Posted by KS on August 26, 2009
I used to work as a technical writer for a contracting firm that did documentation for financial companies. The irony was that the big project I worked on was for a company that had actually gone paperless a few years before, and was using networked attached scanners to digitalize hard copies.
While I was working here, I observed some distinct advantages to having a paperless office, such as:
- It was much easier for employees to share documents, as they just had to go to the shared drive and open the required files. Much easier than having to send documents to another cubicle, floor, or even another building!
- The company saved tons of money on paper and printer ink and toner, since there was nothing for employees to print out to send to other departments — it was all done in the system.
- The company was actually helping to reduce waste and pollution, by using fewer paper products (fewer trees cut down) and creating less waste (paper trash).
Now, of course in order to enjoy these benefits you have to make sure you have a system in place that will truly eliminate the need for paper copies. This company sometimes found that paper copies were still needed in order for employees to do certain tasks, so it wasn’t truly as much of a paperless office as they might have liked.
Technorati Tags: networked attached scanners, paperless office
Posted by InJour on August 14, 2009
Wheelchair lifts can sometimes be rather complicated installations. Depending upon a number of factors, the time and expense associated with complying your business with ADA guidelines can be easy and inexpensive are hard and cost you.
The good news is there are a lot of alternatives to choose from that may end up allowing you to meet complete compliance without going bankrupt in the process.
First off, in many situations, ramping can be completely legitimate ways to provide equal access to wheel chair bound visitors and employees. There is usually a bit of carpentry work that needs done, but wood and nails hammered together usually costs much less than elevator style lifting mechanisms. The ongoing maintenance is also much cheaper with a ramp.
Other scenarios which might be more than a ramp or two will solve may be met with stairlifts. These are tracked devices that provide a moving seat to traverse the flight of stairs. The traveler embarks at one end of the stairway, up or down towards the other. Once there, they can easily switch back to a wheel chair or other assistive device.
Stairlifts are usually much less expensive than complete wheelchair lifts, but tend to cost more to install and maintain than the simple ramps discussed earlier.
Technorati Tags: stairlifts, wheelchair lifts