Document Collection Software: 4 Must-Have Features and Capabilities

In recent years, developers have brought many document collection platforms to market, addressing the needs of organizations that handle clients’ sensitive personal and financial information. With secure repositories and direct client portals, document collection software can:

• Reduces inefficient manual processes
• Ease burdens on clients to complete complex tasks
• Enhances overall data security by eliminating the use of email to exchange sensitive information and enforcing file encryption.

While organizational needs will vary by use case, there are four non-negotiable features any reputable document collection software must offer.

1. Bank-Grade Security

Exposing sensitive customer information and personally identifiable information (PII) remains a top concern for both regulated and unregulated industries as the distributed workforce continues to become an established norm in most white-collar organizations. In 2021, data breaches surged globally by 68% over 2020 totals, and early indicators from 2022 suggest that another year of heightened data security risks is underway.

Adopting document collection software presents an opportunity to radically strengthen your organization’s defense against data breaches, especially for organizations that continue to collect customers' PII and other sensitive information via email attachments. 

After all, email phishing scams are the first point of ingress in 90% of successful cyberattacks. Many factors contribute to email breach vulnerability:

•   Weak or easily compromised user credentials
•   Emails being sent in unencrypted plain text
•   Email attachments sitting the user’s in- and -outboxes, 

Document collection software can thoroughly eliminate these persistent vulnerabilities. The features necessary to accomplish this are obligate encryption for all files in transit and at rest and a service provider guarantee of strict internal information security practices.

• Encryption: The gold standard is 256-bit end-to-end encryption (E2EE). Estimates for brute forcing E2EE place the timeframe in the range of 2.29 × 1032 years, or about twice the universe’s current age. 

• Guaranteed Information Security: Most PII data breaches originate with human error such as bad practices or system configurations. Beyond applying the best cybersecurity technologies, organizations can protect the sensitive data they steward through rigorous training in internal information handling practices. To assist businesses in finding trustworthy partners, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) has developed a series of third-party information security evaluations called Service Organization Controls (SOCs). Compliance with SOC standards indicates that an organization has willingly opened its internal systems to vigilant monitoring for an extended time period. For document collection software, SOC 2 Type 2 compliance should be considered an essential feature.

2. Features That Facilitate Your Ability to Go Paperless

Despite rapid advances in digital technologies over the past decade, the average office worker still prints an alarming 10,000 pages of work-related documents annually. Of these, 45% end up in the garbage in less than 24 hours. Few are properly disposed of in shredders.

Even in the minority of offices where information security standards are applied to paper documents, unnecessary printing still contributes to a growing ecological concern. In the U.S., paper waste accounts for 26% of total landfill mass. Finding technological solutions that eliminate the need for excessive printing both improves security and reduces negative environmental impact.

Document collection software can provide these solutions through the use of electronic signatures and fillable forms that allow clients and employees to edit forms online, rather than printing them to fill out. 

In the first case, not only do electronic signatures reduce the need for printed documents. They also contribute to faster turnaround times. Similarly, fillable forms cut down paper waste while making client document collection tasks much easier and faster, for both the person having to provide the information, and the employee who has to collect it.

3. Documents Statuses for Both Clients and Representatives

When organizations rely on email attachments to request documents and data from clients, both parties involved must keep track of what has been submitted and what remains outstanding. This is both inefficient and error-prone.

Document collection software can store all submitted files in a single repository where authorized users can see the status of all outstanding requests on one screen. While not a must have, nice to have features include the ability to set automated notifications for missed or impending deadlines, so that workers responsible for client files do not have to remember to make reminder phone calls or send email reminders.

4. Integration with Your Existing Tech Stack

At the end of 2021, most enterprises were using an average of 110 different software-as-a-service applications. However targeted, any solution you introduce into your operations should not come at the expense of time and resources lost to coding custom integrations. Any document collection software worth the investment will come with out-of-the-box integrations for most common cloud-based applications such as Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, and Zapier. 

And in order to allow for future scalability, you might want to consider shopping for a document collection software that allows for an even deeper integration into your workflow - such as the ability to build upon an API.

Experience the Features of FileInvite

FileInvite’s SOC 2 Type 2 compliant file sharing and client portal platform offers all the essential features of document collection software and much more. Cutting average document turnaround times by as much as 80%, FileInvite delivers comprehensive digital document handling solutions.

To learn more and request a demo, visit FileInvite today.

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