Are your file cabinets ready to explode? Does your staff need more space? Do you have documents that need to be scanned, but neither the time, resources or expertise to do it yourself. To address this need, you research local options available to outsource the work. How do you know who you can trust with your documents?
There are many organizations seeking efficient, reliable and cost-effective ways to turn their paper documents into digital format for secure and compliant storage and ease of retrieval. Whether you’re a law firm, hospital, clinic, school, financial institution or any organization with a human resource, legal or accounts payable department, what should you look for to select the best secure document scanning services?
Security
The security of your documents is of the utmost importance. Make sure you can trust the people scanning your documents. This can mean a visit to the facility where they will be scanned or asking about measures the organization takes to keep your documents safe. You should be impressed with the security of their facility. Notable features to look for include digital work process security as well as looking for security cameras and badge access to control visitors.
Quality
Each client has different needs for scanned document quality checks, whether that means you need every page to be checked, or one file out of every 100 to ensure the scanning technology is working properly. Make sure the scanning service you choose can meet your standards for quality.
Confidentiality and Compliance
If you request a confidentiality agreement from your scanning service, are they willing and able to provide one? Are their employees HIPAA certified? Your expectations should be high regarding confidentiality, to ensure the person physically scanning your documents will keep your information safe.
Expertise and Experience
Make sure the scanning service can take on your scanning job. It’s a bonus if they’ve handled a project like yours before. Be clear about your needs and ask them to describe what kind of scanning they’re capable of doing. Make sure the scanning services they offer meet your needs. Does the scanning service have satisfied and even repeat customers that can vouch for their effectiveness?
Capabilities
Consider what you need to scan. Are you working with fragile, historical documents? Do you have a need to scan wide-format sizes? What about bound books? Not all scanning service abilities are the same. Make sure your bulk document scanning service can handle your needs.
Flexibility
Is your scanning service willing to scan either at their location or at your place of business? In some cases, documents can’t leave the client’s building or even a designated room for legal requirements or as not to inhibit business operations. Is your scanning service flexible with where they scan, and can they work with you?
Access
People from your organization may need to access documents remotely while they’re being scanned. If you need something, will your scanning service go the extra mile to scan it right away and send it to you via a secure file share? You don’t want your files to be tied up and inaccessible while they’re being scanned.
Speed
How fast can the scanning service get your job done? Some factors to consider that affect the speed of service: number of documents to be scanned, size of documents to be scanned, speed of scanning equipment and number of team members available to scan for you. Know what the scanning service’s project schedule looks like and make sure it works with your needs.
If you’re planning for a bulk scanning project, Precision Integrated Data can help. Contact us to learn more.