What is Document Scanning?

Document scanning might seem like a pretty standard term. It’s hard not to feel like you know what you’re getting when you consider the topic, but document scanning services incorporate a raft of different services. All of their nuances have a part to play in providing the right service for you. 

It’s probably a fair assessment to call them document scanning services. They all interconnect to provide a solid comprehensive solution. In our world, we consider these composite parts different sides of the same document scanning question. 

Low volume scanning

We call anything under 40 boxes - 80,000 sheets to be low-volume scanning. This is the equivalent of around 5 filing cabinets filled with documents. An office spring clean, if you will.  

If you’re clearing out some cabinets to make space for a desk for the new hire or opting not to transport additional documents and furniture to a new site.

This is the simplest of our document scanning services because there’s no reason to overthink it. You want a quick solution to a minor problem. Get them scanned, posted online on EDMonline (our hosted document management and workflow solution) and download them as you please.

Bulk document scanning

Bulk document scanning requires a little more consideration. Anywhere from the modest 80,000 sheets to entire storage centers. You’ve got a lot of files here. You're using whole buildings — or at least rooms — as archives. This suggests a level of importance to the documents. Real estate is expensive and you've been dedicating a lot to your archive. 

Managing this level of content requires some thought about logistics, time frames and outcomes. We understand that safety and compliance is a concern when managing thousands of even millions of highly sensitive documents.

It’s best to speak to an expert here. We can guide you through the process and develop a strategy fit for your business, asking:

• How often do you need to access the documents?
• How quickly do you need access to the documents?
• Do you need the original version at hand or will a digital version suffice?
• Are the documents required to be kept within their retention period?
• Do you know what retention period should be applied?

There’s a lot to consider when digitizing your documents, but our experts can help you through it.

Scan-on-Demand

Scan-on-Demand is a custom document scanning service available here at TrustFlow Digital Solutions. 

Let us take your documents from you, free up space internally and only pay for the documents which you get scanned. This helps you spread the cost of the process and makes your most important documents available first. 

Support services

Our document scanning services include tertiary support services.

EDMonline
This is our cloud-based, hosted document management platform which gives you access to all your documents once they’re scanned. It’s a portal to all things digital within the TrustFlow experience. With more advanced functionality implemented, you can have the documents routed to the right teams or close off documents from certain teams. 

Transport & Storage
Document storage & transport goes hand-in-hand with document scanning. As we develop a scanning process and timeline for your documents, you have to have confidence that the entire operation is secure. All our vehicles are GPS tracked and our drivers DBS checked and our scanning & storage locations filled with the latest anti-fire and theft technologies.

Document Destruction
Once scanned, what do you do with your documents? While certain clients will retrieve their physical documents, most will seek to have them destroyed safely and securely. It’s worth considering your post-scanning process before digitizing. Do you need your documents returned? Stored? Or destroyed safely?

Hopefully, this helps shine a light on the multiple services which make up the wider document scanning services. Interested in finding out which document scanning service would best serve you? Check out our blog, which is a deep-dive highlighting the differences between our services.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. Document scanning is a deeper subject - find out more in our comprehensive guide to document scanning.