Document Scanning Best Practices

Monday, January 2, 2017

For over 20 years, Image One has scanned a wide variety of document types for organizations throughout Florida from our Tampa and Orlando service bureaus and onsite at client locations. Over that time, we’ve optimized the document scanning process from pickup through scanning and QC to destruction.

Document scanning may seem straightforward and a commodity service, so we encourage you to compare our process with scanning internally or when comparing our service with other outsourcing providers.

Image One is more than just another service bureau. We believe in becoming strategic partners with our clients to maximize information flow and to ensure successful and cost-effective digital transformation.

Transport

Image One will dispatch our vehicles and personnel to pick up the boxes of documents at your designated locations. At the time of pick up, a manifest will be prepared and acknowledged by both parties. Our vehicles are secure and our people are insured and bonded.

Storage

While in Image One’s possession, documents will be stored in a fully secured room with access by keyed entry, equipped with dry fire suppression equipment. Storage of the documents includes a box inventory to enable rapid location.

Personnel

The production as described will be completed by a team of personnel dedicated to this project. All Image One personnel are subject thorough background checks and drug screening.

Image One takes pride in the depth of experience within our conversion team and having developed a team of highly skilled professionals

Document Preparation

This process involves the unpacking of the boxes of documents, removing all staples, clasps, clips, fasteners, and other bindings, a full review of the documents in order to select documents to be converted by document type to include identification of documents not required for your document scanning project.

Document Capture

The documents are to be scanned at 300 DPI in black and white, producing PDF or TIFF images (as specified in our agreement). Image One uses the same high quality document capture software that we sell to our clients that do their own scanning. This software can read barcodes and/or use optical character recognition (OCR) on your documents to automate capture and indexing, and stores images in batches until they can be processed further. Image One also uses high-speed product scanners from Kodak and Canon.

Indexing

Once scanned, the PDF or TIFF document images will be indexed based on the indexing criteria and document types as specified in our final agreement. Example index values can include: ID number, name, date, date of birth, social security number, type, location, and just about anything else.

Quality Control

Quality control is not a step in the conversion process but is inherent throughout the entire process. For example, once each batch of the original documents have been scanned and converted to digital images, the images are reviewed individually for accuracy and image quality. Learn more

File Export & Delivery
At the completion of the document capture process, the resulting digital files will be exported to a file format compatible with your system. Image One will then deliver the completed files on a portable hard drive or via electronic file transfer. Assistance is available for completion of an import into your system.

Document Return, Retention & Destruction

Original files will be held for 90 to 180 days to assure completion of a review of the deliverables by you. Image One will retain a copy of the digital files for a period of six months from the date of project completion. Retaining a copy beyond that time may result in additional charges. With your written approval, Image One will destroy the documents under supervision and provide a certificate of their secure destruction.

Next Steps

Isn’t time you got rid of your paper? Request a quote from Image One today and you may find that your document scanning project may not be as large and as costly as you think, as we can help you determine what should be scanned, what shouldn’t and what can be destroyed today.

Contact us to learn more about our document scanning services today