First, know your “why”
Looking for scanning company near you? Every day companies come to SRS looking for a scanning project to be completed. And the first question we ask is “why?”. You see, scanning is extremely expensive because of the labor required. There is no magic bullet that will make the price go down. To get a high-quality scanning project completed takes a lot of time and money. It’s as simple as that. However, when we at SRS understand the reasons you’re looking to scan everything – essentially your “why” – we can typically offer another solution that truly solves the problem you have at a fraction of the cost. If you still don’t understand your why, here’s a checklist of questions to ask to help you figure out which road is best.
- Do you have a strategy for scanning? Many times, a slower office day or an intern twiddling his/her thumbs may inspire an executive to tackle a stockpile of records taking up space. However, without a strategy, these types of scan projects typically end in disaster. Take a step back and come up with your plan for this scan project before diving in. Trust us, it will end up costing you more time and money in the long run!
- Do you truly know what you have in your records? People often assume they need to scan all their records when, in fact, they have not taken the time to go through the records. When SRS takes control of files, we first index them to help clients understand what they have. When clients see what they have organized at the file record, they are able to make informed choices about what they need to keep/scan, what can simply be stored, and what can already be shredded. This way, even if you do still need to scan items, it is typically a much smaller volume than originally thought.
- Is it sentimental or archival in nature? Many times, we have people reach out to us to scan items for archival or sentimental purposes: handwritten journals or letters, old newspaper clippings, or other types of memorabilia. Sentimental items are typically the best candidates for scanning.
- Are the files accessed on a daily basis? Files that are accessed regularly may be good candidates for a scan project. However, if only certain files are regularly accessed or if they are accessed less frequently, a “scan on demand” solution may better meet your needs. We are typically able to get a scanned file back to you within 30 minutes during regular business hours! In fact, most clients never have to access up to 95% of their stored documents. So why pay to scan files you’ll never need?
- Do you have a retention policy? Some companies we’ve talked to have never enacted a retention policy, so the records can be older than some of their interns! We at SRS have helped many companies put together a retention policy based on regulatory standards and industry best practices that will help them with their scan project and to eliminate paper going forward.
These five questions should help you better understand the answer to why you need scanning. At SRS, we always seek to create a total solution that’s precisely tailored to satisfy each organization’s needs and budget. Whether that’s a full scan job or a more comprehensive and tailored document management solution, our main goal is to help you improve your organization!
