They tend to mistake each other for viruses.
Folderit Has Your Back – Your Back Up, That Is
Folderit document management for teams can provide the cloud backup. Your files when uploaded to us are encrypted, and further protected with a 3X-backup. Moreover, you can download a copy of your information at any time and store a copy on a device that is not connected to any computer or Internet-capable device.
Multiple Means of Prevention
It might sound a little crazy, but by setting up an approval system that is required before payments or procedures can be implemented can help prevent sneak attacks on your system. One person might be tired or distracted enough to click on “Yes” when “No” would be the appropriate answer. An approval workflow can stop some kinds of situations from developing.
By sharing files only with those who need to access them, you create an added layer of privacy for proprietary files. Sometimes simply not making others aware of a file or type of information creates a layer of obscurity – a sort of purloined letter hiding place, as it were.
Bringing It All Together
Document management for teams has many aspects. Not only is it about communication and keeping those documents moving, it is also about protecting your ideas and information. By developing layers of approval, and by using both hardware and software means of protecting your data, you improve your business processes.
Folderit provides the ideal environment for teamwork. It includes accessible cloud storage, process tracking, and selective folder sharing to keep those who need to know in the loop, without sharing with others. Its cloud storage is encrypted and backed up three times for extra layers of protection – for just in case. It makes it easy to meet that industry standard model of having a current back up copy located offsite at all times.
We are glad to be able to offer these great tools to your business. They are only a small part of the flexible business system that we have developed at Folderit.
