Oxygen Technical Services Ltd

Scanning Isn’t Dead. What’s New with Modern Scanning Tech?

Scanning has played a huge role in the digital transformation of document management. Equipped with modern scanning technology, businesses have the ability to store and share electronic copies of receipts, documents, and even color photographs efficiently. The limiting factors in the past have primarily been speed and resolution quality of scanned documents.

All that has changed with the latest developments in scanning technology that provide new features and capabilities that offer even small businesses a digital advantage.

Why Use Scanners?

Many individuals have scanners in home offices or even businesses that are rarely used today, gathering dust on a shelf or stored away in a closet. This is in part due to smartphone use that allows the use of a camera to snap a picture of a receipt or document for storage or sharing. This approach may be suitable for home use, but the resulting quality and security is not generally acceptable for business use.

For business in the Winnipeg, Canada region, the story is quite different. There are many documents in business that originate in paper form:

• Incoming customer orders or purchase orders
• Invoices
• Applications for employment

Internally, there are other documents that originate in physical form:

• Employment agreements
• Contracts that require hand signatures
• Customer proposals
• Production schedules

Each of these documents is an ideal candidate for scanning into digital format for distribution, secure retention, collaboration with others, and archiving. This eliminates the production of additional paper copies, makes employees more productive, and conserves paper and printing supplies.

What is Different in Today’s Scanners?

Unlike the scanners of the past, modern scanning capabilities are incorporated into office print hardware to provide multiple functions of printing, copying, faxing, and scanning with a single, high-performance unit. These devices take less space, and add many enhanced features:

• Large capacity paper bins
• High quality scanned documents including high-resolution models
• Duplex scanning – scan both sides of a document with a single operation
• Scan direct to digital format – in your choice of formats
• Support for wireless and mobile devices
• Speed – automatic feed of originals for quick scanning and storing
• Built-in security features that allow scanning or printing confidential information from anywhere that won’t print until the designated recipient is physically at the printer
• Automatic routing of scanned documents to distribution lists
• Wide-bed scanners that can accommodate larger documents such as architectural diagrams and blueprints

Advanced Scanning Technology

Leading producers of multi-function printers have combined high-quality scanning technology with printing and copying functions. This provides businesses with streamlined, efficient operations that improve productivity and reduce costs.

Modern devices from such industry leaders as Xerox, Lexmark, HP, Fujitsu, and others offer reliability and features that enable digital transformation and significantly reduce the need for printing and paper handling.

Integrated security – customizable security that restricts access to scanned documents to only the intended individuals or workgroups. Eliminate unauthorized viewing of documents or emails by requiring PINs or other security such as access card scanning before documents can be printed.

Quality – imaging quality has advanced continuously in recent years, including optical character recognition (OCR) and high-resolution scanning that eliminates the potential for data loss when scanning.

Mobility – scan wirelessly to remote computers or mobile devices.

Variety of formats – there are many industry standards that require documents in specific formats – Word, PDF, etc. Modern scanners can generate the formats businesses need to ensure compliance with these requirements.

Speed – scanning speed and sheet feeders keep offices humming through digitizing reams of documents quickly and reliably.

Unlocking Scanning Potential

New capabilities of scanning features found in multi-function printers from leading manufacturers often go unused or even unrecognized. First Phase Data not only provides customers with office equipment that is reliable and based on advanced technology, but our professionals train customers in all the benefits to be realized from the integrated features.

Capturing images to transform them for digital storage and distribution is the first step in gaining control of documents.

 

First Phase Data – the Business Solution for Scanning and Service

First Phase Data sales and service professionals lead the Winnipeg, Canada business community in providing top-quality scanning technology that is easy to use and cost-effective. Our focus on green initiatives and efficiency is supported by our own practices:

• Paperless invoicing
• Online ordering
• Toner cartridge recycling programs
• Managed services that include document management

Contact the scanner professionals at First Phase Data to gain a strategic advantage in document capture and management.