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Document Scanning System
Recipe for Success
by René Le Page

Like it or not, paper documents will not disappear tomorrow. Where electronic submission is involved, paper document scanning is becoming an even more spot-on solution. The next three years will see the amount of digital data double, and companies will be looking for solutions to capture and disseminate large documents. The growing number of physical documents raises a very important question: What will companies do to organize all that unstructured data? Part of the answer is, however, very simple: Use a scanning system.

Choose a scanner?

Companies tend to have a very timid approach to the issue of scanning systems. After all, they tell themselves, it's only a scanner, no? No! Your scanner is the primary ingredient in your recipe. You have to plan for a sufficient budget and a project team ready to implement.

Taking the necessary time to create a reliable, robust scanning system will save you a lot of grief later.

The reason is very simple. Scanning takes work. You need resources to prepare the documents for scanning, physically scan the documents and attach indexes to the images for later retrieval.

Also, employees must use workflow software which requires nothing more than a backup every evening. Scanning systems are living organisms so don't go cheap. That doesn't mean you have to invest your money in just any system. Let's take a look at the scanning recipe. Your recipe needs certain ingredients if you want to prevent an unpleasant after-taste.

Recipe for Success

Ingredient #1-Qualified Consultants

Even if your IT department is capable of learning to program in Cyrillic from one day to the next, it would be risky to assign them full responsibility for selecting and configuring an imaging solution if they didn't have that specific experience.

Choose consultants and ask them to demonstrate some of the systems they've implemented, especially those similar to what you need. Contact former customers to check that their installations went without a hitch. Be sure the consultants offer you several software options. Established consultants will explain to you both the positive and negative aspects of the various available packages so you have an easier time of deciding on which solution is the best for you.

Ingredient #2-The Right Software

Besides expert advice, you'll need to grasp some basic concepts. Good scanning software will come with bar code and patch code support to facilitate the automatic separation of documents, support several scanners and automate document input. The ability to resume scanning following information capture problems must be an integral part of the device. In a perfect world, the documents would go through the scanning system with a 100% success rate. Unfortunately, document jams are a regular fact of real life, and operators often make mistakes. The software you choose should include easy problem-solving tools. Good scanning software will be able to connect to other systems via a common database interface. This would help you optimize the time you've already put in collecting data on your customers by relating documents via a common value such as a social insurance number or policy numbers.

Ingredient #3-Hardware

Many scanning firms promise sensational speeds and amazingly sharp images. Speed is important when you're faced with large volumes of documents, but the resolution of the documents delivered by most companies is rather poor quality. As concerns scanners, be sure especially not to neglect the accessories. Accessories are available to really enhance the scanning process. Image printers make it easy to assign a unique number to each document. Bar code and patch code readers can be used to automatically index and separate documents as they are fed into the system. SCSI interface cards are commonly used to connect scanners to PCs, but other peripheral cards are available that do the same thing, leaving the scanner to operate at full speed. Properly maintaining automatic document feeders makes them more reliable and your employees more productive. The PC's CPU and RAM are important, as are the monitors and graphics cards, which are often neglected. A monitor should be able to display the full image so the operator can spot any eventual problem.

Ingredient #4-Documentation

The consultants have to provide as much documentation on the scanning process as possible. This documentation should include presentations on the process (workflow), screen dumps and written procedures that are complete and easy to understand. Every member of your staff should be able to follow all the steps in the scanning process and the procedures for solving minor problems. Be sure to keep the documentation on the hardware close by to deal with technical situations, and get as much documentation on the scanning software as possible.

Ingredient #5-Training

Give yourself enough time to train the employees on the new system. Be sure that at least one member of your IT staff can solve minor problems in the system and that he plays a part in the full process; he should also be very familiar with the software and hardware. Be sure too that they get user training. This training might enable your IT department to easily solve minor problems. The training should focus on rescanning pages and deleting poorly initiated batches. The operators will become increasingly familiar with the standard process in the first few weeks of production. What will make them productive is the ability to solve problems.

A good scanning system needs time to be properly installed and configured. True, a scanning system can be put together quite quickly, but configuring all the options takes a lot of time. As prime contractor, you are the one completely responsible for your own success. Your ultimate goal should be to gather important data in a repository for future retrieval. The end goal is clear, integrated images, faithful to the original and easy to read, scanned according to standard practice, and respecting the laws and regulations governing the targeted documents. Whether you succeed or not will depend on your ability to select the best ingredients possible. The right mix of skills, software, hardware documentation and training will allow the organization to realize maximum benefits.

Experience, innovation, vision and knowledge are needed to deliver quality customer service today.


About René LePage
rene.le.page@consulting.fujitsu.com

René is an Integrated Information Management Consultant and Imaging Specialist with DMR Consulting, division of Fujitsu Consulting. He has over 10 years experience in designing electronic document management systems and imaging solutions and has been involved with various project within Life Sciences and Health Care organizations.

DMR Consulting offer, amongst other things, specialized scanning-related services such as: Opportunity analysis, Preliminary analysis, Architecture, Package and hardware selection, Development, Implementation, Coaching and Training.