Norcross, GA -- (ReleaseWire) -- 01/22/2009 -- Going “green” is more than a hot new trend; it is fast becoming a key strategy for many organizations today. Given the economic and intangible benefits, there is little wonder why.

Many socially-conscious companies, nonprofits and other organizations are going green in an effort to be more sustainable to protect our natural resources. They are adopting more eco-friendly practices to be more environmentally responsible. But from a practical standpoint, opting for greener online applications instead of paper-based functions can yield tangible results that positively impact the bottom line. Using digital forms, virtual meetings, and online communications in the work environment minimizes paper consumption, saves time, reduces driving and lowers costs.

Moreover, research shows most consumers feel that companies should do more to protect the environment, and they are attracted to businesses that meet their expectations. Gaining consumers’ favor can translate into enhanced customer loyalty, increased sales—and, ultimately, greater profits.

The Bigger Issue about Going Green

In a broader sense, going green is about demonstrating good corporate citizenship and accountability to the environment. Corporate giants like General Electric, Google, Wal-Mart and Dupont Chemical have been leading the way in launching green initiatives. However, small entities can also go green by leverageing paperless online applications to realize economic benefits and impact the world. There is a pressing need to conserve paper and other resources. Consider this:

• The papermaking process creates harmful carbon emissions that contribute to global warming.
• Using digital files instead of printing documents can save a considerable amount of paper, energy, water and landfill space—not to mention reduce greenhouse gas emissions that can contribute to climate change.
• Reducing paper consumption by one ton can conserve enough energy to power the average American home for six months, save 7,000 gallons of water and 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by one metric ton of carbon equivalent.
• Paper products represent the largest portion of the trash generated by U.S. cities, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. In fact, paper and paperboard products account for about 83 million tons or 33 percent of all materials in the municipal waste stream, the EPA reports.
• In America, 173 reams (500 sheets per ream) of paper are used about every five seconds, according to Global Warming Initiatives Inc., a North Carolina-based organization whose goal is to help companies reduce greenhouse gases. Each ream of paper not printed equals 18.5 fewer pounds of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Not printing 173 reams of paper can save a tree and lessen atmospheric carbon dioxide levels by more than 2 metric tons.
• Prices of raw materials such as copper, steel, cement, paper and any sort of energy have gone up three, four, five or more times in the past two years—making resource conservation a critical issue.

Employing Digital Forms
Using environmentally-friendly electronic files can help organizations—of all types and sizes— become more green, lean and competitive in the marketplace.

Choosing digital files instead of paper forms, reports and other documents can offer significant cost and time savings. Maintaining digital documents avoids the need to print out unnecessary hardcopies, saving paper, ink, money and millions of trees. Not only that, operating in a digital environment can result in a more productive and positive experience for your employees, customers and partners. All of this can add up to a healthier bottom line.

Switching to online applications to incorporate green tactics is easier than you think. You can use digital forms to collect and share information among a group of users. You can customize forms to your specific needs and take advantage of online support and digital approvals (instead of faxing) to save paper and time.

Using Digital Files and Media
Using electronic files and media can give your employees, customers and partners convenient access to your organization’s information. With digital brochures, sales sheets and other marketing collateral, your sales team can provide customers and prospects with instant sales literature. The added speed and efficiency can shorten the sales cycle and result in easier, faster and more sales. Electronic brochures are also more cost-effective than traditional ones since there are no printing, mailing or postage costs involved.

Your Web site can be a central repository for all your media and digital files, including downloadable brochures and other sales material. It can also be a great marketing tool for featuring video testimonials, which can help you build trust with prospects more quickly and easily. And with a content management system to make changes to your site, adding digital files and other information is easy. A user-friendly editing tool allows updates to be made without any special technical skills. So anyone in your office can make changes to your Web site to ensure visitors receive the latest information.

Optimizing Your Sales Efforts
Providing access to digital tools can help your sales team streamline their processes and operate more efficiently. Sales staff can attend “green” meetings from their office, saving travel time, gas—and carbon emissions. They can also record prospects’ information instantly, generate digital reports and create electronic invoices to conserve paper and time. Electronic invoices can provide a significant cost savings. Paper invoices are responsible for an estimated 10 percent of all trees cut down around the world, and creating paper invoices uses as much electricity each year as 20 million homes.

When designing digital reports, it’s important to create documents that display the appropriate information. This reduces the need to print out reports for further analysis—which, in turn, helps to maintain the original digital file. In addition, maintaining corporate information in an accessible digital format makes it easier for management to detect and respond to businesses challenges.

Reducing Costs and Travel Involved with Processing Orders and Checks
The use of digital documents can significantly reduce travel time and costs in processing orders. Electronic invoices allow you to forgo the administrative, printing and mailing costs of paper invoices. E-invoices are the ideal complement to remote check processing, which allows you to deposit checks electronically without physically going to the bank.

You can deposit checks any time from your office—even after banking hours and on weekends. And you can reduce the labor-intensive process of manually preparing checks for deposit, as well as the researching, transporting and storing required for paper checks. All you need is a computer, check scanner and Internet connection to process checks remotely.

Going Green with KNOVIAL
The KNOVIAL platform from InterScape Inc. makes going green extremely easy. It’s a comprehensive solution that provides a variety of features that organizations need to operate effectively online. For example, KNOVIAL offers a form/work center that allows you to build custom forms without any coding or database work. You can create any form you need with the click of a button—including forms for digital approvals and signatures. You can also encrypt forms for added security, embed forms into content and export form submission to Microsoft Excel.

Other KNOVIAL offerings include a communication center for sending promotional email and marketing messages; video conversion and online streaming; sales management and reporting; and advanced content management.

With KNOVIAL, you can capitalize on rich interactive online applications and avoid hassling with printed documents—which often aren’t even necessary. More importantly, KNOVIAL allows you to adopt environmentally-friendly, online applications that can go a long way in improving your processes, public relations image and bottom line.

Learn more about how going green with KNOVIAL can create some “green” for your organization. Contact InterScape CEO, Matthew Francis at 770-564-5686 x 6502 or mfrancis@interscapeinc.com today!

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