Many companies are scanning hundreds if not thousands of documents each week into a shared folder that is being used by multiple people. This one shared folder can be the recipient of hundreds of scanned documents created by a variety of different people. Unless specifically addressed these documents arrive with a generic file name randomly assigned by the scanner being used. This process can create confusion when an individual is looking to identify their scanned document and is forced to sift through these randomly named files in order to find the document they seek.
Name your documents BEFORE scanning
Most desktop scanners don’t allow you to name documents before they are scanned, however most multifunction copiers that are used for scanning provide the ability to easily name your files before the documents have been scanned. By naming the documents before the scanning process the user will easily be able to identify and locate their files in a shared folder environment.
OCR your documents BEFORE scanned
OCR stands for Optical Character Recognition and makes it so a PDF file can be found by searching for any word or phrase contained within the file. A traditional PDF file from a scanned document can’t be found with a text search since a traditional PDF Is simply a file of an image. When a scanner utilizes an OCR function all words are on document that is being scanned are formulated in a manner that allows end users to easily find documents simply by searching for any word contained within the desired document.
Index your documents BEFORE scanning
Many multifunction copiers offer the functionality that can either allow or even dictate that the end user enters a file name and index fields before scanning documents. The purpose for creating a system that requires end users to name, OCR and enter index fields before the actual scan process is that companies can ensure that important documents are stored in their desired location and easily located for future use.
Many multifunction copy-print-scan devices offer these enhanced scanning functions eliminating the frustration that exists when searching for files that can only be found by knowing the name of the file itself. Without a system in place to dictate structure in the way files are named, indexed and made to be searchable there is the potential for a lot of wasted time each time an archived document needs to be accessed. Ask your local copier company for more information in creating a file storage system that allows your company to easily organize and locate your important scanned documents.
