Document Imaging Calculator

Do you need a ballpark figure for a document imaging project?

• Calculator Here
  

Many people call or email SoftFile asking about our price per image.

The reason why a blanket price per image is an inadequate quote is because of the following reasons;

• The time it takes for document preparation (to get documents scanner ready) varies wildly. Sometimes there is no preparation involved, the documents are scanner ready. At other times 1,000 pages can be prepped in an employee hour. Yet at other times the ratio is closer to 500 pages per employee hour.
  
  
  
• What does the image resolution need to be? At 300dpi the actual document scanner is a little slower than at say 200dpi.
  
  
  
• What is the final electronic format; TIFF, PDF, JPG, or PNG?
  
  
  
• What are the data entry requirements (e.g. how are you going to find the scanned files) AND how many pages are each record? Obviously the requirement to capture a first and last name every three pages is a lot more labor than say every 200 pages.
  
  
  
• What is the total volume? Are we talking about 20 boxes or 2,000 boxes?
  
  
  
• Is there a rush? Sometimes customers are in a rush (e.g. a legal case going to trial) and at other times, they are simply scanning the records because of extremely long records retention schedules (7+ years). If the latter is the case, perhaps the customer does not really care if the project takes a week or even six months? Perhaps we would be inclined to charge less knowing that there is no rush.
  
  

Collectively, all of the above considerations affect the overall price (including the cost per image) like a stereo equalizer.

All of this said, it might be more revealing to think about a ballpark quotation in terms of the cost per box where at $100 per box the project would be an easy job and $300 might be really complicated.

Kodak ScanStation 500

At SoftFile, we are often asked to recommend a good departmental scanner. For simple, departmental-type documents, for everyday users, SoftFile recommends the Kodak ScanStation 500.

The unit has a built-in networked PC. For all intents and purposes, the ScanStation is like a scanning kiosk.

For the novice end user, the unit acts very much like a fax machine. Simply walk up
to the unit, stack up to twenty-five sheets of paper and push couple of buttons and you're done.

There are no confusing scanner dialogs, just a few logical choices (e.g. black and white or color).

As the unit is connected to the organization's network, the images are scanned and sent to a pre-specified location on the LAN (a personal folder or a shared drive), as a fax, as an email, over FTP to a specified location (e.g. SoftFile), or to a USB flash drive. As an attachment, you can even include a voice notation if you like.

The Kodak ScanStation 500 retails for about $2,495 and is worth every penny.

Selecting Imaging Software

Imaging software is a subset of ECM (Enterprise Content Management). Essentially, imaging is the methodology of getting paper into the ECM system (as an electronic document). Often, the two are bundled together as one seamless package (or suite). Other times, they are separate.

For instance, when an organization purchases a COTS (Commercial-Off-The-Shelf) ECM system, most of the time, the package includes an imaging component (or module). Common ECM software that includes an imaging module are (partial listing);

• Alchemy (OpenText)
  
• FileBound
  
• FileNet
  
• LaserFiche
  

There are some ECM systems that do not provide for an imaging module. Most often, this is the scenario where an organization's IT staff will build their own ECM system. For example, the backend database is SQL or Oracle and the front-end is a website, in order for authorized staff to access the electronic content. Under this, more increasingly common scenario, imaging software needs to be purchased in order to get the paper into an electronic format (e.g. as a TIF or PDF).

When considering the right ECM system for an organization, the actual imaging module (or imaging methodology) is of critical importance. Why? This is because the act of imaging is where considerable labor component exists. Not to mention, the separate requirement for data entry - in order to be able to find the electronically scanned images.

After calculating a ROI (return on investment) many organizations rely upon SoftFile to provide the actual imaging and data entry components. This is because, SoftFile can simply provide imaging for much less than an autonomous approach.

However, if the organization is bent towards the autonomous, do-it-yourself approach, do consider the following. When purchasing an imaging system, before the first page is scanned, 80% of the costs will be for the hardware and software purchases. Conversely 20% of the out of pocket costs will be for applicable maintenance contracts.

Now, after the first page is scanned and everyday forward, 20% of all costs will be for maintenance contracts and the remaining 80% will be on your organizational labor. So, it is critical that your selected imaging system can mitigate labor as much as possible.

In order to mitigate labor costs, your imaging software needs to automate as much as possible. For example, your selected imaging system should be, at a minimum, able to utilize (partial listing);

• Barcode technology
  
• Including Parent-Child level (sublevel) barcodes
  
• Full-text OCR (Optical Character Recognition)
  
• Zonal OCR (template based)
  
• IMR (Intelligent Mark Recognition)
  
• More
  

SoftFile offers ECM consulting. Why not call and benefit from our 23 years of imaging experience.