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A Guide to Unlock the Potential of Artificial Intelligence in Document Management

by | Mar 30, 2023

Digital transformation and chatbot tech has swept through the business world, optimizing processes and boosting experiences. Yet, still, so many companies are trapped in a tedious cycle of manually entering data. PDFs, images, spreadsheets, and other multimedia files can be difficult to process automatically. So, organizations often resort to inputting facts and figures by hand.

Talk about a huge time investment! Not only does it take up loads of time, but manual document management makes it harder for your team to find relevant information and data. And you’re more likely to make errors — sometimes costly ones.

Image showing a statistic about AI in document management.

But, with the help of artificial intelligence, companies are more effective and efficient in their document management. In fact, research by PwC found that businesses can save between 30%-40% of the hours typically spent on manually inputting, mining, and extracting information from documents with the help of AI. Revamp your traditional document management system for one that’s more efficient and error-free.

How does AI Support Document Management?

AI-driven technologies are now revolutionizing how organizations manage and control documents. By using AI technology like natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML), businesses can automate document processing. And, they can streamline workflows and improve the accuracy of their documents.

Overall, AI can make every step of the workflow better, smarter, and faster. From the processing of documents to their storage to the extraction of the information they contain — AI eliminates wasted time, improves collaboration and engagement, and speeds up workflows. Add AI to your document management systems to find, edit, store, and share data better than ever before.

Paper records becoming digitized

Streamline Complex Processes Instantly

Capacity’s AI and automation technology can help:

  • Answer FAQs anytime, anywhere
  • Find relevant documents within seconds
  • Give surveys and collect feedback

4 Benefits of using AI-Powered Document Management

There are a ton of benefits to adding AI to your document management. It can keep you more organized, more accurate, and give you that nice competitive edge to retain customers and employees. Maybe you’re an HR team looking to keep your payroll or benefits documentation organized. Or, you’re a law firm looking for that key document to win a case. Let AI chatbots and AI systems in document management carry the burden for you.

Image showing the benefits of AI-powered document management.

With the help of AI in document management, you can:

Automate the Processing of Documents:

Did you know that every 4-drawer file cabinet, on average, holds between 10,000-12,000 documents? It also takes up about 9 square feet of your office floor space and costs approximately $1,500 yearly to maintain. Processing and organizing documents manually is time-consuming, expensive, and prone to human error. But by integrating AI into document management, the process of recognizing, classifying, and separating key employee documents—such as payroll, appraisal, or benefits-related paperwork—becomes much less daunting. 

Let’s say you’re a manager of a large team. You’re looking for which employees are the highest and the lowest performers. Typically, you have to take a solid, maybe 8 hours, from the week to sift through and process employee performance reports and metrics. But, add in an AI-powered document management system (DMS), and it can take on that time-consuming work. AI will process performance reports. Then it can highlight an employee’s key skills, and give valuable insight into what growth an employee brought during their lifecycle. With this kind of processing, HR leaders and managers can reward, promote, or address performance issues among their employee base without taking a day of work to do so.

Automate Classification of Documents:

AI chatbots can recognize patterns over time and make educated decisions based on these patterns. So in a DMS, AI can read the contents of a document, then classify and process it without human intervention. Then, the more that AI reads, the more it can observe how employees interact with the documents. Which, in turn, makes it better at identifying and processing information.

This is a massive benefit for document management overall. AI-powered DMS systems can automatically scan documents, classify, and organize them into categories. No more need to dig through folders to ID what document should live where. AI speeds up the process by reading the entire stack of docs and identifying those documents with the keywords and phrases that you’re looking for.

So imagine you’re a hiring manager facing a stack of resumes to review. Just feed your AI bot specific words and phrases to search for in the resumes and clear out the massive pile to keep the best candidates. 

Reduce Human Error and Improve the Consistency of Data:

Let’s be real. When it comes to data and documentation of information, humans are far more prone to make mistakes and errors than a machine will. But, when you automate workflows and lean on machine learning to input data and keep documentation organized, you’ll see more consistent data and fewer errors across the board.

One huge benefit of an AI-powered DMS, however, is that it prevents data redundancy, input errors, and file misplacement. Then, it provides valuable insights that enable efficient decision-making and process automation.

Gather Real-time Insights from Documents:

Using the insights gathered from documentation, AI can help your organization identify areas for improvement Use AI to find patterns of customer behavior, employee performance, or inventory management. This can give you an essential competitive edge. Just think – AI in document management could help you identify trends in customer surveys or patterns of behavior in your contracts. Ultimately, you’ll know more about how to support your customers.

Or, AI could save you thousands of dollars by alerting you to redundancy in your documentation or inventory. Cut through the noise in your documents to get a leg up on the competition. In the end, you’ll increase efficiency and improve service levels throughout the org.

Best Practices for Integrating AI into Your Document Management System

Image showing AI document management best practices.

To get the most your of AI in your document management system, there are a few key best practices to keep top of mind as you search for and implement a platform. Consider these five best practices so your team can experience easy adoption and better integration:

1. Use a cloud-based solution.

By using a cloud-based DMS, your business will benefit from faster and more reliable document processing. And you’ll get more efficient access, storage, and sharing of documents. Cloud-based solutions also enable organizations to get the latest AI technologies, such as natural language processing and machine learning.

2. Stay compliant and follow industry guidelines.

Before you just start letting AI run free to dig through your documentation, ensure that your chosen AI-driven system adheres to industry standards and guidelines. This will help your business maintain compliance with regulations, protect sensitive data, and prevent unauthorized access to documents.  

Paper records becoming digitized

Streamline Complex Processes Instantly

Capacity’s AI and automation technology can help:

  • Answer FAQs anytime, anywhere
  • Find relevant documents within seconds
  • Give surveys and collect feedback

3. Train employees on new processes.

Implementing a new document management system can be a huge, clunky change for your team. So make sure to provide them with the necessary resources and training. This will help ensure that everyone knows how to use the new system. Make use of any support or training that your vendor provides to get your team up to speed with the best ways to use the tool you choose.

4. Make use of AI-powered analytics.

Take full advantage of the capabilities in your AI-powered system by reviewing the analytics it provides for you. By using AI-driven insights from your documents, you can gain valuable insights into customer behavior, employee performance, or inventory management to get a leg up on the competition. 

5. Implement a user-friendly, intuitive platform.

Adopting new technology is daunting for most teams, especially if your team is used to doing manual document management. To avoid a huge learning curve and ensure that your team actually uses the platform effectively, focus on finding an AI-powered DMS platform that is easy to use and intuitive. This will make it easier for employees to implement the new system and maximize its potential. 

How Do You Know What AI-powered Document Management System is Right for You?

With some benefits, use cases, and best practices on your belt, it’s time to consider which AI-powered DMS tool is right for you. Before taking the plunge, use the following questions to evaluate and make sure your DMS has the features you need:

  1. Does the platform enable you to easily set up document workflows?
  2. Does it include features for tagging documents?
  3. Can you easily search, locate, and access documents?
  4. Does it integrate with your existing systems?
  5. Is the document input process efficient and secure?
  6. Does the platform provide you with real-time insights from your documents?
  7. What type of AI technology is included (e.g. natural language processing or machine learning)?
  8. How easy is it to use?
  9. What kind of support and training is provided during implementation?

Once you pick out the right DMS system for you, lean on automation and AI to unlock a new level of efficiency and accuracy in your workflows. Cut costs, keep data accurate and consistent, maximize efficiency, and remain competitive in an increasingly digital world with AI in document management.

Transform how your team handles document management with Capacity. Try for free today!

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