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Document
Scanning is the process of using high-speed scanning equipment to capture
an image of your documents and convert them to a digital format such as .PDF files.
The main method of capturing images is by scanning paper documents and storing
them on digital media such as a CD or Hard Drive.
Purpose:
To reduce the cost of storing documents and files for legal purposes.
Benefits: Eliminate Storage Facilities, Secure
backups of all sensitive documents, Save time when retrieving indexed documents,
Make documents available to more than one person at a time, no expensive equipment
to purchase, outsource your filing and reduce labor.
Document
Scanning vs Paper Storage
VS
Paper
Stored File
Travel to
paper storage -------------------------- 20 min - 40 min
Search for file and specific documents ------- 15 min - 30 min
Return to work -------------------------------------- 20 min - 40 min
Copy, fax or mail documents -------------------- 15 min - 20 min
Prepare files for destruction --------------------- 10 min - 20 min
Total Time 1 hr 20 min
- 2 hrs 30 min
(Assume $10.00 / hr salary and benefits) $13.33 - $25.00 / occurrence
Electronic
File System or Document Scanning
Insert disc into PC or
retrieve from server--- 2 min - 3 min
Print or email documents ------------------------ 2 min - 5 min
Total Time 4 min - 8 min
(Assume $10.00 / hr salary and benefits) $.66 - $1.33 / occurrence
Expense of Storing Paper
Files Verses Electronic File Storage
Paper
Storage Expenses
(personal storage unit)
4.6 cents per month 55.2
cents per year (150 page files)
Storage boxes ($7.50 / 20 files) 37.5 cents per file
Destruction cost after retention period. 60 cents per file
Labor cost ?
Total Cost per File (5
year retention period) $3.72 + Labor
Paper Storage Expense
(third party storage facility)
Enter file into storage
$1.25 - $1.30
Storage boxes ($7.50 / 20 files) 37.5 cents per file
6 cents per month 72 cents per year
Destruction cost after retention period 60 cents
Labor cost ?
Total Cost per File (five
year retention period) $5.18 - $5.28 +Labor
(Retrieval charge of $25 -$40 per occurrence)
Electronic File Storage or Documet
Scanning
Scanning expense (average)
$5.00 - $6.00
Labor cost $0
Storage boxes $0
Destruction cost $0
Total Cost per File (Lifetime
retention) $2.00 - $6.00
Q:
My files are messy, how should I prepare them?
Q: How will you label my files?
Q: How do my files get back on my system?
Q: What about my new files?
Q: Can the CD data be altered?
Q: How Much? Can I see a demo?
Q: What industries are using document imaging?
Call Don DiPlacido at 205-822-6886
for a personalized demonstration using your own data.
" Did You Know? "
• 90% of corporate memory exists on paper.
• Of pages that get handled in the office, 90% are
merely shuffled.
• The average document gets copied 19 times.
• Companies spend $20.00 in labor to file a document. $ 120.00
in labor to find a misfiled document, and $ 220.00 in labor to produce a lost
document.
• 7.5 % of all documents get lost, 3 % of the remainder get
misfiled.
• Professionals spend 5-15 % of their time reading information
but 50 % looking for it.
• 4 Trillion paper documents are in the US alone, growing
at a rate of 22 % per year.
Typical document
management systems have the user scan in the original paper document, and store
the image of the document in the document management system. The image is often
given a name containing the date and the user is often asked to type in additional
"tags" in order to make finding the image easier.
Slightly more advanced
versions also perform an OCR on the image, storing the text along with the image.
Although most OCR systems are notoriously inaccurate, even a few correct words
scanned off the page can eliminate the need for the user to type in their own
tags.
Once the document is stored,
it is typically retrieved using an application that is aware of the way the tags
(or scanned text) and image are related. That way when you search for "invoice",
opening the document will in fact open the original image.
Document management systems
can save a tremendous amount of time, even in cases with small numbers of documents,
like home bill payment or personal tax preparation. It is somewhat odd that they
aren't more widely used, but some of this is likely the fault of the scanning
step. Many systems include their own high-speed black and white scanner to make
this step as easy as possible, or can incorporate existing office MFPs.
Storing electronic
documents is somewhat different but follows the same principle. Here, every kind
of internal documentation of somebody (typically a company or corporation) is
both written and stored electronically. Printed copies of documents need not even
be produced, and documents may be electronically signed.
Electronic document management
systems typically include a workflow model for certifying and electronically signing
documents.
Electronic document management
systems can be extended to support requirements under the HIPAA (Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act of 1996) and Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 by
addition of digital rights management controls including real-time network/application/file
monitoring and policy control. This gives auditors, administrators and directors
documented evidence of internal controls that communicate, store, and protect
documents and allows unalterable logs or databases of who has accessed which pieces
of information, where and when. It also gives fine-grained control of who can
access, view, print or forward any particular document or group of documents.
About our Process
• Compact & easily stored (One CD holds
up to 25,000 pages!)
• No software or hardware to lease or purchase
• Recognized as legal by US federal court system
• Completely confidential, secure, and insured
• Instant file retrieval
• Multiple search fields
• Accessible to more than one user simultaneously
• Reduces labor, cuts costs, saces time
• No more misfiled or lost documents
• No more off site storage fees
• Free pick up and delivery
Document Imaging of Birmingham
offers the following affordable services included in our process:
- Convert Paper Files to Electronic Media (CD)
- Document Imaging & Scanning
- Optional Secure Destruction of Sensative Files
- Imaging Verification by live technician
- Installation of software on your system
- Staff Training & Instruction
- Offsite Backup
I'm
Interested: Tell Me More!
Frequently
Asked Questions
Q:
What if my files are a mess? What do I need to do to get them ready for scanning?
A: You don't have to do anything to your files!
We scan them as they are. Notes on the file covers, sticky notes, etc...will be
scanned as well. No information will be lost or overlooked.
Q: How do you know
how to label my files so I can find them in my system?
A: Indexing can be done in several different
ways and we will consult with you before processing any of your files. The indexing
is customized to match your current filing methods.
Q: How do the files
get into our system so we can access them?
A: After we have scanned the files, we'll
transfer the data to a CD which contains images of all pages of each individual
file. The CD can be read in a CD-ROM drive, saved to a computer hard drive, or
hosted on a network. If you have a network, everybody can access the same data
at the same time.
Q: What happens after
all the old stuff is on CD? We are making new files and adding paperwork everyday.
Won't there be a gap?
A: Old data is stored and archived on seperate
CDs. Your current workflow documents will be periodically converted to digital
files as your situation dictates.
Q: What kind of Data
Security is there? Could someone change the data in a scanned file?
A: Good Question! NOBODY will be able to alter
any data on your CD's. All data will be converted to PDF, which keeps anyone from
adding or deleting any data.
Q: How much does it
cost and can you do a sample of our archives so we can try it out first?
A: In order to give you a detailed quote,
we will gladly create a trial-sized demo CD of you actual files digitally converted
with no obligation to you. Based on your demo file we'll determine what we'll
change for the complete project.
Q: What are the industries
that use your services?
A: We serve many industries, including:
- Realtors
- Builders
- Developers
- Architects
- Contractors
- Mortgage Companies
- Auto dealers
- Universities & Colleges
- Doctors - HIPPAA compliance, our document management solution is perfect for
patient records.
For answers to YOUR questions, call 205-822-6886 or E-mail
us.
US Imaging
of Tuscaloosa offers FREE Pickup & Delivery for the following services:
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A little about
Tuscaloosa, Alabama,
Tuscaloosa
is a city in west central Alabama, on the Black Warrior River in Tuscaloosa County.
The seat of Tuscaloosa County, it is the fifth-largest city in the state with
a population of 79,294 (2003 U.S. Census Bureau Estimate).
Tuscaloosa occupies a unique
location at the fall line of the Black Warrior River on the boundary between the
Appalachian Highland and the Gulf Coastal Plain approximately 311 km (120 mi.)
upriver from the river's confluence with the Tombigbee River in Demopolis. Consequently,
the geography of the area around Tuscaloosa is quite diverse, being hilly and
forested to the northeast and low-lying and marshy to the southwest.
Tuscaloosa is the center
of industry, commerce, healthcare, and education for the region commonly known
as West Alabama. Tuscaloosa is home to the University of Alabama, Stillman College,
and Shelton State Community College. Additionally, the city is home to the region's
largest mall and hospital.
The name of Tuscaloosa
and the river come from two Choctaw Indian words, tushka (warrior) and lusa (black).
It is assumed that the city received its name from the Choctaw chief Tascaluza/Tuskalusa,
who was defeated by Hernando de Soto in 1540 in the Battle of Mauvila.
Tuscaloosa boasts a highly
diversied economy. Approximately twenty-seven percent of the workplace is employed
by government, which includes major health care and education related employment;
twenty-two percent in retail and wholesale trade; sixteen percent in manufacturing;
nineteen percent in services; and the balance of the workforce spread among construction,
transportation, finance, insurance, real estate and public services. As a consequence
of its diverse econonmy, Tuscaloosa has a very low rate of unemployment, one of
the lowest in Alabama at around 3%.
The city's industrial base
includes Uniroyal Goodrich Tire Manufacturing (a division of Michelin), JVC America
[1], Phifer Wire Products, Gulf States Paper Corporation, and the Mercedes-Benz
U.S. International, Inc., assembly plant [2], which began assembling the Mercedes-Benz
M-Class in 1997 and will begin assembling the R-Class Grand Sport Tourer, and
its associated supplier plants.
Healthcare and education
serve as the cornerstone of Tuscaloosa's service sector, which includes the University
of Alabama, DCH Regional Medical Center, Bryce State Mental Hospial, Camp Partlow
State Development Center, and the Tuscaloosa VA Medical Center.
The city is home to the
region's two largest malls, University Mall and McFarland Mall, as a well as large
array of retail options.
The area at the fall line
of what would be later known as the Black Warrior River had long been well known
to the various Indian tribes whose shifting fortunes brought them to West Alabama.
The river shoals at Tuscaloosa represented the southernmost site on the river
which could be forded under most conditions. Inevitably, a network of Indian trails
converged upon the place, the same network which, in the first years of the 19th
Century began to lead a few intrepid white frontiersmen to the area.
The pace of white settlement
increased greatly after the War of 1812, and a small assortment of log cabins
soon arose near the large Creek village at the fall line of the river, which the
settlers named in honor of the legendary Chief Tuskalusa. In 1817, Alabama became
a territory, and on December 13, 1819, the territorial legislature incorporated
the town of Tuscaloosa, exactly one day before Congress admitted Alabama to the
Union as a state.
From 1826 to 1846 Tuscaloosa
was the capital of Alabama. During this period, in 1831, the University of Alabama
was established. The town's population and economy grew rapidly until the departure
of the capital to Tuscaloosa caused a rapid decline in population. Establishment
of the Bryce State Hospital for the Insane in Tuscaloosa in the 1850s helped restore
the city's fortunes. During the Civil War following Alabama's secession from the
Union, several thousand men from Tuscaloosa fought in the Confederate armies.
During the last weeks of the War, a brigade of Union troops raiding the city burned
the campus of the University of Alabama. Tuscaloosa, too, suffered much damage
from the battle and shared fully in the South's economic sufferings which followed
the defeat.
The construction of a system
of locks and dams on the Black Warrior River by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
in the 1890s opened up an inexpensive link to the Gulf seaport of Mobile, stimulating
especially the mining and metallurgical industries of the region. By the advent
of the 20th Century, the growth of the University of Alabama and the mental healthcare
facilities in the city, along with strong national economy fueled a steady growth
in Tuscaloosa which continued unabated for 100 years. The addition of the manufacturing
plants of large firms such as Michelin and JVC in the latter half of the 20th
Century. However, it was the announcement of the addition of the Mercedes facility
in 1993 that best personifed the new era of economic prosperity for Tuscaloosa.
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