When you’re using a document management system, there is one crucial piece of equipment you’ll need. Having a scanner on site allows you to get all of your paper documents into the system quickly and easily. However, not all scanners are created equal.
What is OCR?
One of the most useful things you can get to help take your company paperless is an OCR scanner. OCR stands for optical character recognition. The software that comes with the scanner then converts these documents to an editable form. While in many cases this in and of itself is beneficial, these scanner do even more for you and your company.
The most common reason for using OCR software is to ensure that your documents can be properly searched for and viewed later. OCR software allows you to scan your paperwork into the computer, or directly into your document management system. Once the paperwork is scanned in, you can then search it directly.
How Does This Affect DMS Experience?
As you’re using your document management system, you’ll likely end up with hundreds, or thousands of papers. These may be split between many different clients or just a few. Either way, you need to be able to search for your documents without spending hours on the task. If you’re going to save money with your DMS, it should work for you.
Using an OCR scanner also ensures that you can convert nearly any document from paper format to digital. Whether you want to scan in a newspaper article that mentioned your company or you have to update a client contract, this type of scanner allows you the flexibility you need. You can also use this digitized version of the contract to send to your clients in the future, since it is now easily editable.
Whether you’re already using a document management system or you’re trying to move your office paperless, having a good scanner is important. Make sure you get an OCR scanner to ensure the best utilization of your DMS.