Blog

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!  

Document shredding isn’t something that’s usually at the forefront of every business’ ‘to do’ list but it can be both useful and important. Here’s how.

1.Going Digital

When your company switches to dealing with documents digitally, there is no longer a need to store paper copies of them too. In this scenario, all the hard copies would be doing is gathering dust and taking up valuable space. So the most efficient thing to do would be to destroy the paper documents but it is also vital to make sure you do this securely. Shredding the documents will provide a safe way to dispose of them, especially if the documents are cross shredded because this makes it difficult to piece the shreds back together.

This brings me onto the second reason you should shred your documents…

2.Identity Theft

More than 89,000 UK people are the victims of identity theft every year and a lot of this comes as a result of the criminals gaining access to personal data stored on documents that have been thrown away rather than shredded. It only takes one or two confidential documents for someone to be able to steal your identity. If the thought of having your personal details or even your entire identity stolen by some random stranger isn’t enough to make you start shredding confidential data then I don’t know what will.

3.Recycling

For the past decade or so there has been a huge emphasis on companies reducing their carbon footprints and boosting green credentials wherever they can. This has seen a lot more businesses making more of an effort to recycle but this is where the risk factor comes in. In their efforts to save the environment, many people are not realising that they are throwing entire confidential documents into the recycling bins for anyone to find. Adding a simple shredding process into the mix will allow you to continue your recycling efforts but also secure that confidential information. It’s a win-win situation as they say.

Shredding Services

Here at Pearl Scan we have been providing businesses with document scanning and management solutions for over a decade. We provide secure shredding and disposal with all of our scanning services because we understand the need for confidential data and information to remain just that.

We can provide secure on-site shredding services as well as mobile shredding for you to witness the destruction of your documents and gain peace of mind. For more information, check out our website or for a free document scanning quote, give us a call and speak to a member of our friendly and experienced team.

Request a Quote   |   Contact Us    |    This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The Scan-do People^tm


For more information feel free to give us a call: 
Nationwide: 0845 22 55 923          London: 0207 183 1885
Manchester: 0161 832 7991         Birmingham: 0121 285 1900

It’s one of the first questions that comes to mind when a company wants to change its document management processes and there’s a wide range of ways you can do this.

The first thing to consider is what format you want to store your documents in; hard copy or digital? Once you’ve decided this, there are a few methods you can choose between so let me break it down.

Manual Document Management

Manually managing documents is the traditional method of storage and is still a favourite with lots of businesses across the country. Whether it’s the nostalgic love of paper or the need to have something physical in their hands, despite the rise in digital business, these people still prefer to store documents in the two methods below.

Office Storage

Think filing cabinets, folders and boxes. It’s probably the image you have in mind when you think of the average business office. Storing files like this is the most traditional method and the go-to way for a number of businesses but if we really think about it, there aren’t a great deal of benefits, it just seems to be a force of habit. Having said that, for a small number of documents, office storage can be the best method.

Off-Site Storage

Sometimes when there’s too many documents and files to fit on their premises, companies hire off-site facilities to store their documents securely. While this method is more secure than storing files in the office, it has an even slower document retrieval time because you have to request for the relevant document to be sent to you.

Digital Document Management

CD/DVD/USB

Storing digital images or files on a CD, DVD or USB means you can carry them on the go for remote site access. Files can be duplicated onto different systems, shared and viewed easily. The only downside to this method of storage is the risk of losing the CD, DVD or USB having not back the files up and the fact that you will always have to remember it when you know you’ll need to retrieve files.

Shared Network

With a shared network, the benefits are obvious; you have a network on which you can share your digital files with other members of staff or anyone else with access to the network. Shared networks can be based on a computer network or an online cloud platform. Both of these networks offer advantages but cloud storage has really taken off over the past few years because it offers the ability to access files at any time from any device with access to the internet.

Document Management System

Sometimes when companies decide to store their files digitally, they don’t have a system in place which can lead to some trouble managing the files. This is where document management software becomes a vital resource. It allows documents to be searched, organised and retrieved with ease. There are a wide range of choices of software ranging from simplistic to highly technical but the best thing to do is try one out and see if it suits your company.

Pearl Scan Can Help

Here at Pearl Scan, we provide document scanning services as well as document management consultancy to businesses, organisations and individuals from a wide range of industries including legal, HR, healthcare, education and finance.

We can scan any file from as small as a till receipt right up to a large format drawing or plan for which we can then provide image management software for your scanned images. We also have our own cloud platform, Pearl Cloud for you to host your files once they have been scanned.

If you would like some more information about our document scanning, management and storage services, check out our website or give us a call to receive your free, no obligation quote.

Request a Quote   |   Contact Us    |    This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The Scan-do People^tm


For more information feel free to give us a call: 
Nationwide: 0845 22 55 923          London: 0207 183 1885
Manchester: 0161 832 7991         Birmingham: 0121 285 1900