The Real Secret To Paying Less For Scanning
Here are 5 secrets to paying less for scanning services.
Paper scanning can be a black box to anyone that wants their records digitized: what happens when you send your files to be scanned? Why does it cost so much? Why are you being asked for so many details?
It can be a lot to take in when you only want to “scan paper.” And it can be a lot on the wallet, too! All the nuances of paper scanning can add up and cost much more than you thought or planned.
To help you keep your costs down, we’ve put together a (shhh!) secret list of 5 ways to lower your paper scanning price. Read on to find out how to save money on your next project!
1. Prep Your Records
Contrary to popular belief, paper scanning projects are more about preparation (“prep”) and indexing (see #4) than actual scanning. Sure, it’s a “paper scanning project,” but that’s usually the easy part! Getting the files ready for scanning so that they can feed into the machine cleanly is a massive part of the overall work.
Prep can include several ways to get your papers ready, but the most common are:
Separating pages that are stapled or paper clipped.
Fixing tears
Removing pages from bindings (such as prongs, binder rings, or rubber bands)
Organizing loose pages
This list isn’t all-encompassing but covers a significant swath of what we do during prep.
A prime way to lower your scanning price is to have clean documents before they’re scanned. Instead of sending us your records as-is, you can go through them and do your own prep before we get them, thus minimizing the time we’ll need to get your documents ready for scanning.
We’ll always do our prep, even if you took care of it beforehand; this might be a quick flip through your files to ensure nothing was missed (like an errant stapled page). Still, if you can significantly reduce the time our folks spend prepping your project, you can save a good amount of money.
2. Ask for per-box pricing instead of per page
This little secret could save you more than 10-20 percent on your final invoice. Most scanning companies hope that you don’t ask to scan per box. This allows you to get a fixed price instead of worrying about the per-page rate, which is almost NEVER accurate when quoted. Most customers think that you can’t negotiate the per page rate or per box rate. It doesn’t hurt to ask the scanning company you choose to work for a price break. Like my father use to say “THE SQUEEKY WHEEL GETS THE OIL”
If you choose per page pricing, ask for a page count AUDIT. Every scanning company should be able to provide you with some page count audit that verifies the pages scanned and correlated with digital files being created. This way you don’t have to worry about getting overcharged for pages that don’t exist.
3. Take Care of The Transportation
Getting your documents to us is the next step in digital conversion. And like in any journey, there are numerous adventures to choose from.
The typical transportation methods include our employees picking up your records, or you pack them up and ship them to us (using something like UPS or FedEx). In most cases, having us pick up your files is the costliest, and that’s assuming you’re in the general area where driving to you is logistically feasible. Since we’re located in California, we normally stick to pickups in our state and the surrounding region. Still, it’s also based on how many boxes we pick up.
Suppose you’re looking to save some money on the project. In that case, you should consider delivering the files yourself (dropping them off at one of our facilities) or shipping them to us.
We’re not a transportation and logistics company, so although we’re capable and willing to transport your files we always appreciate it when you can get them to us yourself. And it can save you money on your project!
4. Simplify Your Indexing
Indexing can be one of your project’s most complex and expensive parts.
To keep costs down, simplify your digital indexing requirements by replicating how you physically find your records now. By doing this you’ll already be familiar with locating the files and will still get the benefit of digital speed. We’ll scan all the files and name each document by the folder label. Simple, clean, and cost effective.
You could also consider indexing by the box, the most basic method of indexing and the lowest cost. This is a great choice if you’re not getting into your files that often.
If your project is more complicated than simple folder-level indexing.
5. Choose The Best Delivery Method
Scanning your records to digital isn’t the end of the game; you’ve still got to receive the files. One of the most common delivery methods is exporting to a USB drive and getting that to you. But, depending on where the USB is delivered to, the project may be taxable.
For example, if you just finished a $100,000 project and get a USB drive delivered (and it’s taxable based on your state’s laws), you could be paying anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000 in taxes! You might consider receiving your files electronically if you’re not interested in paying a fat tax bill.
One option for this is File Transfer Protocol (FTP) in which a secure site is created for you to download your digital files.
You can also go with our secure hosted application and access your records, eliminating the need to receive a USB deliverable.
Next Steps
Have you gone through the price-reducing steps and are ready to get your paper scanned? Call us at 800.593-1826 or email info@scannmore.com to talk to one of our people and get a quote!