Document Scanning

Most organisations generate large amounts of both paper and electronic documents. Traditional methods of storing paper and electronic documents require a great deal of effort to manage, distribute and find these documents.

As a business grows, so do files, and so does the time and effort required to manage them.

A recent Price Waterhouse Coopers study reported that the average worker spends 40% of their time managing non-essential documents, while the IDC estimates that employees spend 20% of their working day looking for information in hardcopy documents and that, 50% of the time, they can’t find what they need anyway.

Additionally, on average, each document is copied 19 times and 1 in 20 is lost, and the cost of administrating a four-drawer filing cabinet of paper documents has been estimated at £10,000 per annum.

Scanning

Electronic document scanning is not a new concept and it clear this creates a huge opportunity for businesses to take control of their information, streamline their processes and better manage information flow.

Consequently, EU legislation plans will increase the use of electronic documents in the legal and healthcare sectors and there are current controversial discussions and are even debates about plans to introduce them into the NHS.

Enterprise content management revolutionises the management of information and provides the ability to rapidly find, retrieve and share all important information.

Using metadata and OCR software, scanned documents can be effortlessly converted to indexable and searchable text, allowing automated archiving and distribution workflows to be built in. The search function also allows you to search by conceptual content or subject. You are able to call up all documents concerning a particular issue, have them displayed, which allows the document needed to be found in seconds. Read more about access to information and enterprise content management here.

Storage

Document scanning using Enterprise content management software means most hard copy business records can simply be destroyed meaning you no longer have a need for filing cabinets. Electronic documents not only reduce storage space, as physical documents are  not held locally, but they also provide a more comprehensive audit trail than printed physical documents, which can often be hard to track internally.

As all documents are stored in a central electronic database, any authorised user can easily find and share the document in seconds, removing the need for repeated photocopying. With the office no longer snowed under with huge amounts of paper, enterprise content management gives you the power to recapture lost hours, reduce overheads and increase profitability, while improving the level of service you provide to your customers. Ultimately, workers have more time to spend on productivity, with your customers and delivering results.

Compliance

Many industries have legal requirements to meet in terms of storing, transmitting and retrieving documents but despite this, paper based processes and workflow are also in place, with high storage costs. Legislation and regulations from bodies such as the Inland Revenue, FSA and even clients, put pressure on organisations to manage and maintain their file stores in an effective manner. Having a disorganised filing system can lead to penalties. Electronic document management will keep your filing in order and enforce filing criteria giving your firm more control and confidence in the system it operates, ultimately aiding in compliance.

Scanning and converting paper documents to digital formats can bring dramatic cost and energy efficiency in sectors such as education, healthcare, legal and more.

Contact us today to find out how you can benefit from document scanning software. Call Greg, ECM Consultant on 01425 484700 or email greg@collate.co.uk.