Digital technology has revolutionized the way business is done across industries and around the globe. Businesses that embrace digital transformation are more likely to thrive as they benefit from the increased efficiency, improved accuracy, and overall cost savings that digital solutions offer.

Digitizing your business’s paper documents is an excellent option to kickstart your own digital transformation, and many organizations turn to high speed, high volume scanners to get the job done. Powerful document digitization platforms like Exela’s line of IntelliScan scanners enable prompt and accurate digitization of all kinds of documents, and make a great first step in your digitization journey.

What Are High Volume Scanners?

The main difference between traditional desktop scanners or multifunction printer/scanner machines you might find in most office settings is, as you might have guessed, their scanning capacity. High volume scanners are designed to quickly digitize large volumes of paper documents with minimal user interaction.

These scanners are capable of high resolution imaging while still operating at high speeds, and are usually used in industries where large quantities of information need to be recorded and kept secure, including the legal industry, financial services, healthcare, and the public sector, among others.

Why Invest in a High Volume Scanner?

Any organization that deals with large amounts of physical documents stands to benefit immensely from investing in a high volume scanner. When properly integrated into appropriate workflows, these machines improve output and efficiency to a degree that will be noticeable on the bottom line as well as in the day to day lives of employees.

Here are some of the most important value-adds that make high volume scanners worth considering:

Time Savings

The most important benefit of high speed, high volume scanners is their ability to reduce the time and effort it takes to digitize potentially huge quantities of paper documents. This frees up valuable time for your employees to focus on higher-value, more creative, and often more fulfilling tasks, leading to greater productivity and worker satisfaction. 

Accuracy and Error Reduction

While scanning speed is nice, it’s worthless if the resulting digital documents are fuzzy, out of focus, skewed, smudged, or otherwise illegible. High-end high volume scanners are designed with accuracy and image quality in mind, utilizing the finest hardware to capture clear images and avoid paper jams, and cutting-edge software to fix skew and other legibility issues.

These platforms are often integrated with optical character recognition (OCR) systems that can identify text and transform a scanned image into a searchable and editable digital document. This enables advanced indexing, routing, and sorting with a high degree of accuracy.

Document Flexibility

One of the downsides of physical paper documents is that they can be easily damaged or torn. They also come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, which can make filing and storage more complex. High volume scanners are designed to handle documents in a wide range of sizes, thicknesses, and even conditions. The IntelliScan Raptor features a convenient hand-feed option that enables easy and efficient processing of fragile, damaged or otherwise difficult to auto-feed documents.

Is a High Volume Scanner Right for Your Business?

Still not sure if high volume scanners are right for your organization? Here are a few signs to consider:

Do You Have Too Many Desktop Scanners?

Many businesses may not even realize they need production level scanners, instead loading up on more and more desktop scanners to handle an increasing demand. While this may seem like a minor expense in the short term given how inexpensive some desktop scanners can be, it can be costly in the long run, especially for businesses that will face large digitization jobs. Given that each scanner still requires a human operator, spreading large jobs across multiple scanners can be not only inefficient, but costly. A high-volume, high-speed scanner is much more efficient and requires fewer people to operate.

Are Your Scanners Out of Date?

While it may seem obvious, it still bears mentioning. The maintenance on older machines can get expensive - especially as models and parts are discontinued in favor of more efficient newer models. Upgrading your old machines isn’t just about new bells and whistles, either. The core functionalities of volume scanners - including document handling, image quality, and overall scanning speeds - have all seen major improvements in recent years.

There’s also the key question of compatibility. Document scanning represents a key bridge between the paper-based processes of the past and today’s digital-first environment. Many modern scanners are able to seamlessly integrate with software used to automate a wide variety of internal tasks, making your processes that much more efficient.

Do You Need More than Just Images?

We’re living in a digital age. More aspects of day to day life and business operations are handled electronically than ever before. In this digital-first world, physical paper can be a serious hindrance, slowing down processes, exposing vulnerabilities, and capping the potential of other downstream digital solutions.

In order to take full advantage of the benefits these new digital technologies can offer, businesses need a way to quickly and accurately transform paper documents into digital assets - not just simple scanned images. Real-time recognition and extraction of document information allows advanced systems to take immediate action, like updating databases, routing documents to specific users, and indexing them for more convenient storage and retrieval.

Modern scanners are able to use optical character recognition (OCR) and intelligent character recognition (ICR) along with AI and machine learning systems to turn paper documents into editable, searchable digital documents. This makes them easier to feed into downstream systems that can further capitalize on automation and digital efficiencies.

Whatever your scanning needs, Exela’s Document Digitization solution has you covered.