Some commonly asked questions…
What advantages does document imaging have over a filing cabinet?
Will I need new hardware?
We only have a few boxes that we’d like scanning – is that a problem?
We are a long way from your offices – is that a problem?
Why should we use document imaging?
Are there any risks?
…and how an imaging system can benefit your business:
Are our documents secure?
We’re wasting time searching for files
Our documents keep getting lost or misfiled
We’re running out of storage space!
Our records aren’t safe if disaster strikes
Documents aren’t readily available in the office
I would like to access our archives from out of the office
What advantages does document imaging have over a filing cabinet?
File cabinets have been the standard for storing and retrieving paper files for years. But at the doorstep to the new millenium, paper itself has become an inefficient mode of storage. Because of its physical limitations, viable and important information is bogged down in mountains of pages. Thanks to the advent of digital media and computers, information can now be liberated from the page to be free and accessible as real searchable content, rather than just ink on paper.
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The goal of incorporating document imaging into your office is to make your life easier. Changing your network or computer operations works against this goal. That’s why all you will need to access your documents is a CD-ROM drive and possibly the Adobe Reader programme. Depending on the volume of documents, you may want additional storage space or a dedicated server, but your computer staff doesn’t need to learn how to configure new equipment.
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We only have a few boxes that we’d like scanning – is that a problem?
Certainly not. We’re happy to undertake any size job from a single box to 3,000 boxes.
We are a long way from your offices – is that a problem?
We carry out scanning for companies all over the UK. Even if you only have a box or two we can organise for them to be quickly and safely shipped to our offices where we will process them as quickly as possible.
Why should we use document imaging?
Real paper takes up space, and is hard to search and retrieve in large volumes. But the flexibility and portability of paper are valuable qualities. Paper can store images, graphics, photographs, and text of differing fonts and sizes, organized and formatted, all in one place. Many electronic document storage packages lose this visual information, retaining only plain text. Document imaging keeps an exact scan of every original document online (like a very clear photocopy), in addition to making the information searchable and easily retrieved. That way, when you find the information you need, you can print, fax or email the entire page it came from, exactly the way it was originally intended.
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Quite the opposite…….your documents are at far greater risk if they have not been scanned!
As the keeper of your organization’s records, you can’t afford to take risks with your valuable files. That’s why document imaging is your most reliable partner in protecting, as well as organizing your paperwork. Unlike paper, files stored as images won’t get lost on someone’s desk, they won’t get torn, they won’t suffer from natural degradation and they can’t get coffee stains. Since you can pack up to 12,000 pages on a CD, or millions of pages on an average hard disk, you can cheaply retain backups of all of your files. You can even keep them off-site or inside a fire-proof safe for additional safety, which would be nearly impossible with millions of pages of paper.
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Currently your paper files are probably as secure as the box they are stored in – not very. When your files have been scanned you have the option to encrypt them using 64 or 128bit encryption keys. Even if an unauthorised person managed to get one of your files, they would be unable to open it.
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We’re wasting time searching for files
Do you have an estimate of how much time is wasted in retrieving your documents? Studies have shown that professionals spend up to two hours a day retrieving the files.
When many documents are needed, it’s easy to get overloaded. Reducing the time wasted searching for documents is one of the main reasons many offices have installed imaging systems. By putting a document imaging and management system on your computer, you or the people in your office can find and view any document in seconds. Of course, the search tools need to be powerful enough for the computer to know how to find the document you need.
If you know what folder a document is stored in, you can select the folder and pull up the document you need, just like with traditional filing systems.
If you’re not sure which folder a document is located in, but you know how it’s been categorized and filed, then you might be able to search on index fields such as author name or contract number or the document name.
Or, if you’re not sure what folder a document is in, you’re not sure how it’s been categorized, and you don’t even know the document name, you can still find the document you need. We can supply your images in a format that allows you to search for documents based on the text within the document. For example, if you need to find a document relating to a particular client you would simply type the client name into the search engine and the database will present you with a list of all documents containing the word or phrase you specified.
We can also supply fully searchable PDF files which allow you to search the entire contents of a single PDF file or an entire network drive for a single word or phrase!
Best of all, the whole process takes only a couple of seconds from start to finish.
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Our documents keep getting lost or misfiled
Few things in an office environment can get as frustrating as knowing exactly where a document is supposed to be filed, and discovering that it’s missing. Of course no one ever recalls having seen it, or knows where it is, and so hunting for that document can get exasperating. Because nobody ever removes a file when they look at a document stored in an imaging system, a document imaging and management system is an ideal central repository for your records. Even if 50 people a day need to refer to a document, they can all view the pages simultaneously, without having to worry about loss or damage to the document.
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We’re running out of storage space!
As more paper documents are filed away, additional shelf space or filing cabinets are needed. Eventually, storage space starts running low. Documents can be destroyed or moved off-site, but determining which documents won’t be needed again is a difficult task. Sod’s Law dictates that you can be pretty sure that any documents that are taken away will be needed urgently the next day!
Document imaging systems help to solve storage space problems. With the ability to store millions of pages on a single computer server, very little storage space is required. For example, a single CD can hold roughly 12,000 pages – the same as a filing cabinet! Once the paper copies of a document are scanned, they can either be thrown away or moved safely to an off-site warehouse. If a copy of a document is needed, it can be printed or faxed from the imaging system with the click of a button.
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Our records aren’t safe if disaster strikes
Disaster awareness involves the ability to recover from incidents such as fires, floods, etc. The vital records that comprise the information, knowledge and lifeblood of an organization need to be kept secure. Often, the best way to be prepared is to keep duplicates of your records stored securely in an off-site location.
Our document imaging service makes it easy to store duplicates in a safe location. We can supply you with as many extra CD copies holding both the images and their relevant index data. Each CD holds roughly 12,000 pages and is lightweight and easily placed in a safe or mailed to off-site storage. That way, even if the entire computer system is destroyed, your database can be rebuilt from scratch from just the CDs.
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Documents aren’t readily available in the office
No waiting hours or days for a file to be delivered from your off-site storage facility (even then it may not be the correct one). A document imaging system makes your archives available on everyone’s computer and is easy to use so that whenever anyone needs a document, they can have it in seconds.
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I would like to access our archives from out of the office
It’s the weekend, you’re at home catching up on a bit of work and you need to see a letter that’s been archived. There’s nobody in the office, the off-site storage company are closed until next week. Forget it.
With our document imaging system you could search for and view any of your archived files via the internet.
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