Data Management

5 Bottom Line Impacts Document Scanning Services Have on Your Business

Find out how document scanning services reduce the risk of human errors, accelerate data search, improve customer services, and more.


Professional document scanning solutions have many natural incentives: improved productivity, error reduction, data security, happier customers, and more. It’s no wonder so many organizations are investing in their digital transformation with document scanning and digital archiving. When you undergo the process with an expert outsourced scanning service provider, these benefits are further enhanced.

However, what’s not as often appreciated is that these are all financial advantages. Here are five ways that document scanning services can have a measurable impact on your bottom line.

Lower Risk of Costly Human Errors

An expert document scanning services provider minimizes human error (e.g. labeling mistakes, misplaced documents, improperly categorized files) compared to in-house scanning of physical files. This is because a professional has the equipment, the advanced software, the facilities, and the expertise to ensure that scanning and digitization are efficient and accurate. 

Digital documents save you money on their own, too! According to data from PricewaterhouseCoopers, the average company spends:

  • $20 in labor to file a document
  • $120 in labor to find a misfiled document
  • $220 to reproduce a lost document

Meanwhile, companies lose one out of every 20 documents and spend 25 hours recreating each lost document. Per Gartner, 25% of enterprise paper documents that are misplaced will never be located. A fast and efficient document scanning service cuts down on the labor required for paper files while eliminating many sources of document loss or misfiling.

Faster, More Cost-efficient Data Search & Retrieval

Research shows that U.S.-based companies spend $25-35 billion processing (filing, storing, and retrieving) paper. Management of documents over their life cycle increases that figure to up to $100 billion per year.

Paper documents simply take an exorbitant amount of time and effort to manage, sift through, and access. This is even more true when the files you need are not nearby at the moment you need them, and you must now add travel time to a different location just to retrieve them. 

Many document scanning companies will also offer digitization, data capture, and document management solutions. Merely scanned files are one thing, but easily searchable, well-organized digital files in a centralized document archive can be an enormous upgrade. The ability to type a quick search and pull up the exact information you need from any location will dramatically improve your team’s speed, efficiency, productivity, and bottom-line results.

Improved Customer Service

Once the files your staff needs are scanned and available in digital form, it becomes easier to provide a stellar customer experience. Your staff will provide faster response times and answers to questions with more readily available information that doesn’t require sifting through file cabinets and folders.

Customer satisfaction is a major driver of your bottom line. Happy customers are more likely to return for more business or sing your praises through word of mouth. Scanning your paper files and moving towards a digital-first business model can lead to more referrals, more advocates, and more customer loyalty.

Increased Operational & Workforce Flexibility

A document scanning services provider makes it possible to rapidly digitize large numbers of files for immediate access from anywhere, at any time, on any device. Digital data frees you up to think more creatively about the way you organize your office and your workforce. 

You’ll be able to more effectively deploy hybrid and remote work models with data that can be easily shared or used collaboratively at off-site locations. These models save money on real estate and overhead costs while also opening up your talent pool to a wider range of candidates.

Heightened Data Security

Physical documents can be lost, misplaced, and easily fall into the wrong hands. Scanning in-house also creates potential security risks if the documents contain sensitive information. After all, who is scanning them? For all but the most rudimentary of documents, this is not work that can be entrusted to an intern for security reasons. Even after they’re scanned, digital files require proper security measures, too.

Data breaches are expensive. According to IBM, a breach of personally identifiable customer information costs organizations $180 per lost record. Professional document scanning companies provide safe facilities and robust security capabilities to protect your data during the scanning process.

Talk to an Expert in Document Scanning Solutions

Scan-Optics is more than a leading document scanning and archiving services provider. We’re a full-scale digital transformation partner with solutions including document digitization, document conversion, robotic process automation, business process optimization, digital mailroom services, and more. Explore our full data management platform to learn more about our scanning service can kickstart the cost-savings of your digital transformation.

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