Having a paperless office is more easily said than accomplished. Despite all the conveniences that technology has provided, computers have increased the amount of paper that is produced in offices. The majority of organizations find it difficult to effectively handle this influx of paper and papers file. The question of “Scan or store?” has thus become a regular mantra in the majority of businesses.
Thankfully, it doesn’t have to be a binary choice. In fact, the most cost-effective option for your company may come from identifying the requirements of a paper-based firm. By designing a custom plan that includes a hybrid combination of storage and scanning, you may determine which of your company’s files are essential to routine business operations and which are merely archival. From there you can decide to scan or store based upon future access requirements.
First and foremost, consider the filing systems your company uses and determine how frequently these documents need to be accessed. Some of them may only be accessed seldomly, but they nonetheless crucial papers that must be kept for legal, regulatory, and compliance reasons. Or perhaps the files should be saved for regulatory purposes with little chance of ever being accessed. Other files exist that must be routinely sent to your organization’s employees. Identify the two types of files: active files and inactive files.
Active files are frequently used as a point of reference for billing, service, and employee-related tasks. You can easily share and retrieve these documents by scanning them into an electronic format, which supports the regular daily activities of your business. Scanning offers the convenience of easy access by approved members of your organization without interrupting the business day.
Inactive files are important, although seldomly accessed. Scanning and converting seldom used inactive files to an electronic format may not always be cost-effective. But filling your office space with boxes of dead file storage is expensive. Off-site, secure storage with Storage by Infoshred is more affordable in this situation. Put the boxes in storage for a low cost, access when necessary and shred the boxes when they are no longer needed.
Request an estimate on our website or by calling 860-627-5800 to learn more. Our experts will ask you a few questions to better understand your requirements, after which they will tell you exactly what to expect from start to finish, including the cost.
