Top 10 Technologies to Better Service Vendors, Employees and Customers

In early 2009, it felt like the world kinda … stopped. Companies were doing more with less, had a need for greater operational efficiency and required proof of a solid ROI before making investments in technology.

And, this still affects the way we do business today.

Following this shift in business thinking, we put together a list of the top 10 technologies that are paramount to better serving company stakeholders.

1. Electronic Forms and Reporting
   Manage output of printed documents, eliminate pre-printed form paper usage, make form and report changes quickly, and deliver forms/reports via email.
2. Web Forms
   Whether it’s Fortra technology or something else, it’s going to be huge to scan a paper form, capture clean data (eliminating re-keying of data), and integrate data into ERP and other systems. One form could be used to import data into multiple systems (sales, manufacturing, and delivery for instance).
3. Signature Capture
   Electronic signature capture has wide applications: proofs of delivery, merchandise pick-up, hospital/clinical registration, etc. Generate and send/print invoices, receipts, and emails immediately upon getting a signature.
4. Document Management
   Capture and store all paper documents, archive outbound and inbound emails, store images and video, store Outlook, Excel and Word docs, reduce filing cabinet storage, and provide disaster recovery.
5. Automatic Report/Document Delivery
   Delivery documents via email or fax, post documents online, and/or publish documents via Sharepoint, ECM or Portal.
6. Digital Mailroom
   Medium-sized companies process 100,000 or more pieces of mail per month and could service 200 departments. In a digital mailroom, documents are scanned, indexed and routed to the appropriate department.
7. Automated Document Assembly
   Companies still need to generate packets of documents, which often leads to the printing of paper and filing or sending.
8. Self-Service Kiosks/Portals
   Starting at the airport and movie theaters, self-service kiosks are quickly moving into businesses. Think of the business possibilities of self-service for your customers or employees via a kiosk or web portal …
9. Customer Relationship Management
   Previously, many companies would store information in customer or vendor “master files,” which didn’t offer much info beyond the basics. Now, sophisticated CRM systems track notes, attachments and additional information to better connect to customers or vendors.
10. Mobile Devices
    New challenges will continue to emerge surrounding mobile devices with BYOD, executive and sales training, constant OS updates, and determining how to integrate tablets into existing business processes.