Question: Can I use document scanning via my MFP (multi-functional printing) device and OCR download software to completely eliminate the paper documents that are cluttering up our office ?

Answer: Yes, with a few caveats. Every office would like to go paperless, i.e. “the paperless office”, but there are many reasons why this is non-trivial. For one, scanning documents, particularly legacy data, is labor intensive and many firms are not geared up for it. Often this legacy scanning is best outsourced to a company that specializes in document scanning. It is generally easier to come up with a workflow solution that includes in-house day forward scanning of new documents into the system.

Scanning is usually done in addition to document retention, but does not necessarily replace the need in many applications for retention of original documents.Once scanned, original documents can be stored offsite, while the scanned versions are loaded into the corporate database. These electronic files essentially replace the original paper and are used internally and to present to clients on demand. It is only under unusual circumstances, e.g., litigation with a client, that the original paper files might need to be retrieved.

Under Check 21 rules, and in various other applications, the scanned electronic image of the original file can be used to completely replace the original paper document. In mortgage applications, the original paper document is retained and stored (usually offsite) while the electronic scanned version is kept in the company database.

So effective document scanning can reduce a lot of the office clutter caused by paper document retention.

The typical company office has an MFP device, though maybe not a dedicated scanning device. Nevertheless, scanning paper documents into your company database as electronic files is fairly easy. A standard MFP supports network-based scan to email and scan to folder. The client at a firm typically types in a code and then decides whether to scan to email or to a folder. In the event that clients at a firm all scan to folder for later use, such as email attachments, then it is easy for a program to intercept the scanned electronic file. In particular, for each client there can be a hidden watched folder and an exposed client folder, which is actually the watched outfolder. When a new document is scanned in by the client, the hidden watched folder picks it up and processes it. OCR and converson to PDF would be a typical set of hidden processes off the MFP. When the user returns to his/her computer, the electronic scanned file waiting in their directory is a searchable, web-optimized PDF file.

For this to all work seamlessly, the OCR download program must accomodate watched folder. Conversion to PDF is also desirable in the OCR program. Preferrably, this OCR download also supports compression and web-optimization (see http://www.cvisiontech.com/pdf_compressor_31.html) making it very well-suited for generating text-searchable PDFs that are ideal for web-based applications and sending as email attachments.