Document Management Services: Understanding the Cost of Document Scanning

A Guide to costs of scanning, document solutions for business

Knowing your business could benefit from document management services is easy; understanding the costs that contribute to document solutions for business can be hard. The good news is, as a business leader, you have some control over that cost, and that comes as a surprise to many EO Johnson Document Scanning customers.

"Many clients do not realize that there are ways to help reduce the cost of scanning," explains Jerry Rozek, Daily Operations Manager for EO Johnson Document Scanning. "By contributing resources toward time intensive parts of the process such as document prep, they can quickly save anywhere from 30-50% in the cost of a project."

Saving up to half of the cost of a service your business needs is an attractive option. But there's more. "Additionally, the naming of records can be automated by use of data files that can sometimes come right out of the systems the clients use every day. This can eliminate the need for manual hand key indexing (naming) of records. In meeting with customers many are surprised at how many options there are for scanning and much it can be customized to fit a budget," Rozek explains.

The contributing costs to document scanning

1. How much you scan.

The more boxes or files of documents you have that need scanning, the higher your costs are likely to be.

The cost of scanning depends largely on how long it takes to digitize your hardcopies. And loads of factors can slow that process. If your documents are stapled or damaged (preventing a clean image), they may take longer to scan. If getting a quality image is challenging, rescanning may be necessary. Add to that the time it takes to name the digital files. Altogether, these costs can add up.

Costs of a document scanning project can be controlled by addressing these factors. For example, determining what you really need scanned is essential. If your business has records that you no longer need to retain, investing resources into scanning them could be wasteful. This can reduce the amount of scanning you need completed. More, reducing document prep time for the scanning solutions team you bring in, can reduce the costs of the project. This might include taking on prep tasks internally, like pulling staples and fixing pages.

In addition, there may be hidden costs. If you're taking a DIY approach to your document management services, you may not realize all that is involved from a project management standpoint.

"Clients that take the 'do it yourself' approach to scanning often underestimate just how much time it takes to manage it properly," says Rozek. "To be successful you first have to establish what your process and quality standards are, and provide detailed training for staff that will do the work. You then need to be really involved throughout the entire project – to make sure there are no breakdowns in the process and that the quality standards are consistently being met from project start through completion."

Leadership typically doesn't have time to manage scanning projects; that's where EO Johnson Document Scanning comes in.

The good news is that your business can reduce the cost of document management services. In fact, EO Johnson Business Technologies offers a full slate of options for clients, with varied levels of processing time and cost.

Document solutions for business: possible pitfalls

It may seem like a relatively simple task: scan documents you have on file, to reduce paper in the office. And the potential benefits are obvious. Yet how your business goes about digitizing records can make a huge difference in the project outcome, long-term. Here are some possible pitfalls when considering document scanning.

• Hiring temporary help to tackle document scanning. It all boils down to accountability. Unfortunately, many businesses look to save some cash by hiring students over the summer for their scanning projects. The result: temp staff often have limited vested interest in the project. If the quality of their work isn't up to par, you may not know until the original records are destroyed, the students are gone, and you're left without essential documents.
  

• Scanning without strategy. Some businesses are so eager to go paperless, they launch into a scanning effort without creating standardization for the work, and criteria for naming and storage. If documents are scanned and saved to a shared folder on a server, where everyone can access them, real issues can occur.
  
  "Often times this file share area is like the Wild Wild West--a maze of multiple folder layers with the same type of record named differently five different ways by five different people and saved in five different places," explains Rozek. "In this case, finding the digital record may be harder than if you didn't scan it and could find it in a file cabinet."
  

• Believing that paper records don't have a cost. While tracking ROI for document scanning can be difficult, there are obvious time savings and efficiencies to be discovered. Take for example processing of invoices. "By digitizing these records and using them within a digital records management software, clients can quickly see how much more efficient this business process can be," says Rozek." By taking it even further and implementing digital workflows, the entire invoicing process can be automated giving clients the ability to see exactly where each invoice is in the overall process."
  

• Bulk scanning with your multi-function device. Scanning paper records by using your multifunction device can be cumbersome. It may be next to impossible to replace poor quality scans in a high volume of documents. More, most multifunction devices simply aren't made to withstand high volume scanning. Your device could break down, causing downtime. Worse, the project could shorten the life of your equipment.

EO Johnson Document Scanning: A Solution for your Document Management Needs

With so many potential pitfalls and the myriad considerations to address with any document scanning project, it's good to know the experts at EO Johnson Document Scanning are here to help. Contact us for more information on how to simplify document solutions for business, with EO Johnson Business Technologies.