Guide
What is digitization? A complete guide
Digitization helps businesses become more efficient by streamlining information retrieval and reducing human error.
What is digitization? A complete guide
What is digitization? A complete guide
Digitization is a convenient way to access information, but it may also be a vital business strategy. In the past, businesses had to store mountains of paperwork to retain important records. Now, companies can convert those physical assets into digital files, store them on servers, and share them as needed. By digitizing paper documents, businesses can operate more efficiently. Important data becomes easier to find, harder to lose, and less vulnerable to human error. This way companies can spend less time and money on information retrieval and storage.
If your business is looking to digitize, our guide can help walk you through the process. We’ll cover key benefits of digitization, the different types of documents you can digitize, and how your digital data can help grow your business. To start the process, you’ll need a document scanner, a good piece of scanning software, and a few digitization best practices.
Digitization is the process of converting physical assets into digital data. We digitize data all the time, for both personal and professional reasons. Some examples of digitization include:
- Scanning paper documents
- Taking digital photos of receipts
- Retyping an old letter on a computer
- Ripping a CD to a computer
- Converting a VHS cassette to an .MP4 file
For businesses, digitization usually involves scanning text documents and saving them as digital files. These documents might include:
- Vendor contracts
- Intake forms
- Financial records
- Professional correspondence
- Employee handbooks
The exact paperwork will vary from industry to industry, but the principles are the same. Document digitization starts with printed papers and ends with files on a computer, mobile device, or cloud server.
While you can digitize documents by manually retyping them or taking individual photos, these processes are too slow and tedious for companies with a lot of physical records on hand. Instead, you’ll want a high-quality scanner and powerful scanning software.
Benefits of digitization
- More office space: Physical records take up a lot of space, especially if they’ve been accumulating for decades. Contrast this with digital records, where you can fit millions of copies on a single hard drive.
- Better document organization: Old paperwork often gets shoved in unmarked boxes with a loose alphabetical order (if you’re lucky). Digital files can be arranged to live in neatly ordered folders with descriptive names.
- Easier information retrieval: Employees can access digital documents right from their computers or smartphones, without having to worry about locked rooms or off-site storage locations. They can also copy, paste, and search digitized text, making research even easier.
- Improved collaboration: Unless you make copies, only one staff member at a time can use a paper record. Digital files let multiple people read them at once, helping employees work together more efficiently.
- Safer documents: Paper documents can get lost, damaged, or stolen easily. Basic cybersecurity measures can protect digital documents from unauthorized access, while regular backups help prevent data loss.
To learn more about digital document basics, read What Is Digitization?
Did You Know?: The RICOH fi-8170 can scan up to 70 pages per minute, and supports both USB and Ethernet connections. Click here to learn more.
Data digitization is a way to take digitization one step further. While digitization converts physical papers into digital files, data digitization can also make the information in those files more easily accessible.
For an example of data digitization, consider optical character recognition (OCR). When you scan a paper record, most modern scanning software can identify and digitize the text using OCR technology. That way, the digital file has indexable, searchable text that you can copy, paste, and edit. Without OCR, you’d wind up with a simple image of the text, where you couldn’t highlight or modify anything.
For easy reference:
- Scanning a document is digitization
- Extracting information from that document is data digitization
Benefits of data digitization
- More efficient workflows: Without data digitization, digital files still require thorough reading and retyping. Extracting data allows employees to search for exactly what they need, then quickly copy and paste it where needed.
- Better preservation: Over long periods of time, digital files can still get lost or shunted off into deeper parts of your archive. If that data isn’t indexed or searchable, you may never find it again.
- Deeper data analysis: When you have access to years’ (or decades’) worth of information, you can use data analysis tools to learn how your business has grown and changed over time. This information can help you fix inefficiencies or predict future trends.
Check out What Is Data Digitization? for a deeper dive into data analysis.
Did You Know?: PaperStream Capture Pro scanning software offers accurate OCR, automatic metadata tagging, sophisticated file sorting, and streamlined data extraction. Click here to learn more.
Once you’ve digitized your company’s paperwork, you’ll have a set of electronic records. At this point, it’s time to start thinking about electronic records management (ERM). Like the name suggests, ERM refers to a systematic process for managing digital documents. There’s no one “right” way to approach ERM. It all depends on what your business needs.
Suppose you work at a healthcare business. An ERM system might look like this:
- Collect patient intake and insurance forms
- Scan all the paperwork
- Tag metadata and sort files with scanning software
- Secure your files to comply with regulations
- Access and share your digital data as needed
- Delete records once you no longer need them
While developing an ERM strategy takes some time and effort, it’s part of any responsible digitization project. You and your staff should know how to create, store, protect, and eventually get rid of whatever information you collect.
Benefits of electronic records management
- Remote sharing: Part of your ERM strategy may involve uploading your files to cloud servers rather than local office computers. If so, employees and partners can access the information they need anytime, anywhere, on any device they choose.
- System backups: A regular backup schedule is an important part of any long-term ERM plan. If you back up files every month rather than “whenever we have time,” you’re much less likely to lose valuable data.
- Regulatory compliance: Some industries, such as healthcare and finance, have strict regulations about storing and sharing sensitive data. ERM helps ensure there’s a documentable, repeatable compliance procedure in place.
How to Digitize the Customer Experience
If you work in a public-facing business, then you may want to digitize the way your customers interact with you. Customers are used to digital conveniences, whether it’s using cloud computing to work remotely or paying for groceries with a tap of their smartphone.
Some parts of the customer experience that you can digitize include:
- Intake forms
- Payments
- Receipts
- Appointment records
- Follow-up messages
Some of these processes can be digital right from the start, such as checking into an appointment with a smartphone app. For others, you may still need to gather paper documents and digitize them after the fact.
Digitizing the customer experience can vary tremendously depending on what you do, how many customers you have, and your budget for buying new software and hardware. As far as general recommendations go, if your customer needs something, give it to them digitally whenever you can.
For more information about the benefits of digitizing the customer experience, read How the Digitization of Customer Experience Unlocks Growth.
Our Recommendation: RICOH fi Series Scanners
If you’re ready for your business to embrace digitization, you’ll need the right tools for the job. A RICOH fi Series scanner can be one of those tools. The fi Series scanners are built for businesses, featuring rapid scanning speeds, powerful PaperStream Capture software, and paper handling that minimizes jams and errors.
Take the RICOH fi-8170 as an example. This device can scan up to 70 pages per minute with an automatic document feeder (ADF) that holds 100 sheets at a time. Multi-feed detection lets you scan documents of different sizes in the same batch. The fi-8170 can connect via either USB or Ethernet, depending on which setup works better for your office, and employees can operate it with an intuitive color touchscreen. You can shop our fi-Series scanner line to find an option that will help your business build a digital future.
Note: Information and external links are provided for your convenience and for educational purposes only, and should not be construed, or relied upon, as legal or financial advice. PFU America, Inc. makes no representations about the contents, features, or specifications on such third-party sites, software, and/or offerings (collectively “Third-Party Offerings”) and shall not be responsible for any loss or damage that may arise from your use of such Third-Party Offerings. Please consult with a licensed professional regarding your specific situation as regulations may be subject to change.