Document scanning services turn paper documents into electronic files. Electronic files are valuable for your remote workforce who need access to proprietary information. Digital documents streamline operations, boost productivity, increase security, and reduce storage costs. Let’s take a look at what industries and departments benefit from digital document conversion, and how you should go about starting your digital transformation journey.
Ditch the cabinets, compadres
Filing cabinets organized the medium of the day back in the day and, we’re gonna say it, filing cabinets have retro appeal. In an age of disposable plastic, metal filing cabinets are cool throwbacks, like typewriters and Studebaker’s. They did their job back in the day and looked good doing it. But it’s time to repurpose your filing cabinet arsenal; they’re antiquated beasts you no longer need.
Paper hasn’t cut it for a while now. It can’t compete in any of the categories where digital files excel. It took a global virus to make that evident once and for all. COVID-19 accelerated the paper-to-digital timeline—things went remote fast.
Companies already driving down the digital highway were braced for it. But companies still running on paper… well, they weren’t screwed, per se, but they did scramble. That scramble might have looked like money being thrown at ad hoc digital stop gaps that made current files available so employees could make immediate decisions. That’s called doing what’s necessary. You make those tactical moves to stay afloat and you don’t beat yourself up about it. Good job, amen!
But now that the major panic is behind us, it’s time to approach your business process with a strategic plan because, if you’re part of the 20% of employers who see the advantages of continuing to work remotely, keeping paper doesn’t make sense. You know you need to scan your paper documents so you can stop writing those storage space checks and bring your staff into the 2020s. You’re likely planning to downsize your office to fit your new remote work model. Although you’re happy about saving on overhead, you’re afraid of the work involved, the pushback to change, and the expense to get there.
To those ends, we have some good news: the work involved can be nothing (outsource it), getting used to a paperless office happens quickly (training changes old habits), and the return on your investment is significant and measurable.
When you allocate part of your budget to digital transformation, you quickly recoup that spend in productivity and streamlined efficiency. Little red in the short term, big time black in the long term. The decision pays for itself with increased productivity. Oh, and there’s this alarming fact: US companies waste about $8 billion every year managing paper.
It’s the right choice to pull your company out of paper chaos financially, strategically, and atmospherically (your staff happiness blooms). Keep in mind that document scanning is more than replacing trees with binary.
Document scanning is more than scanning documents
How hard can it be to take a picture of a piece of paper? It’s not hard; it’s easy. Only you don’t want a picture of a piece of paper. All that would give you is digital versions of the paper versions, which, though slightly better because you can repurpose your filing cabinet room into a foosball room, isn’t worth the money. It doesn’t move things forward if scanned paper files are isolated on a server in the closet.
What you’re after is a better system, bottom to top. Converting paper to electronic files makes information—that’s been trapped in a dark drawer for years—searchable. You can pull meaningful information from a digital file. That happens with indexing, a feature that tags specific attributes of a document (metadata like name, contact info, invoice number, date), making it easier to find and use. Store your data in the Cloud, integrate it with collaboration tools like Office 365, and catapult productivity with a menu of scaleable enhancements that position your company at the top of your changing market. Mic drop.
Document conversion creates insight. And you can do a lot with analytics (but that’s another post).
When you need document scanning services most
We would argue that any company today, even solo entrepreneurs, should scan paper to digital and aim for a paperless office. But document scanning services should be employed when volume exceeds in-house scanning capacity. Here are some situations where a document scanning service is the way to go:
When the office world flees the office because of a deadly virus
When you’re downsizing or relocating your office
When your industry must keep records to comply with regulations
When your staff hate you for running things old school
Office Relocation
When you move to another space, take the opportunity to remove clutter—especially paper clutter. Don’t pay to move those cabinets. Pay a document scanning service to digitize the paper inside them. You’ll end up with a leaner physical footprint and a leaner business process—a few clicks and you have the file you’re looking for.
Compliance
Maybe you didn’t want to keep all that paper in the first place, but you had to because your industry demands it. Storing medical records, employee records, financial statements, and work orders to meet document retention standards doesn’t add value to your operations; it adds storage costs. And, most likely, paper no longer complies anyway. Converting paper to digital adds a level of security to your files that meets regulatory requirements, makes audits a breeze, and reduces employee turnover (searching for old paper records isn’t exactly an engaging task). Not to mention that compliance means purging documents that have aged out of the retention period—a time-consuming task if those documents are paper.
Where do you get the biggest hugs for green-lighting document scanning services?
From the money people (Accounts Payable/Receivable)
From the people people (Human Resources)
From the medical people (healthcare workers) *If you’ve hired one, you’ll get the biggest hug from the temp perched in front of your in-house scanner who scans all in-coming paper with a blank stare on his face and with dry tedium tattooed on his soul.