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How to disaster-proof your business documents

How to disaster-proof your business documents

Businesses hold on to thousands of pieces of paper and manual documents. And as time goes on, these accumulate until there’s multiple filing cabinets overflowing with neglected, but important, files that rarely see the light of day. Easily destroyed, thrown away or lost, these documents not only take up valuable room and cost companies thousands in time spent looking for them, but they are also at very serious risk of the elements.

Earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes and floods are all common. Even in the UK, we are prone to floods, and have even been known to have the odd earthquake. With the weather getting wilder, making sure that important documents are safe and secure cannot be underestimated. So how can you ensure your important, and confidential business documents are kept safe, should disaster strike?

Document management with Cloud

The only sure fire way to keep your documents safe is by turning to digital practices. Some businesses decide to store documents away from offices and disaster-prone areas, such as at external storage facilities. However even if you decide to go down that route, you can’t guarantee that these will be kept safe from catastrophe such as fire or flood. Digitising your paper archive and current documents using a specialist scanner however will remove the need for storage facilities by enabling them to be stored on widely accessible cloud.

It is always worth backing these documents though as a secondary precaution. Although clouds are secure, if their server goes down, it will stop access which can hinder a businesses’ productivity for a time. Using a central server that is either located on or off site however will provide businesses with a secondary platform to access and store data and provide peace of mind. These are great for both large and small businesses as they are cost-effective to maintain, but there is always the risk that they can be damaged from outside elements. In order to combat this, some service providers store data on multiple servers housed at different geographic locations. So even if one of the servers is destroyed, your documents will still be safe as they are stored on other servers too.

The main benefit of backing up your documents digitally is that when you’re back in business, you can quickly recover your documents and resume operations which minimise disruption to both customers and employees.

Looking to disaster proof offices in London? Find out more about document scanning from Pearl Scan.

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What could go wrong with in-house scanning?

document scanning service

What could go wrong with in-house scanning?

Going paperless is great, but having the right strategy while your organisation undergoes the transition is critical. Scanning technology has improved enormously over the past decade, making scanning easily one of the best ways to digitise information. Advances in optical character recognition, intelligent character recognition, and data indexing have led many people to believe that scanning bulk amounts of documents is a simple, easy process.

In truth, despite these advances, scanning documents in bulk can be a very tricky process. There are many reasons that companies choose third party scanning services like Pearl Scan to aid them in digitising their data.

Cost

Cost is generally the reason administrators cite for choosing to have documents scanned in-house. That is, they’re of the belief that they’ll save money by doing so. This is rarely the case.

A low end scanner is simply not good enough for digitising all of an organisation’s documents. A professional scanning service will have the most up-to-date equipment. Furthermore, most companies can’t afford to maintain multiple backup scanners in the event that their primary scanner breaks down. That leads to backlog whenever there’s an issue with the scanner, which puts a dent in productivity.

Additionally, having the right software to effectively and efficiently both scan your documents and capture data can be extremely costly.

Training and manpower

With this high end equipment and multiple types of sophisticated software in mind, the next problem that in-house scanning organisations run into is training. While innovations have greatly improved the equipment and software necessary to scan documents and capture data, knowing how to use that equipment and software is critical.
Who will train the employees who will be scanning documents? Can you afford to train your entire office to scan documents and index the data they contain? Or will you need to delegate the responsibility to a select few? Is there any department that is equipped to handle the extra work load?

Other issues

The safety and security of certain types of documents can be extremely important. Legal documents, medical records, and other paperwork that contain sensitive information need to be handled with care when capturing and storing that data. That’s not only to protect those to whom that information is personal, but also to protect your company from liability or regulatory concerns. Data is one of the most important resources your company has. Why not treat it as such and use a professional scanning service?

Find out how Pearl Scan can help with your document scanning needs.

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Ensuring Compliance in the Aerospace Industry

aerospace industry document management

With hundreds of tons worth of machinery taking to the skies and lives categorically on the line, compliance within the aerospace industry is not something to be taken lightly. If you operate in the aerospace sector, playing by the rules is critical. To help you augment your approach we’ve come up with some savvy ways to keep compliance under wraps.

An in-depth understanding of industry regulations

The aerospace sector is governed by its own industry specific regulations. The Aerospace Industries Association is an international body, with country specific organisations also keeping companies in check. Rules and regulations are dynamic and ever-changing which means it’s essential for companies to stay up-to-the-minute with all the latest compliance requirements.

Adequate training

Whether you operate in the private, public or commercial sectors, training up a team of competent and qualified staff will drastically improve the compliance credentials of your operations. This will ensure that everyone is on the same page, and has a thorough understanding of all rules and regulations.

Intelligent software solutions

Technology is now an integral part of contemporary business, and the aerospace industry isn’t exempt. Today, companies can utilise a glut of intelligent software solutions designed to streamline internal operations and boost efficiency. When used correctly, internal management software can play a key role in keeping aviation businesses compliant.

Assigning dedicated teams

Compliance should never be left to chance. For this reason aviation companies should always assign a dedicated compliance manager to oversee all areas relating to safety, maintenance, legalities, staff and other key areas. Larger companies may even want to consider drafting an entire team. This will eliminate the risk of any regulatory issues slipping through the net.

Electronic document management

The aviation sector is burdened with a huge amount of paperwork. Unfortunately, just one tiny mistake can spell disaster for companies, particularly if it’s relating to maintenance. When it comes to keeping papers in check electronic document management is a must utilise tool. From safety checks, maintenance documentation and legal papers, digitalising documents and sketches ensures that all content can be accessed easily and instantaneously.

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Why choose Pearl Scan

Document scanning | Audits

We are backed up by external quality and security audits. Our operations have been audited and approved by many NHS, Local Authorities, Private blue chip companies and we pride ourselves on the high levels of quality and security we provide to each and every one of our clients.

Our data capture and document scanning services offered in London are accredited to industry standards.