As scanning becomes more and more prevalent, there are a significant number of workflow issues that need to be addressed.
The first is the issue of large-volume vs. desktop scanners. Copier companies are increasing selling scanning modules. These are very fast, and ideal for large volumes, but they suffer from two defects. First, they are inefficient for small volumes, since the user has to get up from their desk, go to the scanner/copier, reset it, scan (usually to the network, sometimes emailing the scan to themselves), then reset it back to copying, return to their desk, retrieve the document and save it.
The second issue is that while these modules claim to produce “PDF”s in fact they are producing image-only PDFs, which cannot be text searched. Therefore a second piece of software is usually required to OCR the PDFs so that they are text searchable.
There is software available that will considerably automate this process. Various software - from DocsCorp (pdfDocs), OmniPage and Abbyy, have the ability to use a “watch” folder to automatically perform the OCR process. In this case the document is scanned and saved to the “watch” directory on the network. The software then launches automatically and OCRs the PDF. The user is still left with the chore of retrieving the document and saving to a document management system or to some other specified location.
pdfDocs takes this process one step further. If you are using Worldox, it will pick up the document and save it to a Worldox profile. The next version (2.0), which should be out shortly, will also have the option to delete the document once it is saved to Worldox. This represents a substantial improvement in the workflow process.
For firms that use the eCopy cost recovery software (which enables a firm to charge back the cost of copies or scans to the client), there is a Worldox module that bypasses the entire process: when you scan the document, the Worldox profile pops up and the document is saved directly to Worldox. While this module is not inexpensive, it is by far the most elegant solution to the problem.
For smaller volumes, a desktop scanner is more appropriate because the amount of “extra” time taken to scan a document is more than offset by not having to run around to the copier/scanner. In many cases, the desktop scanners will also produce searchable PDFs.