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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.

Many people think that the more you scan, the higher the costs but with bulk scanning services, this doesn't have to be the case.

Companies and organisations often think they have to pick a small amount of important documents to be scanned so as not to break the budget. What they don't realise however, is that larger scale scanning often doesn't cost as much as you might think and they also bring bigger benefits!

What is Bulk Scanning?

Bulk scanning is exactly that; the process of scanning a large bulk of documents. Companies who still store documents in paper form will usually have filing cabinets, folders and boxes full to bursting with them. Once they have made the decision to go digital with their document management system, it makes a lot of sense to scan all of those documents rather than just some.

What Can I Scan in Bulk?

Almost any document previously stored in hard copy can be scanned in bulk. From till receipts and invoices to archives and heritage collections.

How Can I Save Money With Bulk Scanning?

Standard document scanning alone can bring cost savings in the form of reduced paper and printing use as well as lower storage costs but if the scanning is completed on all of the documents you hold, these savings can potentially be massive. Imagine being able to abolish all of your storage costs or reduce the amount paper you use to almost zero (or even none at all if you want to try out a paperless office). Profits will be through the roof and who can say no to that?

How Can I Manage My Documents Once They Have Been Digitised?

Once your documents have been scanned, they should be OCR processed and converted to the format you need. When you outsource your scanning project to a document scanning company like Pearl Scan, your documents can be managed with bulk document management software, Halogen. Since they have been fully indexed, you will only need to make a simple text search in the software to retrieve the documents and information you need.

What Benefits Can Bulk Scanning Bring To My Company?

Scanning alone brings a lot of benefits for businesses and organisations alike but when you choose bulk scanning, you can gain further advantages;

• There will be a vast reduction in outgoing costs (storage, paper, printing etc.) once your company deals with all of their documents digitally.
• By scanning all of your stored documents in bulk, you can remove all of the filing cabinets etc from offices and potentially save a huge amount of space or utilise it more efficiently.
• By dealing with a purely digital document management system, you can improve office productivity and efficiency.
• Your green credentials and carbon footprint will be improve due to the reduced need to use paper and store it.
• Bulk scanning is a low cost solution which brings bigger savings right from the beginning.
• Your workflow can be improved with the use of email, shared networks and online platforms.
• With improved efficiency and a more open workspace office morale will be boosted.

How Can Pearl Scan Help?

Here at Pearl Scan, we specialise in bulk document scanning for companies and organisations across a range of industries including bulk legal scanning, bulk HR scanning and bulk education scanning. We offer an excellent yet affordable service and also offer our bulk document management software, Halogen, free of charge for larger projects.

With our bulk scanning service you can start to benefits from cost savings and many other advantages so get in touch today for a free, no obligation quote for your scanning project. If you would like some more information on the bulk scanning services we offer, check out our bulk document scanning page.

Looking to secure your documents but all out of ideas? Here’s a solution which will offer you great security for important information.

As a nation, we have a sort of nostalgic love for paper. Nothing quite beats the feeling of a crisp piece of paper or the smell of a new book. With all of this gushing over paper, we often lose sight of its major disadvantages like the fact that it is easily lost, stolen or damaged. For this reason, it is curious that companies still insist on storing sensitive and important information in this way.

So is there a better solution?

Of course there is!

Document Scanning

Scanning and digitising documents offers the opportunity to store files digitally in secure document management systems. Files can be indexed and OCR software applied, to make them easy to find when needed but, to ensure that only the relevant people can view the digital documents, they can be encrypted and password protected. Imagine someone broke into your office with files stored in hard copy in filing cabinets, folders and boxes. How long do you think it would take them to steal vital information about your clients and the company itself? My bet is, not very long. They could be away with that information before your alarms have even been triggered. On the other hand, if you store your information digitally, in encrypted files with passwords to protect them, anyone who breaks in would have a difficult time trying to steal them before someone discovers them.

Misconceptions About Digital Document Storage

With the recent news about companies such as tech giant Sony being hacked with devastating consequences, many people are skeptical about digital file storage. I recently wrote an article addressing this skepticism and looking at what we can take from the hacking news but, in short, storing files digitally still is the safest way to store files, if done correctly. So don’t use easily hacked passwords and update security systems are just a few tips we are advised to follow to ensure important information isn’t stolen. If you follow them, your documents will be safe from loss, damage and theft.

Convinced?

Document Scanning Services

Scanning services like us here at Pearl Scan can scan your documents to help you benefit from increased security. Our service can be tailored to suit the needs of each individual client with a wide choice of digital formats and delivery methods for you to choose from. We handle to entire process from collection and scanning to delivery of your digital documents and secure shredding and disposal of the originals. If you would like some more information about how we scan documents and the other benefits for you and your company, give us a call or check out our website.

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