Document scanning and use of digital documents has increased with the increase in business data. Managing and maintaining huge volumes of data has become easier with document scanning services. Data can be structured or unstructured and it can be in the form of handwritten documents, sequence of numbers, information off spreadsheets and so on. These data need to be fed into a centralized database and maintained well to derive actionable insights. Advanced technologies like digital document management, cloud storage, machine learning, artificial intelligence etc. enable more productive use of data. The following are the benefits of document scanning in some of the industries of an economy.
- Legal sector: Attorneys have to deal with large volume data even for a single lawsuit. Lawyers may find it challenging to access data required for a particular case from a number of hard copy documents. Scanning all critical data helps legal firms to be organized and maintain the data in a uniform manner. Efficient document scanning and management secures content for better protection of critical data, reduces unnecessary access to sensitive documents and enables quicker access to data. One of the main advantages of document scanning is that it eliminates the need for filing cabinets and organizations don’t have to pay for offsite storage facility or spend on extra office space for storing files.
- Healthcare sector: In order to provide unified patient care across healthcare systems, the healthcare sector is rapidly digitizing all their documents. The Healthcare Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) was passed in 2009 to ensure security requirements for medical records. Another objective of the act was to incentivize medical practices to scan medical records to electronic health record (EHR). EHRs are real-time patient-centred records that make data available quickly and securely to authorized users. It helps doctors to focus on the patient’s health condition and spend less time taking notes.
- Government offices: Government offices deal with huge volumes of data and have strict data retention policies. Government data is typically stored for a long period of time. They have various types of data like social service records, business records, tax documents, land documents, licenses and permits and so on. Document scanning of government data ensures security of confidential data, prevents the chances of files being accidentally misplaced, lost or destroyed and ensures permanent storage of data.
- Architecture firms: Engineering, construction and architecture firms also deal with large files such as blueprint drawings. Scanning these drawings helps professionals to easily share data and thereby increase productivity, performance and profits. It reduces drawing management expenses while increasing profit by optimizing business processes. It also helps avoid the need to maintain a hard copy library to store these drawings.
- Accounting: Businesses have to maintain good financial records which can be used for extracting valuable data. Document scanning of financial records helps to convert unstructured data into structured format. Digitizing financial records helps business leaders to know the financial stability of the organizations. With easy access to data, businesses can identify whether they are making profit or loss.
- Travel and hospitality sector: Just like other sectors, travel and hospitality sectors also deal with various types of documents like data for designing a marketing campaign, passenger details, fares and ticketing, invoice processing, bookkeeping, feedback from each customer and so on. These data can be scanned and digitized and then used to develop promotional strategies based on customer preferences, trends and also provide customized offers.
- Retail or eCommerce companies: Retail stores have data which includes orders, invoices, client information, accounts and other financial data, survey and customer feedback, store data, purchase orders, shipping reports and so on. All these critical data can be processed and managed efficiently once digitized. eCommerce stores require bulk document scanning, catalog processing, product data entry, product data classifications and so on.
Enterprises in all business sectors can scan and digitize their data to keep all business processes streamlined. However, organizations should decide whether they should in-house their digitizing activities or outsource to a reliable provider of document conversion services. Outsourcing data processing to a reputable service provider could ensure utmost accuracy and error-free data. Business data can be scanned and sent to the required people. It is important for every business organization to digitize their data and stay ahead of competitors.
