Business Benefits of Hiring a Bulk Scanning Service

benefits hiring bulk scanning service paperless office

Every year, 82 percent of American companies spend over $8 billion to manage paper. It’s a shocking statistic, given all the lip service paid to technology and innovation. 

The era of 3D artificial intelligence, 3D printing, and missions to unexplored space destinations is here, yet most businesses are still stuck on paper – a technology invented millennia ago. Only a handful of companies today are truly paperless.

 But are there any significant benefits of going paperless? How can a business transition to digital records? Can hiring a bulk scanning service provider get you there quickly?

These are some of the issues we discuss in this post about bulk scanning service and going paperless. By the time you are through reading this article, we hope you’ll see how scanning paper documents instead of filing them can benefit your organization. Keep reading to learn more about document scanning and a paperless workplace.  


What Is Document Scanning?

Document scanning is a process where digital images of physical paper documents are captured. This process is also referred to as document imaging.

Converting paper documents into electronic format involves the scanning and capturing of their images using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. This software can intelligently recognize digital pictures and turn them into text documents, so it's possible to conduct keyword searches within the scanned document.

Professional scanning of your documents can significantly improve your business operations and save you time and money. 


Benefits of Hiring a Bulk Scanning Service

Converting your physical documents to scanned papers can benefit you significantly. Here are five ways how:


You Get to Cut Costs by Accessing Information Faster

Tracing a paper document in a filing cabinet takes 37 minutes, on average. That’s according to the Association for Intelligent Information Management (AIIM). All that time could be spent doing something else, such as serving a making a sale or helping a client.

With electronic files stored in a central document management system, you can locate a document in less than a minute. Besides making it easier to access information, storing your information digitally helps you avoid the financial cost of purchasing filing cabinets. 


Scanning Enables Faster Audits

Most businesses are subject to audits and discovery demands. These requests are typically time-sensitive, so it helps to be able to retrieve information as quickly as possible.

Scanning helps you create digital files that are text-searchable. This way, you can access any documents you need to at a moment's notice, avail them, and remain compliant.


Scanning Enables Better Data Preservation

Old documents and rare books are usually helpful for research purposes. Losing them can prove disastrous in some instances.

The best way to preserve them is through scanning. As long as you have a digital record of these documents, you don't have to worry about your staff, customers or patrons damaging or losing delicate materials.

In case of any disasters such as a flood or fire, your digital files are also safe.


Disaster Recovery Is Faster with Digital Files

As we hinted earlier, natural disasters like fires and floods are a major threat to paper documents. Without backup for your physical documents, losing them during one of these disasters can affect business continuity significantly. 

That’s why you need to scan your paper documents right away as part of your disaster recovery strategy. Digital files on your computer systems are easy to store in a cloud-based management system. After a natural disaster, you can always retrieve your electronic documents and bounce back quickly.


Your Free Up Space in Your Office

Filing cabinets and boxes can take up a significant amount of space in your office. All that square footage can be used for other purposes.  

If you’ve been thinking of moving to a larger office because there’s no more room in your current location, consider going paperless first. Doing so can help reclaim lots of space, and you may not have to move after all. 

A 32 GB thumb drive can comfortably store more than a million scanned images. In short, one small thumb drive may be all you need to replace all the boxes and cabinets taking up acres of space in your company.


Electronic Information Is More Secure From Theft

Sure, you may store your valuable paper records under lock and key, but does that guarantee total security? What if someone was able to pick the locks, or you forgot to lock a cabinet?

Digital records can be protected through strong passwords, encryption, or storage in the cloud. You get to control access depending on the type of document, network, and user credentials. And since all system activity is constantly tracked, unauthorized access is almost impossible.


Electronic Documents Boost Collaboration

Few things can slow down your business more than paper processes. Sometimes, an employee finds that they’re working on a document that someone else already started working on without their knowledge. 

Scanning services help you avoid these instances by ensuring that everyone can access relevant information simultaneously. Businesses that provide these services ensure that you have digital records that can be distributed to teams working remotely.

And because digital records are easy to publish online, you can make information readily available for your clients. Such transparency helps keep everyone connected to the business.


You Get to Reduce Your Company’s Carbon Footprint

With the rising concerns about climate change, businesses have a responsibility to conserve the environment. The manufacture of paper involves the cutting down of countless trees each year. The carbon gases released in paper factories further harm the environment.

By choosing to go paperless, you’re saving trees and reducing your carbon footprint. Businesses that demonstrate their active involvement in saving the environment are generally looked upon more favorably by consumers than those that don’t. 


Going Paperless Benefits Both You and the Environment

The benefits of investing in bulk scanning service, as you can see, are many. Not only do you significantly reduce the time and money spent on managing paper, but also play your part in saving Mother Nature. Moreover, the safety and security of your documents are always guaranteed.

Would you like to read more great content like this about an effective bulk scanning service and going paperless at work? Visit the Tech section of the Bootstrap Business Blog to learn more about how technology can improve your company operations.

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