Will scanning documents help my business?

Have you ever needed to access an important piece of information from an old document, and ended up spending hours rifling through filing cabinets and searching for the folder where you think you might have put that required piece of paper?

Or maybe you know what information you need, but can’t remember exactly which document it’s on. You’ve got shed loads of stored documents, and you know it could be a 'needle in a haystack' attempt to check multiple files and find the necessary document. It’s these time-consuming, frustrating and inefficient processes that document imaging addresses. When done correctly, it can change the way your business operates for the better, and save you both time and money.

What is document scanning?

Document scanning, also known as document imaging, is simply defined as the process of capturing a digital image of a paper document (or a microfilm). It’s how your paper documents are converted into electronic searchable images, which can greatly help your business process.

The digital images can also be processed by Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. This will turn the digital pictures into text documents, to allow keywords search within a document.

What does it entail?

Altogether, document imaging refers to the whole process of converting physical documents into digital format, including scanning and capturing the image, using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software to intelligently recognize words, storing the digital file securely, and then retrieving it where required.

These are the four main parts of document imaging:

• Input
• Identification
• Storage
• Retrieval

Input

The first stage is input -- creating the digital version of a document and saving it in a content management system (CMS). There are a number of technologies capable of this such as M-Files.

The most common pieces of equipment used are single-sided (simplex) and double-sided (duplex) document scanners. Make sure your scanner is high-resolution around (1200 dpi) for the best results.

Identification

Identification can refer to two different parts of the process: finding the documents you should be scanning in, and making sure they are indexed appropriately. Your records retention schedule will be invaluable in the early stages of identification, prioritization and management. If you need a guide to this schedule, don’t hesitate to contact us.

Firstly, you should be identifying documents that will add to efficiency. Over time documents are accessed less frequently and therefore there may be little benefit in digitizing them. Keep in mind that you can always scan these documents later using a scan-on-demand system. This way, your frequently accessed documents are scanned immediately, whilst those older files that you might only need occasionally are scanned as and when required.

Find any duplicate documents and remove them from the batch of documents to be scanned. It takes a little bit of time to sort through files and folders to identify duplicates, however the time and expense saved later is well worth the investment up front.

Make sure you have identified your document management system ahead of the project, and configured this in a way that will match the requirements of your business and your schedule of records retention. Scanning needs to be streamlined to a logical and efficient location, otherwise the whole process could become a pointless endeavor.

Time should also be spent identifying digital documents once they have been scanned and indexing them so they can be managed in an appropriate and efficient way. This could include naming and labeling files, describing the contents of documents, and tagging them with a range of metadata that can used by a business to track and retrieve files as required.

Storage

Once your paper documents have been digitized, they can either be stored securely and effectively on-site or remotely in a document storage facility or they can be destroyed. Make sure you are not in breach of data protection laws.

The storage of digital documents also needs to be efficient and with the necessary levels of security, whilst taking into account the need to access regularly as part of a workflow system.

Retrieval

Finally, retrieval is the process of searching for the digital files you need – or the specific information contained within a file -- and then having it presented to your team in a format that suits your business process.

How is it valuable for my business?

In a nutshell, document imaging is valuable for your business because it streamlines storage and retrieval of files, as well as making document management much simpler and more efficient.

With an effective document imaging system, you should be able to:

• Save time and money

With easy access to all your files and documents at the click of a button, you or your staff won’t have to waste time searching through boxes and files in an attempt to locate the document you need. You won’t be paying staff for a task that could take hours when it should be completed in a matter of seconds.

• Improve your customer service

With document imaging, you can digitize every part of a file and index it with a range of metadata. That means that if you require a specific piece of information -- such as an invoice number -- you can find it instantly. This is especially useful if you want to meet the needs of your customers as quickly as possible.

• Reduce storage space

By converting all your physical documents to digital files, you’ll no longer need to store them where they are close to hand. They can be boxed up and shipped to secure, dedicated sites, freeing up space in your office for more important things and reducing the costs associated with paper file storage.

• Improve security

As you won’t need those paper files on-site, you can keep them in dedicated storage facilities that have outstanding security protocols. You won’t need to worry about security at your office either, as all digital files and backups can be stored remotely on highly secure servers.

• Share and collaborate

Another great benefit of digital files over paper ones is document sharing. Multiple colleagues can access the same document when required, reducing wasted time once again where paper files must be passed from one department to another.

• Meet compliance regulations

Finally, you might find that compliance procedures in your industry require you to keep some documents digitally, as well as physically. Putting a secure and efficient document imaging solution in place now can save you time and effort down the line.

With the right document scanning or imaging process in place, you can focus on the important parts of your business, knowing that your document management is efficient, secure, and under control.

Photo credit: Lolostock / Shutterstock

Neil McKeever forms an integral part of the Information Management team at Kefron. Neil helps companies to implement and maintain their content management system in the most effective and timely ways.