Affordable housing providers and public housing agencies face unique and significant challenges in managing documents across their organizations. These challenges are intrinsic to the industry given the number of files and documents required to remain in compliance with subsidy programs.<\/p>\n\n\n
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But, with the right technology and document management strategies, these challenges can be overcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For example, Microsoft SharePoint can make it easy to set up a system to store applicant and resident compliance files along with lease documents using date and naming conventions. It can simplify how users to manage and search for a move-in certification, a full resident recert file, or an individual verification document by property, resident name or date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And, as regulatory agencies, investors and auditors generally request more electronic file reviews than paper files, Yardi Document Management for SharePoint helps to deliver these documents efficiently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If your organization is lacking this type of document management oversight and is seeking technology to help, consider the following features.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Five features to look for in affordable housing document management<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1: Searchability<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finding documents using native SharePoint functions is even more effective when coupled with AI meta data tagging. Adding OCR (Optical Character Recognition) capabilities that convert images of text into a machine-readable text format will make your search for elusive documents even more powerful, giving you the ability to look for keywords within a document.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2: Findability<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Organization for your documents is key. Implement a taxonomy with a uniform structure that makes it supremely easy to locate documents. Automation will ensure consistency and maintenance of your folder structures. Just as going to a big box store at any location in any state will give you the same layout and experience, a taxonomy that consistently organizes your documents to ensure a familiar experience makes information easy to find.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3: Scalability<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Without a document management system, managing information across an organization is a laborious undertaking. With an automated solution, it\u2019s easy to maintain taxonomy and security for your documents on a large scale. Automation organizes your documents within hours, and when integrated with Yardi Voyager, you can access documents from a single source of truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4: Integration<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
With seamless integration of your document management system with your Voyager property management system and other Yardi platforms (including RentCafe, Procure to Pay, Aspire) it\u2019s easier for approved users inside and outside your organization to upload files. Security is managed in Voyager. Depending on the outside user, such as a vendor, when they upload documents they will not be aware that the files are stored in SharePoint behind the scenes. Inside your organization, users will be able to interact with the files in a SharePoint setting where they can leverage all of its features.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
5: Compliance<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Laws and regulations are changing to require less paper and accept more digital documents. Maintaining compliance and security in this evolving digital environment is a necessity. Document management in SharePoint has many features for compliance including retention policies, workflows and the ability to integrate with third-party tools such as DocuSign to meet regulations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Key to Streamlining Document Management<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
The five features described above are all part of Yardi Document Management for SharePoint. Implementing this solution helps housing providers boost efficiency, increase data security and enables cloud-based access and sharing. It also helps organizations maintain consistent folder structures, manage security and permissions, integrate content and users, locate documents quickly and track multiple versions over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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