document management for schools

Document management services for schools, colleges and universities

/0 Comments/in /by

Here at PDM we have many years of expertise in the secure digitising of records. The need to accurately and securely capture paperwork for safeguarding purposes is something which is of particular relevance to education providers to ensure they comply with the latest data protection regulations.

According to guidelines set out by the Department of Education in 2016, schools and colleges have a duty to record in writing all concerns, discussions made and the reasons for those decisions. As a result, many schools and colleges now ensure they adhere to these guidelines by using software applications designed to monitor safeguarding, child protection and a wide range of welfare and pastoral issues.

Using specially designed software enables those involved in safeguarding to be altered immediately to any issues, whilst allowing senior leaders to build a chronology surrounding the student concerned. As such, reports on vulnerable individual pupils and groups of pupils can be quickly and easily generated for case conference meetings, governors and Oftsted. However, to integrate existing paper records into the system a complete data capture and document scanning process is required. We are experts in this area and have the expertise to securely scan and then transfer paper documents into a user-friendly, fully secure archive, designed to allow you to correctly manage these important documents within your school system.

PDM – the document management experts

Our services are fast, reliable and efficient, with an emphasis upon security and confidentiality at all times. Prioritising the protection of sensitive information is of paramount important to us, providing you with reassurance that your important documents are in safe and reliable hands. Get in touch to find out more about how our services can help you.

PDM-Post business mail services

What are digital mail rooms and how do they work?

/0 Comments/in /by

Switching to a digital mail offers the potential to save your business money and time, whilst improving efficiency and customer service. Our hybrid mail service, PDM-Post, is proving popular with many of our clients who are making the most benefits. However, if you’ve never used a digital mail room before, it can seem like a mystifying concept! With this in mind, we thought we’d give you an outline of how digital mail rooms work.

Inbound digital mail

All PDM-Post incoming mail is a system by which all inbound mail is delivered to our secure handling centre via a dedicated PO box. Once mail has been opened, the contents are digitised, eradicating the need for your staff to have to handle incoming mail at all, freeing up their time to spend on more important tasks.

The digitisation of incoming mail involves the scanning of each mail item as a separate documents. Once this process has taken place, the digital versions of your mail are then forwarded electronically to the relevant department. In addition, it’s possible to classify mail into different categories such as invoices, general correspondence or contracts.

It’s worth bearing in mind that after you’ve received your inbound digital mail, correspondence can be integrated into your systems and workflows using one of our digital document management systems.

Outbound hybrid mail

Outgoing correspondence is uploaded by the user to our fully secure PDM-Post portal and this is possible in a wide range of formats such as Microsoft Word or PDF. Documents/letters can be uploaded individually or en mass, taking the headache out of mass mailings/mailshots.

To reduce the amount of mail being returned as undeliverable, all postcodes are validated and you’ll receive confirmation of posting via the PDM-Post portal. In addition, you’ll also receive a notification of any items which haven’t been delivered.

The benefits of hybrid mail

Hybrid mail systems offer a range of benefits including savings on paper, stationery, printer ink and photocopying, whilst efficiency and customer service are improved. If you’d like to find out more about our hybrid mail service, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

data capture services from Pro-Doc

Digital document management – the greener solution to document storage

/0 Comments/in /by

Paper-based document management systems not only require significant amounts of physical storage space, they also generate the need for additional resources such as paper, files, folders, toner cartridge…the list goes on! Switching to a digital storage system is a great way to reduce your need for a physical document ‘infrastructure’, whilst also helping to improve efficiency and cut costs. With this in mind, here a few examples of how moving from paper to digital document storage can help you increase your green credentials whilst decreasing your consumption of office consumables.

  • There’s no doubt that a lot of room is required for storing paper files and documents! Even the smallest businesses are likely to have at least one filing cabinet stuffed full of paperwork but for large businesses, document storage can take up significant amounts of room. Switching to a digital document management and storage system makes paperwork a thing of the past, with solutions designed to cover everything from file storage and sharing, through to receiving and sending mail.
  • Paperwork requires a huge amount of paraphernalia; from paper itself, through to files, space to store files, paper clips, ink and toner cartridges, envelopes and postage stamps. Moving to digital document storage can help you make significant savings on office consumables by dramatically reducing your use of paper.
  • A reliance upon a paper-based system makes it difficult to improve efficiency and speed up processes. Digital document management makes finding and sharing documents as simple as pressing a button, whilst systems can be easily designed to improve work flow, enhance customer service and improve staff efficiency.

Contact the document management experts

At PDM we provide a wide range of cost-effective solutions designed to help businesses and organisations of all sizes save money and improve efficiency. To find out more about how we can help you transform the way you run your business, why not get in touch?