Conversion Services FAQs

If you think that digitizing your documents is a good idea for your company, you may wonder if you should scan them yourself or hire a company like us. Things that may affect your choice are how many documents you must scan and how often you will need to scan more documents in the future. If you have few documents to scan regularly, you can use desktop scanners or existing machines in your offices to add scanning to your work process. If you have many documents to scan often, you will probably need to make room for a scanning team, hire more people, and buy fast scanners and software. You may want to use a document scanning company if you scan rarely or only once, because it will avoid buying machines and getting and teaching new workers. If you scan by yourself, we can advise you on the best scanners and software for you.

Day-forward files

When considering a day-forward approach, scanning documents is usually a good idea for the new ones, because scanning and filing them physically take about the same time - and a paperless system has many benefits.

Back-files

It is often not worth it to scan old documents. You have already spent time and effort to store them physically, and you may have made scanning harder by using staples, folders, and so on. You should only scan these old files if you often need to look at the documents or need different people in different locations to see and use the documents at the same time. This option is also beneficial if your documents must be kept for a long time, the documents are essential for your business, and you need extra copies in case of emergencies.

If you only want to scan old documents to save room in your office, you might be better off keeping them somewhere else. A company that stores records for you can also help you go paperless, but cheaper: when you want to see a specific document, they can scan it for you and send it to you online or by email.

Making paper documents into digital files takes a lot of work. Scanning documents is usually not enough; you also need to prepare and organize them and enter data. That’s why document scanning services can be expensive, and the prices can change a lot from 5 cents to 15 cents per picture. The main things that affect how much you pay to scan your documents are:

• The quantity and types of documents you have to scan
• The size of the documents - for example, scanning big documents will cost more because you need special machines and more time
• If you want to scan your documents in color or black & white and in what dpi
• How much work you need to do before scanning, also known as “prep” work, for example taking out staples, unfolding corners, document repair, placing in a certain order, etc.
• How much work you need to do after scanning, for example putting back staples, rebinding, grouping, returning files in new boxes, etc.
• How many pages each document has, how many fields you want to index, and if you want to search your documents by any word, which will need Optical Character Recognition (OCR)
• If integration with an existing document management system is required
• Your project deadline

Text Files

If you want to use a document management system for your scanned images, you probably want your scanning company to give you TIFF files that you can upload easily. But if you want to store your documents on a shared drive, you probably want PDF files because most people know how to use them. You should choose beforehand how you will organize and name your folders and files on the network. They should match the index or search criteria of your documents. Usually, the folders should look like your paper filing system.

Removeable Media 

Text files that include vital indexing information (used to retrieve the documents) can be included with the image files on a variety of media options, including USB, CD-ROM, and DVD. IDT can return your images back to you in this format or send them to you by FTP. If you do plan on using a document management system, we can directly upload your documents into that system or electronic file-sharing technology such as OneDrive, Google Drive, or Dropbox for instant retrieval throughout your enterprise.

After we have scanned your project, you have one of two options for what to do with your documents. You can have the originals destroyed via secure shredding, and we can help you with that. You may also opt to keep your originals as backups. If you have a legal, regulatory, or business reason to hold on to your documents then we will return them to you. It is ultimately up to you whether you want to store them back at your facility or at an offsite location.

Companies that go paperless usually have two choices for handling their digital documents: keep and organize them on a shared drive or use an Enterprise Content Management (ECM) system. A shared drive will likely cost less and may work well for your company, but an ECM system lets you do some things that are harder to do with a shared drive. ECM systems make is easier to keep indexing and file names consistent and provide for more efficient searches. For example, you can search by many things at once and find all the documents that match as compared to the complexity with network folders. ECM systems also give users more access control and access to documents outside of the workplace. If you do select an ECM, we would love to discuss with you:

• The type of system that would benefit you most
• Whether you require an open or closed system
• The specific needs and requirements you want to get out of your system
• How your chosen system will grow to meet your future needs
• The cost for your system

Talk to us! Ask us to provide a sample scan of your documents. You need to know how much work might be involved with your project and what kind of quality to expect. Most projects are scanned on-site. Your representative will discuss any possibilities of needing to outsource your work. We will make sure you know how your project will be priced. Depending on the level of service your project needs, we may bill each service provided to your project separately, or we may offer a comprehensive per-image price. Your project will have human quality control measures in place. We check each individual document as it is being scanned and again before it gets indexed or saved. We pride ourselves on our attention to detail, promise high-quality images, and are upfront and honest about any issues we may come across. We will contact you to discuss a plan of action so your project is returned to you exactly the way you want it. Your satisfaction is 100% guaranteed. We are a secure facility with several levels of protection in place. Your IDT team is background-checked and upholds the highest degree of confidentiality, and we are 100% HIPAA compliant. In short, your documents are safe with us!

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