5 Tips for a Successful Document Imaging Project

Taking on a document imaging project involves organizing by the type of document, integrating document management software, and staying committed to the goal. Many document imaging projects fail because of hardware and storage issues. Being limited by the technology you choose is a big setback in and document scanning project. Fortunately, you can avoid setbacks by getting organized early.

MES Hybrid Document Systems is a leading Canadian authority in a paperless filing. With more than 40-years of experience serving businesses across Ontario, our team knows what it takes to digitize an office.

If you’re looking into paperless prospects, we can help. Check out our free eBook, “Become a Paperless Company in Less Than 90 Days”, and check out these 5 tips for a successful document imaging project.

1. Start at the Beginning

You can’t run before you can walk and you can’t scan before you get organized. As you begin preparations for office digitization, there is plenty of planning to dive into. The first thing you need to know is your office objective. Why are you going paperless? Are you looking to declutter? Make files more secure? Create a more accessible filing system?

Whatever the reason, this will help you determine the best approach for your imaging project. For example, if your goal is to make space in the office, you’ll want to get started with old documents first. This lets you shred old unneeded paperwork as soon as the information is safely loaded into your Cloud storage.

Making a plan of attack for your imaging project will help reduce time and money waste. Sorting documents into piles based on how and when you want them filed will minimize time spent organizing on the other side.

2. Get Departments Involved

A document imaging project is a big job for just one person to take on. Delegating work within your company’s departments will help ensure you’re not left with a massive load on your shoulders alone. This also gives you a second set of eyes to review paperwork as it is scanned, ensuring nothing gets missed in the chaos.

From accounts payable to human resources, businesses processes leave a mountain of paperwork. Getting everything from each department into the cloud takes teamwork. This also gives you designated leaders to convene with as you go over changes in your document imaging project plan.

3. Be Prepared to Bring in New Tech

Standard office scanners can help you get from a paper filing plan to a digital filing plan. However, it will take a long time if you’re standing at a copier, scanning one page at a time. The best way to get through stacks and stacks of paperwork is to invest in some high-quality specialty scanning equipment.

Some types of equipment to consider when planning your scan, include:

• Duplex Scanners: Duplex scanners copy both sides of double-sided documents, so you don’t have to flip the page manually. This is a majorly beneficial tool if your double-sided documents pop up sporadically, as you don’t want to miss one in the mix.
• Automatic Feeds: Automatic feed scanners pull in one sheet of paper from your scanning stack at a time. The machine automatically draws in each consecutive sheet until the pile in the feed is empty. There is still some manual activity required to add more documents to the stack, but it drastically decreases the amount of physical work necessary to digitize your office.
• Cloud Integrated Scanners: Storage is a huge part of any document imaging project. To get your paperwork from the filing cabinet to the computer screen you need somewhere to save it. Clunky hard drives and flash drives aren’t the best way to keep these files safe. A cloud system lets you automatically save scanned documents into a virtually accessible storage system.

You can get quotes on new equipment from MES Hybrid Document Systems. Our team is experienced in all scanners makes and models. Whether you’re trying to scan checks, long-form documents, or microfilm, we’ll get you connected with the machine you need.

4. Get Rid of Old Information

Not every document on file is one you want to bring into your new digitized office space. Outdated documents, old contracts, or terminated employee files can all be done away with. Rather than spending time scanning things that don’t need to be scanned, sort these aside for shredding and skim down the amount of work you have ahead of you.

If you leave every document in your “to scan” stack, you’ll wind up with way more work at the end. Organizing and filing your scanned documents is much easier when you know the paperwork you’ve scanned all has a place to go.

5. Branch Out with Off-Site Scanning

Another way to get your document imagine project moving quickly is to partner with a third-party document scanning service like MES Hybrid Document Systems to do the hard part for you. With 4-decades of experience digitizing businesses in Ontario, we’ve got the knowledge, equipment, and software necessary to take your business into the digital world.

Working with a professional document imaging service also guarantees a high level of security and discretion. You can rest assured that private information stays private and is protected with passwords, encryptions and more. We service businesses across a wide range of industries, including medicine, IT, and finance. We are well-versed in the required confidentiality and security protocols needed to digitize high-priority paperwork.

Learn More About MES Hybrid Document Systems

Getting underway with your document imaging project and looking for some help? We’re here for you. Serving companies across Ontario, MES Hybrid Systems is a leader in document scanning, business processing services, scanning hardware, microfilm scanning and more.

Our team is always happy to answer questions or offer advice on the best and fastest technology for office digitization. Whether you want to transform text or images, MES Hybrid Document Systems has you covered. Call 1-905-475-9263 or visit us online to get your document scanning quote today.