Over the years, automation in the workplace and need to do away with manual processes accelerated digitization. Scanning paper documents and converting them to digital format allows them to be easily retrieved, shared and stored. With the COVID-19 pandemic and the shift to working from home, paper documents lost their relevance. There was an increased need for strong document management solutions. The demand for document scanning services soared as companies stepped up digitization to build resilience, enhance security, and improve productivity.
Document scanning plays a key role in helping to address digital workplace challenges in many ways. The pandemic brought about many new document management challenges. One of the biggest challenges is remote collaboration or managing remote employees during the COVID-19 pandemic is effective communication. With the shift to the digital workspace, businesses need to work with remote tools and resources. To perform their roles, remote teams need access data on any device. Document scanning companies help organizations overcome these issues:
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- Allows Employees to Access Files Remotely: Organizations need to allow employees working from home to share and collaborate on large files from any location. Digital documents and electronic access to data are essential for working with digital collaboration tools such as video conferencing, chat, file sharing, etc. Scanning and digitizing documents and storing them on the cloud makes remote collaboration possible. Documents can be found by searching the cloud storage platform using specific keywords. Implementing secure, easy-to-use solutions empowers teams to get immediate access to files, regardless of the size of the data set, file type or location.
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- Enables Digitization of Business Information for Ecommerce: With the shift to digital channels, all information required to do business will need to be made available on their websites. This calls for document scanning to facilitate data collection, and data recovery and viewing.
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- Provides Secure File Access for Teams: Scanning paper documents allows encryption and tracking documents and also maintaining a backup. Confidentiality can be ensured with encryption to manage document transfer and authorization for additional protection. Authorization is possible for digitized documents through permissions and advanced document control. Further, digitized documents enable companies to maintain accountability by auditing to precisely understand how the recipient has used a document, when the usage took place, and how frequently occurred. Digital signatures enhance document integrity and authenticity.
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- Efficient Remote Access to HR Documents and Employee Records: Document scanning and secure cloud platforms allow HR departments to get instant access to documents remotely. Records can be updated online and new records added from anywhere and at any time, ensuring that HR teams can function efficiently even when they are not in the physical office. Digitization ensures that requests for critical information can be met easily to keep the HR department meet compliance and run smoothly.
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- Improved Efficiency with Mailroom Outsourcing: Document scanning is an essential element of digital mailrooms. Incoming mailroom processing and scanning improves efficiency and cuts costs of managing mail. Incoming mail is forwarded to a document scanning company. The mail is scanned and indexed by the intended recipient. The documents can be saved in PDF, TIFF and other formats as needed and uploaded to an FTP site or cloud management system for access by authorized users.
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- Increases ROI: Moving to electronic business processes via document scanning has helped businesses increase ROI. Automated workflows boosts engagement by prospects, customers, partners, and suppliers, enabling organizations to enjoy significant cost savings and also achieve greater customer satisfaction and loyalty.
- Focus on Solving Pandemic-Related Challenges: In addition to the shift to remote working, businesses need to serve customers and ensure business continuity. They have to deal with fundamental changes in consumer behavior, employee health concerns, disruption in supply chains, reductions in demand and new ways to market. Navigating the financial and operational challenges of COVID-19 is easier by outsourcing document management related tasks such as document scanning and data entry. It eliminates the need to invest in expensive scanning equipment and saves valuable time and resources.
Covid-19 has transformed the way we work and live, and these changes are expected to outlast the pandemic. By helping businesses with electronic document workflow automation, outsourced document scanning services have helped improve communication and remote team management. To ensure business continuity, streamline operations and maintain productivity, businesses need to focus on building a robust technical infrastructure and end-to-end digital processes.
