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Physical documents have comprised the way that we do business for thousands of years. From early tablets to paper filing systems in modern offices, it has always been about physical documents. Now however, computer and electronic document filing systems are being implemented into offices the world over.

The way we store documents has not severely affected the overall productivity of an office until recently. Digital document storage is a way to archive items, making them easily searched and retrieved, and stored in a way that does not occupy physical office space.

It is rarely the case that you will see a document management system that is 100% physical or digital these days, as both are necessary in some fashion to effectively run a business. The industry trend is leaning towards digital document storage for archived items that rarely need access. Firms that cannot effectively manage both physical and digital documents are much less likely to be able to appropriately keep up with competitive pressures within their field.

Here are some facts about document management that may surprise you:

• Whether focused on digital or physical documents, document management strategies will help your business survive by organizing, monitoring, directing, and improving the way your business handles documents.
• A majority of printed documents are discarded the day they are printed.
• Losses in productivity due to searching for lost physical documents can add up to half an hour a day! This is 2 ½ hours a week that could be utilized for more productive means.

There are many reasons to implement a proven document management solution into your business. Contact us today to learn more about document management solutions that can improve the productivity of your office.

It seems like there are always new methods that scammers are finding to take advantage of the unsuspecting. Toner scams are not a new type of con; however there are new ways that scammers are tweaking this old con to take advantage of modern businesses.

Identifying a toner scam is not difficult if your employees are trained to be on the look out. Scammers can take a few different angles to try and scam your business.

They may pretend to be your current toner and office supply provider, attempting to trick you into making a decision based on your preexisting relationship with your toner company.

Scammers may also take the route of pretending to be a toner company that can undercut your current company, no matter what your current costs. The prices are then inflated once you receive your bill, whether or not you ever received the product.

There are a number of ways that your business can prevent toner scams. Here are some of the first steps your office should take to avoid being scammed:

• Education – Educate your employees on what they should be looking for and how they should address any suspicious calls they may receive.
• Restructure – Any time there are multiple individuals within an organization handling supply ordering, there is room for confusion. Consolidate these duties to one person who is trained to look out for scammers.
• Think – Almost always, when something seems too good to be true, it is. Even if you do receive toner at an extremely discounted price, it may be low quality ink that could impair your printer’s ability to work effectively.
• Verify – If you believe the person calling is a scammer and not your current toner provider, it is simple to check. Simply call your toner company to verify all the details.

There are a number of ways to avoid being scammed. The most important first step is to understand that there are scammers out there who will take advantage of your business. Don’t waste valuable time and money on these scammers. If you would like to learn more about toner scams and how to avoid them, contact us today.

It’s not hard to argue that email is one of the most critical components in business today. Without a means to properly manage email however, it turns from a vital tool into one that hinders productivity across the board.

It can be a real pain to properly manage email, as it can require what seems like almost constant upkeep. There have been a number of recent studies that suggest there are a number of areas regarding email that must be constantly addressed if email is to remain an effective means of communication. Here are some surprising facts about email and how it can drastically affect productivity.

• It is estimated that only one in every ten companies has completed a business wide email management initiative.
• Roughly half of companies do not have any policy put in place in regards to archiving email. This equates to individuals archiving email on their personal computers without creating backups on the company server.
• The overload of email in users inboxes equates directly to a decrease in productivity. The more time spent sifting through email means less time working on the things that count.

Now that you understand the detriment that improper email management can have on your business, you may be asking yourself how you can make the necessary changes. Uniform policies must be put into place that better manage how your employees deal with email.

Automated archiving with the use of document management solutions is one way that businesses all over the country are changing the way they deal with email. If you would like to learn more about how you can better manage your email policies, please contact us today!

Partnering to deliver cloud managed services from mobile devices to the enterprise 

HOUSTON, TX – July 01, 2011 - Virtual-Q, the leader in Desktop Virtualization, today announced that it has entered into a partnership with Star Managed Services.  Under the terms of the agreement, Star Managed Services will be an authorized reseller of ‘The Q’ Cloud based virtualized computing platform.  The Q is an innovative new cloud computing platform which provides secure and elastic, on-demand computing and applications delivery. The Q customers have access to this high performance and scalable cloud computing platform for easy deployment and management of their business critical applications with complete control and transparency.

“At Virtual-Q, we're committed to providing a Cloud solution that helps our customers best maintain, optimize and manage all areas of their IT infrastructure and we believe that choosing the right partners is the best way to achieve this goal," said Victor Quinones, CEO and co-founder of Virtual-Q. “With Star Managed Services, we are perfectly positioned to provide our powerful cloud services across multiple industries.”

Tyson Stargel, Software Solutions Manager at Star Managed Services said, "The Q platform brings fully automated cloud-computing functionality allowing customers to dynamically scale their use of Computing-as-a-Service (CaaS) up and down. Star Managed Services is committed to delivering the best solutions for our customers and with this partnership we are providing the highest caliber cloud computing platform available in the market today."

About Star Managed Services

Star Managed Services is a division of Stargel Office Solutions that provides Managed Print and IT Services.  Stargel Office Solutions is an independent office equipment and document solutions company that provides business-enhancing software, printers, copiers, scanners and multifunction products (MFPs) to businesses nationwide.  With 25 years of serving the nation’s document imaging products and solutions needs, Stargel Office Solutions’ most important commitment to provide a quality product, economical supplies, excellent service and account management to all customers has been expanded into the IT realm with the Star Managed Services division.

About Virtual-Q

Virtual-Q helps companies reduce their total cost of ownership, increase business continuity, improve security and compliance, and leverage their existing IT investments. Their proprietary hosted desktop technology defines a new industry platform for Computing-as-a-Service (CaaS) and delivers a complete desktop environment that is accessible from virtually any internet accessible device. The Q desktop includes the latest Microsoft Operating System and Office Suite technology and delivers unparalleled performance improvement while prolonging the life of existing desktop or laptop devices. Virtual-Q partners with the leading technology vendors and is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner. For additional information, visit www.virtual-q.com.

Document imaging, routing and capture has brought new life to the way that we manage our documents. These new innovations have brought real solutions to the problems that ailed us in the past. Here are some of the top ways that document imaging is changing the landscape of business as we know it.

1.    Automation –

Automation is quickly becoming king. The ability to automatically extract metadata from documents is a solution that has shown concrete value. This is an affordable solution that can help improve your business’s overall efficiency.

2.    Multifunction Printers and Copiers Extending their uses –

Multifunction printers have always served multiple purposes. However, now more than ever, they are becoming the platform for which is putting scanning and capture in the hands of every employee, which makes the overall process a simpler one.

3.    2D Bar Codes –

Utilizing 2D barcodes is another way that is decreasing the amount of time that your employees need to spend on processing information. 2D barcodes are an easy way of labeling things that show all the necessary data for filing. This improves the overall efficiency of document storage and retrieval and makes it a smoother, more streamlined process that doesn’t leave your employees searching for hours on end to find a single, misplaced document.

4.     Security –

One of the most popular topics in business today is the security of data. With the ever-increasing amount of cyber crime that is taking place all over the world, there must be ways to protect your data, and the data of your company. Confidentiality is an increasingly important factor in business. With documents that have been stored using document scanning, it is possible to parse document text so that you obscure sensitive information such as a social security number or a tax ID number.

5.    The Output of Metadata –

Utilizing ECM for the collection of metadata has become a popular means of gathering information in one swoop and then distributing it to multiple locations. Organizations all over are looking for ways to reuse and share collected data. By utilizing advanced capture as a means for all in one data collection, you can reduce labor and provide information quickly to consumers of the data.

These are just some of the popular trends in document imaging and scanning. If you would like to learn more, please contact us today.

Your employees often times can get very wrapped up in figuring out what exactly needs to get done, without putting much thought into how it should be done. Workflow affects companies of all sizes; this is not solely limited to large corporations.

By improving the workflow of your business, you can save time each day that equates to significant time savings every month. Follow these steps to effortlessly maximize your workflows:

• Organize your workspace – By removing clutter from your desk and office space you will better be able to organize your materials and transform your workspace into one that is functional and that looks professional. No more sifting through a bunch of junk just to find that one thing that you need. This also includes organizing your computer and digital files so that they are easily accessible.

• Switch to Document Management – This is hands down, the single most important step in maximizing your workflow. No matter the current form of workflow that you currently employ, you can maximize its efficiency through the use of Document Management solutions. Document Management allows you to streamline your workflow process in such a way that means you aren’t losing time and money because of an outdated system.

• Increase Efficiency – Beat procrastination! Start your day off with the most difficult task first, and then it is all downhill from there. You are freshest in the morning, which means you do your best work at this time. Tackle the difficult projects first and the rest of the day will seem like a breeze.

These are just a few of the ways to increase the effectiveness of your company’s workflow. If you would like more information on how you can maximize workflow, and begin to cut costs and increase efficiency, please contact us today.

Any company can easily get bogged down with a large amount of paper documents that must continually be filed away into storage. A popular option that has arisen recently is the process of off site storage. These services allow a company to eliminate clutter by storing documents outside of their normal facilities. However, this is not the most effective option, and in the long run, can actually decrease efficiency.

Off-site document storage accomplishes one main goal: to free up precious office space that was previously taken up by filing cabinets. The problem most businesses don’t understand is that you will pay more for off-site storage than for a document management solution, and receive much less in terms of productivity increases. Properly utilizing document management solutions can actually save your business money!

Here are some of the best incentives of switching to a document management solution:

• Cut Costs – By using document management, you don’t have to pay for off-site costs that are related with storage. All documents are stored digitally, which takes up no more room than the server you are storing it on.

• Simplify Retrieval – When you choose off-site storage, you must request each document you are looking to retrieve. It then has to be sent to you after the facility processes your request. This can seriously hamper productivity and put off projects for days that could have been completed in a matter of minutes. Document Management allows you to retrieve documents with a few simple clicks.

• Increase Searchability – Never search through large stacks of paper again. It can be frustrating to hunt around the office for a document that is nowhere to be found. With a Document Management solution, you can search for documents quickly and effectively.

• Increase Security - Document Management is the best option for long term, high security storage of your documents. You can set permissions so that only those meant to access these files can. Documents are also now safe from the effects of fire, flooding, or other natural disasters that would destroy physical documents.

These are just a few of the reasons to go with a document management solution. Contact us today to find out more.

As technology has improved in recent years, new innovations have arisen in the realm of mail. You may be surprised to find out the many
benefits of instituting a digital mail process into your organization.

Here are the top five benefits to utilizing digital mail processes:

1. Improve efficiency

Efficiency is improved significantly by using digital mail processes. Digital Mail solutions allow your company to merge incoming mail
with your document stream to increase productivity, lower processing costs and increase the responsiveness of your customer service. You also lower costs of storage, search, retrieval, reproduction and distribution of documents.

2. Better manage high-value and time-sensitive mail

Digital mail will allow your organization to better utilize time and increase accountability. It a traditional mailroom, it is easy for documents to be misplaced. If that document was an important, time sensitive piece for a client, you could be looking at drastic repercussions. Use digital
mail processes so you never lose an important piece of mail again.

3. Enhance collaboration

Digital Mail lets your company utilize more collaboration between branches. With digital mail, you can easily utilize efficient communication between your headquarters and satellite offices, or employees who work remotely.

4. Reduce junk mail

Junk mail is a part of life. Digital mail solutions allow you to highlight the volume of incoming mail, both wanted and unwanted within
your organization. You can then implement company policies that will effectively suppress unwanted mail.

5. Improve security

Finally, and in many cases most importantly, digital mail increases your overall document security. This means that only those who are
allowed to see certain documents will have access to them. You can implement mail distribution into your workflow solution to more securely and efficiently deliver mail.

Contact us today to learn more about digital mail and workflow solutions!

When implementing a document capture system into your business, there are a number of factors that you need to take into
consideration.

1. Know your content 

Know the type of documents that your organization uses and where they are being produced in your company. This is vital because you must
know the content that will be entering your system and how it will be digitally filed and routed.

2. Understand the difference between scanning and capture 

Document scanning and capture are two different processes. Document scanning is the process of taking your existing physical documents and digitally scanning them. Document capture is the process of extracting information while scanning and standardizing the method of organization.

3. Position document capture close to creation 

By moving your document capture process closer to where your documents are being generated, you can increase indexing accuracy by up to 62%.

4. Test your system 

It is very important to test your system before rolling it out to company wide implementation. Test your document scanning, capturing, and
retrieval system and hone the system for filing so that it is accurate. To increase efficiency, it is very important that your documents are being stored in ways that simplify retrieval.

5. Train your employees! 

Training is the most important part of this process. When your employees are properly trained in using you document capture and retrieval
system, the entire company will run more smoothly. As documents must be scanned in and properly archived, having employees trained to troubleshoot means you will not have to worry about large downtimes and a decrease in efficiency.

For more information on how you can utilize a data capture system in your business contact us today!

Email is a vital tool in business today. However, it is important to accurately manage email in your business so that all processes run
smoothly across the board. Email has turned into somewhat of a burden for IT staff at businesses all over. If left unchecked, your business can be put at risk. Risk comes in the form of lost productivity, cost and increased liability.

Email management policies are now a popular option being put into place by companies all over to reduce risk and improve productivity. Some vendors offer solutions that move data from a normal mail system into one that better addresses the needs of a cost-effective, long-term storage solution. This reduces the cost of saving documents internally. 

As email piles up, IT departments tend to get swamped. With bulk junk email that may contain harmful viruses or adware increasing in
volume, IT departments are having to find new ways to sift the junk out. Some companies have tried to institute caps on the amount of data each user can have stored in their mail account, however this leads to multiple issues. Users either delete old mail that then is needed for a project down the road, or their mailboxes fill up and are unable to receive new mail, which can seriously affect the speed at which projects are completed.

The answer is simpler than you might think. Effective email management must have a proper form of archiving and sorting through incoming
mail. Software solutions have been created that allow for companies to set guidelines as to what incoming email goes where, and how it is categorized. These processes are all managed by an individual in the IT department. 

By having an employee manage the means in which email is archived through the use of innovative new software, you have a line of defense
both physically and digitally. You don't tie up the entire IT department with email related issues but also don't have to worry that the software is not going to work as it is supposed to because you have someone monitoring it.

Email management solutions are becoming increasingly popular in many businesses today. To find out more about how you can implement an email strategy into your organization, please contact us today!