RING FOR CONFIRMATION OF LATEST PRICES.

Most scanners are supplied with basic scanning software. Ring or email us to discuss if these are likely to meet your needs.

We work independently of all the main manufacturers and would be happy to advice you on any specific project requirements.

Installation service >>

Need help installing / setting up the scanner? We can either come to your offices or talk you through the process on the phone.

Maintenance warranties >>

Confused by the variety of maintenance options available.

Do you need to buy an extended warranty. Talk to us for an objective viewpoint.

Bureau scanning >>

We are a specialist supplier of scanning solutions.

Is the purchase of a document scanner really the best approach for your firm?

An alternative might be to investigate the costs of using our backlog scanning service.

Tel. 01464-851127

Email: info@scanningtechnologies.co.uk

Fit for Purpose?

Before getting too hung up on software variations or, even, scanner models, we need to take a step back and ask the question, why ...?

Firstly, let us dispel the myth of the Paperless Office. The Paperless Office is a ‘pipe dream’. In practical terms, for most organisations, it is an unrealistic objective both at a cost level + for the level of aggravation it generates in attempting to persuade staff to completely change their normal office practices. Most of our clients succeed because they limit themselves to reducing the paper volumes (which may be up to 80% of the overall filing system).

The scanning process can take a number of forms. The principal first question is usually “do I want to scan live documents?” or “do I want to simply close-off groups of documents and archive them away in case I need them?”.

Archival scanning is the easiest solution to implement and manage. It usually consists of scanning relatively large documents which can be clearly identified with a minimum of effort. A typical example might be a Lawyer’s closed case files (recording, as a minimum, the Client Name & a brief Matter Description). The disadvantages of this approach are that it can be months before paperwork is entered into the system and that searching for an individual page within the larger document can take a while. The principal benefits are that the scanner capture process can be much faster and that, if the material really is archival, you are less likely to need to access it regularly.

Live scanning usually requires the routine capture of individual documents either within the post-room environment (as the paperwork enters the office system) or within a relatively short period of time after the document has been dealt with. This approach will allow you to find individual documents more rapidly but at a cost ... The capture / indexing process will take much longer than with Archival scanning.

The two most commonly implemented variations of Live scanning are Post-room scanning and Day scanning:

(1) Post-room scanning is the most demanding approach with agreed procedures being paramount. Who is going to scan immediately the post arrives? What hardware redundancy options are available? What if a member of staff is off work? What if a staff member is not prepared to wait for the document to be scanned?

(2) Day scanning, although a similar process to Post-room scanning, does allow for some more flexibility within the office environment. It generally allows for the post to be taken direct to the staff member to be dealt with in the usual manner. When finished with, the document is then passed onto the scanning department (rather than placed in the file) for incorporation into the scanning system. Documents can freely “sit” on the staff members desk whilst still Work-In-Progress. An added benefit is that any contemporaneous notes in the margins of a letter, for example, can be included in the scanned image.

ImageBrowser can accommodate all of these permutations.

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