5 Easy Ways Towards Automating Your Office
Office automation was a buzzword popularised in the late 1980s with the release of Microsoft Office. Moving from there, today office automation encompasses a suite of hardware and software integrated together to create solutions.
What is an office automation system?
As per Wikipedia, Office automation refers to the varied computer machinery and software used to digitally create, collect, store, manipulate, and relay office information needed for accomplishing basic tasks. Raw data storage, electronic transfer, and the management of electronic business information comprise the basic activities of an office automation system. Office automation helps in optimizing or automating existing office procedures.
So in simple terms, an office automation system is the tool that enables data to move from one system to another on its own without human intervention and inaccuracies. Everyday tasks are made simpler as office automation can help organizations in collection, management, and analysis of the data being generated from their everyday tasks and processes.
Office Automation is very essential in times like these due to dearth of trained manpower. Today’s office automation solutions provide app-based interfaces so that control can be done remotely from any part of the world using a mobile phone. Approvals for running an ad campaign or a go-ahead for a legal contract can be done by employees working from remote locations or by even those on vacations.
The new Office Automation systems have a simple user interface unlike their older counterparts where coding the workflow was a task. The organizations had to alter their way of working to fit into the tool’s hard-coding. Today, the apps or programs have simpler interfaces and allow a lot of flexibility in the way the workflow is designed. This makes the lives of employees easy as they don’t have to change their way of working.
A Good Office automation software lets you dig into your ERP, CRM, and Financial Management Software to retrieve information for quick decision making. This enables your employees to make quick and well-informed decisions.
A good office automation software also comes with its own set of reporting and analytics tools. So the data captured by the system can be analyzed to benefit the organization.
Cloud-based Office Automation and workflow systems are also now available and SaaS services can be used to save costs. They also offer easy accessibility, reliable security, and data scalability.
In case you are planning to automate your office or organization, here are five simple ways to follow :
1.) Automation of the Infrastructure and facilities
Conference Room Automation
Conference Room, Board Room, Executive Offices being important venues in an office, they are usually well automated in most offices. Usually, smart apps are used for controlling Lighting, Fans, Air Conditioning, Blinds/Curtains, Projector mounts, Projection Screens, Concierge Call buttons, Conference Room booking, Conference Room Occupancy monitoring, etc. This ensures comfortable meetings with maximum utilization.
Enterprises with flexible seating policies can use applications that can help identify and allocate available seating locations easily. Under-table sensors are used to monitor all seating locations. Lighting can also be controlled through this system to help conserve energy.
Energy Cost reduction
Wireless Sensors can be placed in the office, restrooms, cabins, aisles, and parking areas, etc to turn on and off various appliances such as Lights, Fans & Air-conditioning. This can be controlled through centralized apps as well as remote controls. Also, remote controls can be used for drawing of curtains and blinds. This helps in reducing wasteful energy consumption and hence savings.
A single-point control of all energy consumption across the office/enterprise can be done through centralized apps. Data from Smart Energy Meters, UPS, and DG sets including DG fuel levels can be monitored. Analytics can be done to obtain relevant information and hence lead to energy conservation.
2.) Automation of Safety And Security
A very essential part of office automation is looking after the safety and security of the people as well as equipment and data. Monitoring the attendance and movement of people through biometrics to allowing restricted access to high security zones can be achieved through Office Automation Systems.
A good office automation suite is usually integrated with security systems and cameras. It is capable of providing intruder alerts as well as report unlawful entries.
It can also be used for monitoring information from critical sensors such as indoor air quality sensors for CO2 levels, humidity, temperature, and more.
3.) Automation of Asset and Inventory Management
Property Data Management:
Various important documents can be digitized and stored for easy retrieval such as floor plans, property lease papers, etc.
Asset Data Management: This can help store data on the assets owned by the company such as property, machinery, computers, and vehicles. It also notes the maintenance schedules along with AMC & Warranty Expiration dates, Contracts, Equipment Manuals, etc. The app can also be used to notify about upcoming maintenance schedules or escalate issues.
4.) Automation of Services
Service Desk feature
A service desk feature is often a part of CRM : Service Requests, Maintenance tasks, etc can be taken care of efficiently with escalation if required.
Wireless Call Buttons
Wireless Call Buttons can be used to call for services without causing any disturbance to the environment. These can be used to various purposes such as to call a helper, call food service, or alert the concierge. Call buttons can also be placed in washrooms and pantries for cleaning or supply needs. The notification of these buttons can be received on central kiosks or Smart Apps. The historical data and analytics of such call requests and fulfilment data can be used for planning to staff.
5.) Automation of Document and Workflow Management
Document management software is the most important part of office automation software. It stores digitized documents. With the current pandemic situation, it has been very important for employees to have easy search and retrieval of important documents. Documents are tagged for easy search. The software also provides workflow which creates a flow for passing the document between stakeholders for their approval and corrections before being published and saved.
The workflow management allows collaboration on workflows with teammates in multiple locations across the globe without the need to manually send data and documents. The user gets a notification when he is required to approve a document and once approved, a notification is sent to the higher authority. There is absolutely no requirement of calling and sending separate emails.
Workflow management leads to quick approvals and improves the productivity of employees in many folds. It also helps reduce confusion and fraud in an organization.
Some of the advantages of Office Automation are:
- Office automation can get many tasks accomplished faster
- Office automation reduces the manual effort to complete mundane tasks and hence eliminates the need for a large staff
- Because of the virtue of being automated, Office automation cuts down manual errors
- Enables efficient Storage and retrieval of documents
- Leads to a reduction in storage requirement as there is no redundancy and enterprise-wide sharing of data.
- Multiple people can update data simultaneously in the event of changes in schedule
- Improves workflow and co-ordination amongst employees
- Getting insights into process performance metrics
- Gaining greater process visibility and identifying potential bottlenecks
- Making sound business decisions based on data
Many organizations now cater to implementation of Office Automation solutions. One such organization that is gaining fast popularity is GCR (Global Channel Resources). For any queries,
Email:
sales.india@gcrcloud.com
Phone:
+91–9324031818
