Before computers, virtually all records for urban planning were written with pen and paper or typewriters. As the needs of businesses evolved, so did how we handle documents, which soon became digitized and data.
Enter electronic document review software, which makes copying, editing, versioning, and many collaboration tools automatically free up countless hours spent handling paper, and anyone who collaborates with others on documents finds themselves free to focus on higher-value tasks with minimal preparation work.
Here, we’ll explore the advantages of electronic document review software.
The many benefits of electronic document review software
1) Easier coordination
When you’re working with paper plans, you need to mark up the main plan set — but only one person at a time can do it. Working with paper documents can easily become cumbersome as every person waits their turn to review them and make their own changes. Electronic document review allows as many people as needed to work simultaneously while reflecting all edits in real-time.
You can also make comments when conducting plan reviews for instant feedback. This allows for more rapid changes, enhanced fluidity, and, maybe best of all, less paper to pass around and keep track of.
2) Digitized precision
Marking up a paper document with a chart and measurements means no matter how steady your hand may be, they’ll be slightly off. This can lead to inaccurate markups that might result in further problems down the line.
Software digitizes electronic documents or plan reviews so that you can make all measurements with exact precision. No need for pencils, erasers, and rulers.
3) Better version control
Even if you’re using electronic documents, it takes time, effort, and organization to keep track of and label each new version. These issues compound when you rely on email collaboration: You can’t always be sure you’re working with the latest version. Or what if two people are working on the latest version at the same time, then each submits a new version at once? Disorder can result until everyone stops and figures out which version is which, and then apply both sets of changes to the latest document — leading to yet another new version.
There’s no guarantee that this vicious cycle won’t continue. Unless, of course, you’re working with electronic document review software with automatic version control. This makes the whole process far more fluid, not to mention automated, meaning you don’t have to exert extra effort just to ensure you’re working with — and later submitting — the right version.
3) Lower overall costs
Creating paper documents involves costs that don’t apply to electronic document review software. Paper, ink and equipment aren’t free. Physically protecting your assets from fire or floods is a factor — and if you lose the original document, you may need to pay to replace it.
Then you need a place to store all your files. You’ll have to buy a storage cabinet or two (or three). Naturally, you’ll also need the floor space so those cabinets can sit somewhere. All of this costs money, too.
You don’t have to worry about any of this with electronic document review software because everything’s digitized and in the cloud. This means it’s impossible to physically destroy or lose a document. Important originals that would cost money to replace are kept online. And you’ll not just save on storage costs — you’ll also free up a lot of space in your office.
If you use email, the added costs involved may not immediately be noticeable until you realize how much productivity you’re wasting by not streamlining or automating all the processes you could be. It’s just not worth it to rely on email — manually doing tasks yourself that can be done with software. As the old saying goes: Time is money.
4) Automatic accountability
How do you know who made what edit to which document and when? While not having a digital solution to this can cause problems for you in your workplace, it can cause even worse issues if you need to prove such things legally.
Electronic document review software automatically keeps track of everything for you. Every change has a machine-generated author and timestamp.
5) Less time looking for documents, more time working on them
You could get up from your desk, travel however far away the filing cabinets are, find the right filing cabinet (it’s almost a cliche to methodically go through several in search of one piece of paper), rifle through its contents until you find what you need and then travel back to your desk.
Maybe then you’ll be ready to make changes. Or you could open the file on your computer and start working right away with electronic document review software.
6) Save time on travel, mail and meetings
Cloud-based remote file storage revolutionized the way we work with data. Electronic document review software developers understood this well when they were designing their products. Instead of needing to take physical documents anywhere — whether by automobile, mail service or your transportation method of choice — they’re already present, maybe a couple of clicks away.
In addition, going digital lets you do away with the process of planning and attending meetings just to review a document or plan set. Why do that when software can show you real-time changes?
7) No more manual digitizing of documents
You may have heard of optical character recognition, or OCR, which scans a document and not only makes it viewable but also turns it into editable text. OCR is a common feature across many electronic document review software platforms, meaning you don’t have to physically type the contents of a document by hand just to make it digital.
8) Spend more time getting things done with electronic document review software
At e-PlanSoft, we offer a comprehensive electronic document review platform that accomplishes all this and so much more.
Looking to do away with paper and manual document management and move into the modern age of document review?
Request a demo with us today and discover what we can do for you.