Whether you hire a scanning service or take on the task in-house, these factors can affect the cost of digitization
How much does document scanning cost? That may sound like a simple question, but getting an accurate answer is complex. Will you outsource or go in-house? Are you scanning standard copy paper, or will you need to digitize oversize materials? How well-built and intuitive is your in-house option? All these factors and more affect document scanning costs. If you've got a digitization project on the horizon, this guide will explain your options and help you estimate what it will cost — along with where and how much you might save.
Document scanning services
Scanning bureaus specialize in digitizing large volumes of documents. They offer their expertise as a service to organizations that don’t want to build scanning infrastructure of their own. Here are some of the pros and cons of outsourcing your scanning.
Advantages
- Experienced professionals: Scanning services have enterprise-level scanners and plenty of experience. You can typically count on a high-quality result.
- Scalability: Scanning services have robust scanning infrastructure in place. They can handle as many (or few) documents as you need digitized.
- Maintenance savings: Offloading scanning to a service means offloading maintenance and storage costs, although some of these costs may be passed on to you.
Disadvantages
- Control: Ceding control of your document scanning can lead to scans that don't meet your needs or standards.
- Turnaround time: Outsourced scans aren't available as quickly as in-house ones.
- Long-term price: Labor costs can drive a scanning service's price per page higher than that of an in-house scan. The more you use a service, the less cost-effective it becomes.
- Security: Any time a document leaves your ecosystem it can become much harder to ensure its security.
Pricing
The cost to scan documents can vary from service to service. Most charge a different rate for specialty documents, so if you need to scan large-format documents or microfilm, you'll likely pay more. Double-sided pages can also drive up the price, as some services treat each side as its own page and charge accordingly.
To get a sense of what you'd pay with a service, you can estimate the number of documents you need scanned. Archive boxes can hold 2,000-3,250 documents, depending on their size. Vertical file cabinets are bigger, typically containing 2,400-3,250 pages per shelf drawer. Horizontal files are the biggest of all, holding 4,850-6,500 pages per drawer.
Using these figures as a baseline, count your filing locations for a ballpark number of pages to be scanned. Multiply that by your chosen service’s rate for a sense of their document scanning prices.
Did You Know?:Our ROI Calculator factors in the total cost of scanning, including document prep, hardware costs, and staff time. Get the whole picture and see how much you could be saving.
In-house scanners
Whether you already have a fleet of scanners or you’re deciding whether to purchase them, in-house scanning comes with its own benefits and drawbacks. Investing in the right equipment to meet all your organizational needs can have a higher upfront cost than a scanning service, but may pay off over time.
Advantages
- Customization: Using your own scanners lets you determine the exact scan settings you need and completely control the process.
- Speed: As soon as a scan is complete your team can access and work with it. No need to wait for digitized documents to be uploaded or imported to their destination.
- Workflow integration: Internal scanning benefits from process automation. Instant optical character recognition (OCR), data extraction, and document routing can power efficiency in the office.
- Cost efficiency: A well-built scanner can handle over 10,000 sheets per day. That kind of build quality can reduce maintenance needs, which can drive the cost-per-scan down.
- Security: Enterprise scanners come with robust security features. You can build on that base, customizing it to meet industry needs from HIPAA to HITRUST. Plus, the physical documents never have to leave your office.
- Convenience: When you can instantly scan any document you need, there's no need to organize shipments to an outside source, coordinate deliveries, or plan around external schedules..
Disadvantages
- Space needs: Scanners take up surface space. Plan accordingly.
- Scalability: To scale up production you must buy more scanners or upgrade to higher-performing models.
- Maintenance: Although enterprise scanners are built for the long haul, they will still need occasional service.
What factors affect in-house document scanning prices?
What you’re scanning
Scanning basic copy paper is as simple and affordable as it gets. But if you’ve got large-format documents, delicate ones, or microfiche to scan, you’ll need an appropriate scanner. That can demand a specialized or highly versatile scanner, which raises your upfront investment, though may still result in long-term savings.
How much time you spend scanning
If you only need to digitize a handful of documents a month, scanner management should not be the top of your priority list. But as more businesses take advantage of the efficiencies that digitization creates, the more scanning you’re likely to do. If you scan frequently, speed matters.
How many scanners you own
Of course, buying a fleet of scanners can drive up your upfront investment. It can also multiply your maintenance costs, so choose a reliable brand. But the benefits are undeniable. Matching your scanner fleet to your needs means fewer bottlenecks for workers. The more evenly distributed those scanners, the less time workers will spend walking to and fro. Most importantly, documents make a seamless transition from physical form to digital. Process automation can then pick up the baton and speed up workflows across the organization. Plus, top-quality enterprise scanners are heavy-duty machines. They’re built for high-volume jobs and the best brands require minimal maintenance.
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Calculating your savings
Enterprise scanners are an investment in your company. Over their long life cycles, they can save you a significant amount of time and money. That’s especially true for Ricoh’s professional grade fi and SP series of scanners.
Built to purpose for the most demanding document handling jobs, fi and SP scanners are capable of processing tens of thousands of pages per day at the highest levels of accuracy. Their intuitive integration capabilities with all existing work suites minimize time-to-value for businesses looking to invest in tools that will pay dividends for years to come.
Curious about how much an enterprise scanner from Ricoh can save you? We’re here to help. By putting just a few simple variables into our return on investment (ROI) calculator, you can get a sense of how much you can save each year. Click here to try it out for yourself.