Many organizations are currently seeking efficient, reliable and cost-effective ways to turn their paper documents into digital format for secure and compliant storage and ease of retrieval. No matter if you have 200 or 700,000 documents that need to be scanned, you want to work with the best partner for your bulk scanning needs.
Whether you’re a law firm, hospital, clinic, school, financial institution or any organization with a human resources, legal or accounts payable department, what should you look for to select the best secure document scanning services?
Document Security
The security of your documents is of the utmost importance. Make sure you can trust the people scanning your documents. This can mean a visit to the facility where they will be scanned or asking about measures the organization takes to keep your documents safe. You should be impressed with the physical security of their facility. Notable features to look for include digital work process as well as security cameras and reliable access control.
Scan Quality
Each client has different needs for scanned document quality checks, whether that means you need every page to be checked (which takes extra time and therefore money to do it), or one file out of every 100 to ensure the scanning technology is working properly. Make sure the scanning service you choose is able to meet your standards for quality.
Document Confidentiality and Compliance
If you request a confidentiality agreement from your scanning service, are they willing and able to provide one? Are their employees HIPAA certified? Your expectations should be high regarding confidentiality, to ensure the person physically scanning your documents will keep your information safe.
Bulk Scanning Expertise and Experience
Make sure the scanning service has the ability to take on your scanning job. It’s a bonus if they’ve handled a project like yours before. Be clear about your needs and ask them to describe what kind of scanning they’re capable of doing. Make sure the scanning services they offer meet your needs. Does the scanning service have satisfied and even repeat customers that can vouch for their effectiveness?
Long-Term Document Scanning Needs
Your need to scan documents that already exist may be different from your need to scan future documents. Can your scanning service help you get set up for future needs, possibly with a day-forward document management and workflow system that will help you scan documents as they’re created?
Bulk Scanning Capabilities
Consider what you need to scan. Are you working with fragile, historical documents? Do you have a need to scan wide-format sizes? What about bound books? Not all scanning service abilities are the same. Make sure your bulk document scanning service can handle your needs.
Flexibility
Is your scanning service willing to scan either at their location or at your place of business? In some cases, documents can’t leave the client’s building or even a designated room for legal requirements or as not to inhibit business operations. Is your scanning service flexible with where they scan, and can they work with you?
Access to Documents
People from your organization may need to access documents remotely while they’re being scanned. If you need something, will your scanning service go the extra mile to scan it right away and send it to you via a secure file share? You don’t want your files to be tied up and inaccessible while they’re being scanned.
Scanning Speed
How fast can the scanning service get your job done? Some factors to consider that affect the speed of service: number of documents to be scanned, size of documents to be scanned, speed of scanning equipment and number of team members available to scan for you. Know what the scanning service’s project schedule looks like and make sure it works with your needs.
If you’re planning for a bulk document scanning project in the upcoming year, Scannmore can help. Contact us to learn more.
