Intelligent document processing and management have both eliminated lots of tedious tasks and they’ve minimized the risk of errors (misplacement, document destruction, faulty indexing, etc.).
If you’re interested in high levels of record management effectiveness, you’ve already switched to cloud-based document storage and the employment of innovative document management software.
These technologies, however, evolve all the time. To make the most of them, you have to be aware of new trends and capabilities. Such innovations expand the effectiveness of digital record management and automate lots of processes that previously had to be handled by employees.
Record management automation will continue evolving. Here are some of the key trends to focus on if you want to improve your digital capabilities.
Intelligent Document Parsing
Document parsing is such an important automation technology because it completely eliminates manual data entry when done right.
Let’s take the world of sales as an example. Statistics show that salespeople spend four hours per week updating spreadsheets and working with CRM software. As a result, the average salesperson only manages to complete about 40 percent of all required updates.
This failure to maintain data accuracy is costing companies both directly (in man-hours) and indirectly (in the form of mistakes, missed benefits, customer dissatisfaction, etc.).
Intelligent document parsing can make such issues a thing of the past.
Document parsing involves the use of software that can go through different digital files (from PDFs to even image files), extracting relevant data from those automatically. As such software is becoming more advanced, its accuracy is being increased to almost 100 percent.
Document parsing software improves record management automation by preventing errors and eliminating missing data, reducing processing time, increasing data relevance, and allowing workers to focus on more strategic aspects of doing their job.
Artificial Intelligence Automation
Robotic process automation (RPA) is another hot trend that dominated and will continue to be highly relevant.
RPA refers to the ability of software to “learn” from human behavior and take over the most repetitive, tedious tasks.
Through RPA, a system can maintain proper indexing, document creation, reporting, and data analysis.
The best thing about artificial intelligence and RPA is that such capabilities are scalable. When such technologies are being employed, the system keeps on learning and expanding its automation skillset. Eventually, it will get to take over more complex aspects of record management, automating those with exceptional sophistication.
Intelligent, Automated Document Analysis
Automation can also focus on some aspects of record management that have been considered a “human” task up till now.
Intelligent document analysis is one such capability.
Natural language processing and machine learning can both be used to accomplish the goal. Through these technologies, a document management system becomes capable of better and more accurate text classification, summarization, and even version control.
Some of the best analysis systems can detect duplicates or outdated versions of a document. These are eliminated without the need for human involvement, keeping records up-to-date, and getting rid of information that no longer benefits the organization.
It’s easy to see how intelligent document analysis and the processes based on it can save a ton of time and effort.
Social media automation refers to the use of software tools to automate certain aspects of managing social media accounts. Automating social media can help save time and streamline processes, allowing businesses and individuals to focus on creating engaging content and interacting with their audience. With automation social media tasks like scheduling posts, curating content, and responding to messages and comments can be easily managed without manual effort. By using social media automation, it is possible to maintain a consistent and active online presence, even with limited resources. Automated social media can also help to increase efficiency and reduce the risk of errors. However, it is important to use automated social media tools responsibly and not rely on them exclusively, as genuine engagement with followers is crucial for building and maintaining strong relationships on social media.
Handwriting Recognition
Here’s another cool technology that’s adding value to digital record management.
Handwriting recognition is an automation option that’s once again based on machine learning. It works alongside advanced document capturing to turn handwritten text into a readable file that can also be edited.
This technology is especially beneficial for companies that deal with handwritten documents – medical forms, cheques, contracts, etc. Entering such handwritten information into a database manually will take up a lot of time. Handwriting recognition technologies are becoming more effective and accurate than ever before, which significantly reduces the risk of errors and the need for edits.
Some software products have taken this capability to a whole new level. Some handwriting recognition programs can even distinguish between the handwriting of different people to improve recognition over time.
Through this technology, it’s also possible to transform the handwritten text into an audio file or to translate the information among other capabilities.
Contract Automation
The final really cool record management automation option we’re going to mention here is contract automation.
With contract automation, you can generate, store, and manage your existing contracts through workflows rather than manual labor.
The generation of many contract varieties can be automated and so can their classification and indexing. For companies that handle repetitive agreements, this kind of automation can be a true game changer.
One example of an industry that can benefit tremendously from contract automation is insurance. Needless to say, entities operating in various other fields can also count on such technology.
As you can see, lots of document management tasks can be automated effortlessly. If you’re not making use of such opportunities, you’re missing a chance to make work with documents faster, more accurate, and less of a burden for everyone involved.