Coleman Data Solutions
To Scan or Not to Scan. That is the Question.
As you are reading this article, millions of documents are being created. In the shabby closet-sized offices of struggling restaurants and behind the gleaming mirrored windows of Manhattan high rises. Doing business means creating documents. It also means saving the documents that we create - in the exact way that we are legally required to. Where does scanning fit into to this constant creation and subsequent archiving of documents? It is an unnecessary step soon to take its place among manual typewriters and the Palm Pilot? Or is it the way of the future.
It is the way of the future. And of the past. Read on for 5 reasons that you should scan your documents or have a competent scanning and archival business do said scanning for you.
Space is Where it is At
File cabinets crammed with file folders, which are in turn packed solid with documents, is no one’s idea of an attractive piece of furniture. That is to say nothing of the space these monstrous storage units take up. You can safely scan documents and archive them in a way that will not disappear - ever. This means you can do something awesome with the new office space you create. Like hire a fired-up college grad and put her desk there.
Searching without pulling open drawers
Workers spend far too much time looking for documents. This is time that could be spent speaking with clients – or, thinking up smooth and profitable projects. Archiving your documents by having them scanned to a hard drive or a disc means that you just type a search term into a text box and you are done. Keeping a paper copy of every document you create may sound good in theory, but in practice it is cumbersome and risky. Yes, paper gets lost.
Communicating with efficiency
Scanned documents can be emailed to clients and colleagues in the time it takes you to say “Gee, I am glad that I scanned that important document”. The fax is going the way of...well, things that are not used much any more. Managing your documents electronically gives you an advantage in a world that seems to spin faster all the time.
Security
Paper is vulnerable to damage in ways that scanned documents are not. Elements such as fire and water can destroy paper records while scanned records safely stored online are impervious to such threats. Duplication of back-up copies is easily accomplished with scanned copies while printing and storing additional paper copies is not.
Compliance with government regulations
Creating a system of electronic documents means that you can store said documents in the manner prescribed by government regulators. It also means that if you need to change the way you store documents, as the result of a relevant change in law, that you can do so easily, as you are dealing with a searchable electronic archive as opposed to an unwieldy system of file cabinets.
There you have it
Scanning documents brings a small or large business owner the piece of mind that comes with knowing their essential documents are safely stored and easily accessible. All well-managed businesses have a trustworthy, practical system for managing documents that is electronic, at least in part. Our business community demands it.
A parting word - the best reason for scanning documents may be so that your business does not get left behind in the dust of competitors who speed ahead of you because they've farmed out their document scanning and can focus more on growing their client base.