Article Treasure Cove

Web-based electronic document management is one of the most helpful resources businesses have available to keep their managers, staff, and customers informed. Documents that are part of the active business cycle benefit from front-end scanning: that is to say, capturing the data electronically previous to the moment it enters the business process. Such business fields benefit enormously from the secure ease of access and electronic search that an imaging and document management system provide.

As you evaluate whether desktop scanning is possible to be a cost-effective answer, consider who needs access to the information, and how often. Do other sections request files or data from forms that cause time-consuming searches?

Getting started: best practices for effective desktop scanning

1. Set up simple business rules that are sensible to the end user.

In some situations, desktop scanning instruments are operated exclusively by employees, and in other cases, it may be advantageous to put the power of scanning into the hands of the client. For instance, a collegiate setting often affords students the chance to scan their own forms.

2. Scan images at a reasonably high resolution to maximize long-term value

Document scanning must be done with a preservation in mind. Nothing serves alternative for quality, and nowhere is this truer than with a scanned image. The future worth of the document and its data will depend on the usefulness of the scanned image, so the necessary resolution must be cautiously considered.

3. Index automatically for pace, consistency, and correctness

The most important aspect of document indexing is to know the different types of people who will need to access data that is captured via the desktop scanning process and in which way they normally search for information.

4. Verify the quality of the scans

High-quality desktop scanning solutions do an excellent work of automatically verifying the completion and integrity of scans. They normally report the certainty of a scanned image quality as they produce the electronic image, just as a printer informs the user of the degree to which a requested printing process is complete.

5. Archive data in a central, searchable electronic document management system.

Ideally, an electronic document management system is a central repository for all of a company’s mission-critical information. Regardless of whether data is gathered by reading bar codes, capturing faxes and emails or electronic forms, archiving video files, or through the desktop scanning process, files and data are all archived together and are instantly searchable. While you create a repository of useful data via your desktop scanning application, evaluate other ways using which you could maximize the use of your document management system.

Summary

As you assess desktop scanning, make sure you control both your short- and long-term requirements. Take the time to study your documents and understand how they fit into the business cycle. Talk with all departments of staff to appreciate how those documents are used, both within and beyond your department. By providing for a careful planning, your desktop scanning solution will be far more than an accessory.

Tags: business solutions, business tools, document management, document management system, document management systems