document scanners in ontario: considerations for choosing t

1. Document Scanners in Ontario: Considerations for Choosing the Right One By Kevin D’ArcyVice President of Sales & Marketing

2. Document Scanners in Ontario Document scanners in Ontario deliver major benefits to users and continue to grow in popularity. Choosing the right document scanners in Ontario can be an easy project if you follow some simple guidelines. Basically, you need to consider your application, expected volume and budget. New models offer productivity-enhancing features at increasingly competitive prices. However, this popular technology offers solutions in many shapes and sizes. With such a large selection, how do you make the best decision?

3. Basic Steps in Scanner Selection Choosing the right document scanners in Ontario can be an easy project if you follow some simple guidelines. Basically, you need to consider your application, expected volume and budget.  The first step in your analysis should consider your application. In other words, what type of documents do you expect to scan? Are you scanning financial documents like checks? Do you have extra-large documents like maps or blueprints? Or will you need to scan book pages?  The next step to evaluate is your anticipated volume. Will your scanner be used for routine tasks on a single-user’s desktop? Or, do you expect an entire department to scan documents on a regular basis?  Finally, determine your budget parameters. Just as scanners address a variety of applications and volumes, they come in a wide range of prices. Depending on the type, feature set and manufacturer, a scanner can cost less than a hundred dollars or thousands of dollars. Make sure your scanner does exactly what you need it to do and improves your work functions.

4. A Wide Range of Scanner Choices To help narrow your selection for document scanners in Ontario, the following list identifies the various types available today. Workstation Scanners. These scanners offer an affordable solution for medium-sized applications requiring less than one thousand pages a day. Generally, workstation scanners can accommodate different paper sizes in either flatbed or sheet-fed models. In addition, workstation features can include basic functionality to more advanced capabilities. If you need to scan documents to special formats, such as e-mail, pdf files, printers or ftp sites, you may have to select a more advanced workstation scanner or add customized technology.

5. A Wide Range of Scanner Choices Departmental Scanners. If you require higher capacity, you’ll need a departmental scanner. These scanners generally work best within larger organizations with greater scanning demands. Even with increased performance capabilities, many departmental scanners offer affordable solutions. As with workstation scanners, departmental solutions come in flatbed and sheet-fed models. They can also scan to e-mail, pdf files, printers or ftp sites. Production Scanners. As the name implies, production scanners address extreme capacities up to 100,000 pagers per day. In addition to volume, some of these scanners perform functions at speeds as fast as 120 pages per minute or more. Production scanners provide exceptional quality, high capacity and come with a wide selection of features.

6. More Scanner Choices Networked Scanners. Today’s geographically dispersed workforce requires efficient collaboration. With networked scanners, organizations can link branches and workers across the globe. Users simply load documents, access the network, and press a button to send a scanned version to another location on the company’s network. Networked scanners streamline document management, but they also provide a “green” solution for ecologically-minded organizations. No more copying documents multiple times on a copy machine and sending paper throughout the organization. Cheque Scanners. Financial transactions take place in a variety of scenarios. In addition to banks and retail stores, corporate accounting departments process payments from customers. Advanced solutions generally scan up to 190 cheques per minute. .

7. Wide-Format Scanners Often companies need to outsource scanning of large documents such as blueprints, technical drawings, sketches and maps. Turnaround times can impede productivity. And, the expense over time can easily justify a wide-format scanner investment in many situations. These scanners can offer high resolutions up to 1200 dpi and speeds up to 12 inches per second. With easy one-touch interfaces, users can scan to a file, printer or network location. Most companies requiring this type of scanning capability find a favorable cost/benefit analysis.

8. Book Scanners These user-friendly scanners are targeted to libraries and other applications wanting to substitute book scanning for copy-machine duplication. Using a touch-screen interface instead of a keyboard or mouse, users can scan pages simply by putting the book in a cradle, touching a screen button and sending the document to print, e-mail or USB device. Book scanners save time, money and frustration. The technology does away with copy machines, supplies and paper-jam fixes. By eliminating spine-bending from placing an opened book flat on a copy machine, these scanners also preserve books in their original condition. Finally, book scanners can generate revenue by integrating interfaces to swipe cards or accept money payments.

9. About the Author Kevin D'Arcy is VP of Sales and Marketing for MES Hybrid Document Systems, Ontario's leading document scanning and document management supplier. For more information about our document scanners in Ontario, visit http://www.mesltd.ca/.