Paperless Office Scanner: Choosing a Scanner that Meets your Needs

Having a good scanner in addition to a document management system is an integral part of converting a paper heavy office into a paperless office. Scanners are the point of entry for digitizing documents, and having a quality scanner that meets your businesses workload needs is crucial for seamless and quick data entry.

Paperless offices have many advantages over paper heavy offices in areas such as:

• Disaster recovery- having data backed up can enable you to resume business with minimal disruption, even in the event of a catastrophic disaster such as total building loss due to a fire.
• Automated data entry- A high quality scanner, coupled with eFieCabinet’s OCR and Zonal OCR technology can automatically scan, sort, and properly file documents autonomously. As long as the right parameters and templates are in place, mind numbing manual indexing and data entry can be things of the past.
• Saving time- Once a file is scanned and saved as a PDF it can be recalled, shared, and enter workflows instantly.
• Saving money- Digital space to store documents is becoming more and more affordable as technology advances. Office space however, costs a premium. By scanning and creating digital copies of documents, organizations can fill expensive space with valuable workers and equipment instead of filing cabinets.

 

Making the switch to a paperless office does not need to be difficult, in fact scanning and saving documents is designed to make life simpler, data security more robust, and greatly increase efficiency.

The first step to taking your office paperless is choosing the appropriate scanner. Below are a few tips on deciding what kind of requirements, features, and options there are with choosing a scanner.

Minimal Requirements

• Document feeders that can process 25 sheets of paper per load
• Scan at least 20 pages per minute
• Generally these types of scanners start at around $400-$500
• A 35 page document should take just under 2 minutes to scan and convert to PDF

Types of Physical Connections

• Parallel port
• Small computer system interface (SCSI)
• Universal Serial Bus (USB)
• Firewire/IEEE-1394

Types of Application Programming Interfaces (API).

API’s allow the software to read the scanned output.

• Scanner Access Now Easy (SANE)
• Image and Scanner Interface Specification (ISIS)
• Windows Image Acquisition (WIA)
• Technology Without an Important Name (TWAIN)

eFileCabinet Recommended Scanners

• Epson WorkForce DS-520 Business Scanner
• Epson DS-510 Workforce Business Document Scanner
• Fujitsu fi-7180 Workgroup Business Document Scanner
• Fujitsu fi-7260 Flatbed Business Document Scanner
• Fujitsu fi-7160 Workgroup Document Scanner
• Plustek SmartOffice PS288 Workgroup Class Document Scanner

• Tips on How to Start Scanning Today

   

• Begin where you’re at. Don’t worry about files in storage, begin scanning the documents you’re working with today.
• When you retrieve a file, folder, or document, be sure to scan it in before taking it back.
• Once you are comfortable with the paperless sequences and know which files are most frequently accessed, go onto the older stored files.
• Once you know what is most important to you, set up a schedule for converting from paper to paperless.
• When you see a digital file on your computer screen, use eFileCabinet’s document management software to label, tag, and profile it.
• eFileCabinet has designed all its products to help make managing documents as painless as possible. We’re committed to helping you save time, space, and money for a more efficient and profitable business. To see how eFileCabinet document management software, combined with the right scanner, can help make your office paperless, fill out the form on this page for a free demonstration.