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For busy organisations, it can be extremely difficult to juggle the large amounts of incoming post – even when there is a dedicated team in place. But thanks to technology, they don’t have to struggle any more if they implement a digital mailroom.

Although the term ‘digital mailroom’ may sound scary, it is actually relatively simple. A digital mailroom is the automation of incoming mail processes. It uses document scanning and capture technology to digitise incoming mail in order to automate, and consequently streamline, the organisation and delivery of mail within a business. Not only can this cut down on time wasted, but can also help to cut down on the unnecessary costs of hiring and training extra staff.

So how can a digital mailroom help my business?

Digital mailrooms can improve efficiency

Employees will receive their mail digitally and fully indexed to their own individual email inbox every day. This allows them to view, edit, action or share it at the click of a button, allowing them to quickly get back to what they were doing to begin with.

Digital mailrooms offer increased space savings

As you won’t need to store large amounts of mail, you won't need a dedicated room for sorting through mail or somewhere to store filing cabinets full of the documents.

Digital mailrooms cut down on worries

A lot of things come through physical mail. Whether it be mass adverts and booklets or sensitive documents such as invoices and cheques, a digital mailroom means you don’t need to worry about it getting lost or falling into the wrong hands. All incoming mail will be sorted, scanned, indexed and sent directly to the correct inboxes without a second thought.

What about safety and security?

Did you know that digital documents can actually provide a more secure system? Storing paper copies of files leaves them open to loss, theft and damage, whereas storing them digitally instead can prevent this. File encryptions and password protections can keep documents safe so they cannot be accessed by anyone who doesn't have permission. Digital documents also come with the added bonus of being able to be backed up by cloud platforms which can prevent the loss or damage of all important data.

How much does a digital mailroom cost to implement?

This is a common question, but thankfully one that has a welcome answer. Thanks to digital mailrooms becoming more widely used, the costs of the services have decreased considerably. Helping to open them up to a wider range of companies, it means that even smaller businesses or companies on a tight budget, can still reap the digital mailroom rewards.

Do you want to give the digital mailroom a try? Get in touch with us today and find out how our sophisticated system can bring all of the above benefits you your business.

Thousands of businesses in the UK face an uncertain future as their finances are to be upturned by rising business rates, but none more so than those operating in the UK’s capital city. Although the results of the recent revaluation were announced last October, they won’t come into effect until next April but even now businesses in London must prepare to pay, what is estimated at, an extra £4billion in extra tax the next five years. Pearl Scan, a London based document scanning company, gives advice to these central businesses, offering a solution for companies looking for new ways to save costs.

We help keep down the costs for businesses in London with document scanning

While ‘document scanning’ and ‘paperless office’ may seem like buzzwords to many professionals, making the move to paperless and embracing the technological evolution within the world of work could bring with it a wide range of benefits, saving money in both direct and indirect means. Pearl Scan offers document scanning in central London and throughout the capital city, helping hundreds of clients to keep costs down using the innovative method, softening the blow of the imminent rising business rates.

Naveed Ashraf, Managing Director at Pearl Scan says “Some businesses are resorting to measures such as raising their prices for their customers to cope with the hike in tax but there are other, simple ways to keep costs down to cope with the recent revaluation. Implementing document scanning can save money by reducing the need to pay for file storage facilities and resources such as paper and ink on a regular basis. What’s more, productivity is greatly improved and margin for expensive errors such as misplacing or damaging important documents is removed, bringing further financial gain.”

You can read more on how to disaster proof your business here.

Pearl Scan has been revolutionising offices with its renowned document scanning service since 2003, becoming an industry leader in this increasingly relevant field. With expert staff and the latest equipment and technology, it has the capabilities to cope with digitisation projects from a wide range of sectors. Everything from invoices to microfiche can be scanned by Pearl Scan, presented to its clients in a digital format via a text searchable, cloud based image hosting platform.

Offering competitive rates and a variety of packages to suit all sizes and requirements, a tailored document scanning service is a worthwhile investment for any London based business during these uncertain times.

The advantages and benefits of going paperless cannot be argued, but the way in which to do it is still being debated for many businesses. Should you use a document scanning company and outsource your work, or can your document scanning be done in house?

At Pearl Scan we provide a premium service for document scanning in central London, as well as throughout the entire city in north, south, east and west London too. We have many happy clients ranging from blue chip organisations to local SME’s, all with a variety of budgets, who would all argue that document scanning can be done in house – yet they still choose to outsource it to us at Pearl Scan.

Setting up a system for in-house document scanning in east London, or wherever your office may be based, is certainly possible. And if you choose this method, there are a few thing that you will need to invest in:

Specialist scanning equipment

Basic scanning hardware may be able to cope with basic scanning requirements, but in order to fully realise a paperless office then you must invest in the appropriate, costly equipment that is capable of digitising all of the files used in your business such as invoices, slides, surveys, payslips and more. If you intend on relying on a digitised version of documents to inform your operations in your office, these paper documents must be scanned and converted in the highest possible quality.

Training staff

Just as you need the right equipment to perform the job correctly, you must take the time to ensure that your staff are trained in fully operating this new equipment correctly, safely and efficiently. This can be a time consuming process, and you may either need to re-allocate an existing member of staff’s job role or hire a new, dedicated scanning manager.

New procedures

Implementing a new in-house system means that your entire workforce will also need to be trained in new procedures to help make this happen. What do we do with our old documents? Can I still print things out? Is this mail ready to be disposed of yet? These are all questions that will need to have a solid clear answer. Failure to do so could lead to chaos in the workplace, rather than streamlined efficiency.

While it is assumed that keeping processes in-house can keep prices low, ultimately it can results in accumulating costs and extra time that needs to be invested in order to make it happen. We provide document scanning in west London, east London and all around the UK, offering our clients a fully rounded document scanning solution that reduces these concerns to one, clear payment package that takes care of your entire document digitising needs. We have industry standard scanning equipment ready to use, operated by our team of document scanning experts.

If you’re still unsure about whether or not to outsource your document scanning, get in touch to find out more.

An article that was posted in HR Magazine last September made a very bold statement in the world of human resources - ‘It’s time HR got smart about smart technology’. While this article was urging HR professionals to utilise smartphone technology, apps specifically, in order to operate in the working world that is increasingly becoming more mobile and flexible, we agree that HR professionals should also be embracing another technology in order to implement change. This technology is document scanning. When using digitisation techniques, HR document management is revolutionised in a way that can give any business a competitive edge.

How does HR files scanning work?

When using our HR document management and scanning service we collect all of your files directly from your office. Our document scanning service is available in London, and we can gather documents from the north, south, east and west areas of the capital. From here, they are stored in our secure facility, then systematically digitised in our dedicated scanning bureau. We use the latest technology and machinery in the scanning industry and are capable of processing traditional documents as well as forms, surveys, photographs, books, records and more. Once digitised, we run them through OCR software to convert them into fully text searchable documents. We then present them to you in your chosen digital format, including PDF, JPEG and TIFF.  All of our customers are also given free access to our cloud storage platform, Halogen Cloud. This document management software was designed with HR departments in mind, enabling you to quickly access important files whenever they are needed.

What are the benefits?

When working in HR, whether you are responsible for recruitment, training, internal communications or payroll, your role relies on you having access to lots of information on a daily basis. And often when completing your tasks, you will also generate a lot more paper work that also needs to be filed and considered for later use.

Employee file scanning, invoice scanning, record scanning, feedback form scanning and more can help to create a digital HR document management system that can save time, remove margin for error and reduce cost. What’s more, with huge amounts of data stored in a digital, OCR searchable and indexed format, new insights can be found from the improved analysis that this instant access enables.

In addition, businesses looking to utilise smartphone technology, as suggested by HR Magazine, can do so with a digital document management system. No matter where an employee is based, files can be sent and viewed in an instant.

Tasks can be completed much faster with the documents required available at the click of a mouse boosting productivity, efficiency and eventually, profits. With these benefits, HR document scanning gives your company a competitive edge.   

At Pearl Scan we offer our document scanning in London for a wide range of organisations, working closely with many HR departments to help them dramatically improve their processes. 

Do you want to utilise the benefits of document scanning for your HR department? Learn more on our website. 

We are living in the ‘information age’ with much of our business and personal lives relying on large amounts of data in order to function. Unfortunately, for many organisation this data is still stored in physical files such as paper documentation, photographs or microfiche and microfilm cards. These can present a number of problems, especially as the streams of information that is created and such, needs to be stored, continues to rise. Before we tell you how a document scanning service in London can revolutionise businesses based in the capital, let us define some of the problems that you may be experiencing…

Lack of space

By their nature, traditional documents in a physical format are bulky and can take up valuable office space. Even if shelving systems or filing cabinets are used to try to organise these papers, they are often unsightly and cause the working environment to feel cluttered – something that can be detrimental to productivity levels.

Time consuming access to documents

Many jobs need instant access to the information stored in their documents in order to complete their daily tasks effectively. Unfortunately, when stored in these physical formats, valuable time can be wasted locating the desired papers, photographs, books or more, even when filed in a well-structured system.

Wasting money

Sometimes, you may have so many physical documents that you cannot even store it all in your office space! Many legal regulations require businesses to keep documents archived for a number of years, meaning that historic files can’t be disposed of and the papers keep on piling up. To comply, many resort to paying costly fees to simply keep these files in external storage facilities.

Deteriorating over time

Whether your document archive is with an external storage provider or if your company has the facilities to keep them in-house, gradually these paper, fibrous and textile documents will deteriorate over time, causing information to be lost.

How can document scanning in London help?

If your company is experiencing any of these document storage problems then a document scanning service can help. And when using Pearl Scan, every paper file, book, photograph, letter and more is removed from your site and taken to our dedicated scanning bureau in London. Here, our specialised technology transforms each file into whichever digital format suits your business best, including PDF, JPEG, TIFF and more, ready to be accessed at the click of a mouse. Once scanned, we also offer a secure storage service to keep all of your historic, physical files safe and away from your working environment.

With these data capture solutions, businesses can rid themselves of a cluttered working environments and unleash new productivity potentials as important data is available at their fingertips. What’s more, money is saved in the long run while documents are safe guarded digitally, forever.

Peal Scan offers document scanning in central London, as well as the different boroughs throughout the capital. If you want to know more about our document scanning service, get in touch!