A guide: How to identify a good document scanning company
Even though it has been ages since the invention of computers and utilization of the same in businesses, most of them still rely on paperwork, which makes the task difficult to handle. It is inevitable that even with excellent paper records storage it becomes difficult as the volume of paper increases over time, whereas the space for a particular business is limited. That coupled with the exponentially rising cost of office space, often encourages an organization or businesses to seek the services of a document scanning company which will ease the mundane task by making it digital.
But how does an organization would like to go about choosing a suitable document scanning company knowing that the weightage of the documents is pretty high and confidential? Let us take a dive into the elements that one should consider before hiring any scanning company-
- Integrity- A good document servicing company should have a standard reputation and be able to offer credible references. It is advisable to contact these references and ask appropriate questions. For example, if one is looking for the rates and services of a document scanning company in Mumbai, they should be asking questions like what is it like to work with that company. What are the rates according to the quality they produce? Are they legible in a fast market like Mumbai? Does their filing strategy make sense and are they going to seek their services in the future?
- Expertise and Experience- One has to gauge whether the scanning company with whom have contacted has the ability to handle the type of documents they deal with. For example, some document scanning services in Mumbai specialize in a particular sector, while others serve a wide range of organizations. Not every scanning company handles fragile historical documents, drawings, large-format prints, or bound books.
- Security- One of the crucial elements to consider while selecting a document scanning company because, at the end of the day, every organization would want to keep their documents confidential. For instance, if one is seeking a document scanning company in Mumbai, he should be aware of its credibility i.e. whether the particular company’s employees are safe to work with, or if the facility is monitored by an outside service or the employees handle the documents are well versed with privacy regulations and procedures or not?
- Technology used in scanning- Professional document scanning services should utilize the best imaging hardware and software to render the best scan at the end of the day. One has to gauge whether the scanning company can deliver the work in a stipulated period of time. Questions like- how precise is their OCR (optical character recognition)? Can they offer cloud-based solutions? How will they deliver the final electronic archive? Or can they provide the file type that is required? Needs to be clarified in the first phase itself.
- Service- One should be aware of the services that their document scanning company is offering. Normally the services include- (a) Consultation: one should be getting thorough support in terms of the best imaging services whether the project (of the mother organization) has just started or is going at a fast pace. (b) Document preparation: a complete service in terms of keeping and arranging the documents in a proper manner. (c) Access: accessibility of documents should pose an issue in any stage of a project (d) Document scrapping or return: Documents should be handled with care till they are approved for removal or disposal. Clear communication should be initiated from the service provider’s end and a final planning should be chalked out for documents that need to be put into long storage or might be returned.
