In Australia, the transition from paper to digital documents and workflows is well underway. Whether it's a small to medium business, enterprise or government, the methods which documents are received, managed and shared continues to evolve.
The uncertainty that surrounded costs, risks and benefits of digitisation have been made clear - information in digital formats are more valuable to an organisation because it is easier to access, re-use and distribute while reducing costs and risks involved with paper file storage and management.
As a result, standalone document scanners have become important tools as one of the primary on-ramps to digital platforms. Incoming paper documents like mail, forms or signed documents need to be scanned to end-to-end digitised systems.
Victorian-based taxation and advisory firm BNR Partners recognised the importance of digitising their business processes to improve access to client files and create digital backups. They also acknowledged the value of their office space and the need to free up floor space occupied by numerous physical files. To address these challenges, BNR Partners successfully digitised over 200,000 pages of documents using cloud solutions. They also implemented an ongoing scanning process for future client and business files.
To meet the demands of a large volume of scanning, two Brother PDS-6000 high-speed professional scanners were chosen. These scanners can scan up to 80 pages (160 scanned images) per minute and have an Automatic Document Feeder (ADF) that can hold up to 100 pages at a time. This increased efficiency in both the current digitisation task and future needs. Additionally, the scanners are equipped with Optical Character Recognition (OCR) scanning, allowing for easy indexing of scanned files on BNR Partners' network drive.
Of course, not every organisation is the same but there are a variety of solutions and scanning devices for various business categories, workflow processes and bespoke IT systems/software.
For instance, a small office-based business could benefit from a wired and wireless network document scanner like the Brother ADS-3300W. This desktop device features a 7.1cm touchscreen where users can automate scanning tasks with one-touch shortcuts.
Transitioning your workplace to digital with document scanners
Majority of workplaces only need the basic office scanning functions to see immediate benefits to their workflow. For example, day-to-day operational efficiency can be improved by simply scanning paper documents to PCs, mobile devices or network drives as PDFs and JPEG images and then shared via cloud services and email.
For these basic office functions, utilising the bundled software and features of a document scanner is the best approach. Bundled software is compatible with commonly used operating systems like Windows, OSX and Linux and is licensed with the cost of the scanner (no additional software licensing costs necessary). It’s a solution that is easy to implement, deploy and, most of all, cost-effective.
There are however, workplaces with more specific requirements. For example, law practices, medical clinics and schools need to import large volumes of client/patient/student documents for appending-to records in industry-specific software (such as LEAP for client management or best practice for patient management or document management systems). This typically requires a TWAIN-compliant scanning device to integrate reliably, efficiently and securely with the deployed application. In some cases, customised integration may be required, for which select Brother document scanners have a suitable built-in interface and appropriate software development tools available.
A successful integration means any bottlenecks in the document workflow are eliminated, the documents are post-processed to meet system requirements like file sizes, document quality and security are configured to meet the requirements of the organisation.
For an implementation of this scope, the best approach is to consult an expert document management solutions provider to ensure the system not only works but is future proofed.
For more information on how Brother can help, please reach out to us today.
