Choosing a document scanning provider isn’t always easy. Not every scanning company offers expertise, value, and dependability. To make sure you choose a qualified and capable document scanning provider, ask the following questions:

Q: Do you offer workflow or conversion scanning?

A: Every business has unique document conversion needs, so it’s important to make sure your scanning provider can meet yours. Conversion scanning offers a quick approach for digitizing documents. Whether you have a single file room or a whole office full of documents, the entire batch is converted to digital files.

Workflow scanning offers a more gradual approach for digitizing paper records. At regularly-scheduled intervals or when your documents are no longer active, they’re transferred to a records center for secure storage. Should you need one of these documents, it’s converted to a digital image and sent to you. Workflow scanning addresses office-space constraints and lets you spread out your scanning costs.

A document scanning provider who offers both can best meet your immediate and long-term imaging and conversion needs.

Q: Should I prepare my documents before you scan them?

A: Preparing your documents for scanning takes time and energy; it’s best to leave the job to a qualified document scanning provider. Trained professionals remove staples and paperclips from your files, repair torn pages, and smooth wrinkled edges on documents before scanning them.

Q: How are my documents organized during scanning?

A: You decide the scope of your scanning project. A scanning technician places a barcode on each file, creating a verifiable record of which box it came from and linking it to a database for the indexing stage.

Q: Who scans my documents?

A: Some scanning companies put your information at risk by outsourcing the conversion of your records overseas to third parties. Make sure your documents are scanned locally by qualified and background-screened scanning technicians.

Q: What happens to my originals after they’re scanned?

A: It’s important to plan a post-scanning solution for your original hard copies after they’re digitized. A document scanning company offering offsite storage and shredding services can store them for as long as necessary or destroy them in a NAID AAA Certified destruction process.

For more tips on how to choose a document scanning provider, please contact us by phone or complete the form on this page.

DeVries Business Services proudly serves businesses in Spokane, Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho.