With the advancement of technology, most businesses are adopting electronic storage systems. Is your filing or storage cabinet occupying too much space in your office – space that’s no longer a luxury? If so, you may need to adopt document scanning to eliminate this burden. To do this, you need to invest in a document scanner. How then do you choose a scanner for your firm? This article can guide you appropriately.
To choose the right scanner for your business, you need to consider the following:
1) Know Your Needs
Understanding your business needs is the first step to ensure you choose the suitable scanner for your business.
You need to outline what you need the scanner to do for your business. Is it to scan documents, images, or both? Scanners have different features that make them meet your business needs. Some have a higher resolution than others to produce quality images for your business documents, while others don’t have the highest image qualities. If you aim to have high-quality scans, you shouldn’t choose the latter.
What’s the speed you expect your ideal scanner to have in producing documents? Your speed choice depends on the volume of documents you need to scan on a given day. The number of documents you need to process, on the other hand, depends on the size of your firm. There are scanners to suit each business size, including desktop document scanners for mid-sized businesses.
How much time will it take your staff to scan a given batch of documents? What’s the extent of redundancy you can accommodate?
Portability is another aspect that you need to consider. This is based on where you want to utilize your scanner. Do you need your staff to have it on the go as they attend business meetings? Is it only to be used on your office premises? This is an essential need to assess since there are portable scanners and those that you can’t carry around.
How often will you be using the scanner? Is it daily or occasionally? Answering this question helps you know the amount of money you should spend on purchasing a scanner. If it’s not for daily use, there’s no need to invest thousands of dollars in acquiring one.
2) Understand The Operating Needs Of The Scanner
As previously stated, document scanners have different features, all of which determine their capability as stand-alone equipment.
Does it need the internet to operate? Is extra equipment required for it to function? Is it wireless or requires a USB connector to send the documents it scans? What amount of office space do you need to accommodate it? Must it be monitored for it to run efficiently without any errors?
By figuring out the answers to these questions, you’re able to assess if you have the resources to accommodate the scanner. Do your current finances allow for such expenditure if you need to purchase extra equipment or get extra office space?
You should choose a document scanner that your business can accommodate with its current resources.
3) Ease Of Use
Do you need to hire experts to operate your scanner? The ease of use of your chosen document is an essential aspect to consider.
It would be unfortunate to purchase equipment that your team can’t use. This doesn’t make it a viable investment since your business won’t be able to fully utilize its features.
Consider selecting a scanner that your team can easily understand, operate, and configure if any issues arise during its lifespan.
4) Integration With Your Systems
More often than not, a document scanner needs to work with other systems to receive your end product. It might not need additional physical equipment to run, but it will require a platform to send and store the scanned documents for you to access.
Ensure that it’s able to integrate with your existing technologies and systems. All the connected systems should complement each other and not make it difficult for you to access the documents.
5) Price
Different document scanners have varying price tags based on their features and capabilities.
All other determining factors, such as them suiting your needs, what should guide your price choice?
A portable handheld black scanner for documents and papers located on the document.
The most obvious item to look at is its initial cost. But this isn’t enough to make such a crucial decision. Most of the time, you’ll end up incurring extra expenses along the way as you utilize it. This is through maintenance and repair costs. As you make your choice, inquire if its spare parts are readily available in case replacements are necessary for the future. It would be daunting to acquire a scanner whose spare parts you need to import, adding to the maintenance costs you have to bear.
Alternatively, ask your vendor if your preferred document scanner comes with a warranty or if the supplier offers maintenance and repair services for free or at a discounted price. This would reduce your maintenance and repair costs significantly.
After inquiring about all these, weigh to see if the final price of your chosen document scanner is within your business’s budget. It’s advisable to work within your financial constraints to avoid overspending and financially affecting other aspects of your business.
Conclusion
As seen, selecting the suitable document scanner for your business doesn’t require much from you. The secret is to base every decision on your business needs. Don’t compromise on your business needs for a low price, and neither should you compromise the quality of the scanner for a lower price. As you source your scanner, be sure to buy one from a reputable vendor and also select a scanner from a tried and tested brand.
