New! Databranch Document Management & Imaging Center

Databranch has developed a new Document Management & Imaging Center, allowing customers to have a hands-on experience of the benefits of a Document Management Solution. Read on to learn more details about implementing a Document Management Solution for your business, then contact sales@databranch.com to schedule a live demonstration!

Like many of our customers, you may be considering the purchase of an electronic imaging system, which helps you streamline document organization and storage and lets you retrieve documents from a common Web browser. At one time, such solutions were only affordable for large businesses. However, today's document management solutions feature improved quality at lower prices, and businesses with modest IT budgets can now justify the expense.

The basic setup for many businesses is simple. It typically includes a dedicated workstation, imaging software and one or more scanners. Scanned content is then transferred to online or offline storage for archiving, searching and retrieval. We can further personalize the system to your specific needs.

Workstations
A document imaging system will run on just about modern PC with a Windows XP operating system. You'll need a machine with at least 512 MB of RAM for processing, a reasonable hard drive (perhaps 40GB) and a standard USB or SCSI interface to connect with a high-speed scanner.

If your workload includes many high-maintenance documents, including those riddled with lines, folds, wrinkles or marks, you’ll need more processing power. Much of the task, however, can be off-loaded to a SCSI-based imaging card or board to free the computer’s processor for other tasks.

Scanners
Today's high-speed scanners do more than ever, producing up to 125 ppm — or a maximum of 7,500 an hour. Depending on the number of pages they need scanned per day, small companies might purchase two high-speed scanners to tackle backlogged documents and two lower-end scanners for everyday work. To choose the right scanners for your needs, do the following:

1. Assess your current backlog of documents and the additional number of documents coming in every day.

2. Calculate the number of pages to be scanned each day. Factor in the number of hours your staff will devote to scanning and include time for loading documents.

3. Consider each scanner's rated life expectancy. The number of pages scanners can safely handle will range from only 500 pages per day to unlimited use.

Multi-Function Printers
Many companies take advantage of time and cost saving strategy of combining printing, copying, faxing and scanning into a single Multi-Function Printer, or MFP. Databranch’s Document Management and Imaging Center features a line of 3 HP MFP’s designed to take on many roles, including scanning for compatibility with Informa IQ Document Management Software.

Software
Each document imaging system requires at least two pieces of software — one to clean up scanned pages and another to archive and organize the documents for searching and retrieval. The former prepares documents by despeckling dots, granules or photocopy marks; deskewing to ensure pages aren't scanned crookedly; and removing unnecessary color from document backgrounds. The latter lets you save electronic documents in PDF, TIFF or other formats. From there, your records are easily searched and viewed using a common Web browser.

Databranch recommends Inform IQ Document Management Software. A live demonstration of it’s features and ease of use is available at our Document Management and Imaging Center.

Storage
To plan the amount of storage needed, calculate about 20,000 regular text pages per GB. Then factor in the number of documents your company must scan each day. Simple math will reveal the amount of additional storage you’ll need over the next six months or year.

Also, how important is fast retrieval to you? If it's crucial to everyday business, your documents can be stored on a server or network- attached storage (NAS) for easy online access. If archiving or longer-term storage is your main concern — keeping documents on hand to meet legal requirements, for example — the records can go straight to your company's magneto-optical or tape-drive storage. We can provide additional details, and, if needed, link a tape drive to the NAS for backup.

Calculating Your ROI
We can help you estimate your ROI on a new document management system. We'll consider such factors as the total cost of ownership for your proposed solution, the labor costs associated with your current manual setup, and the cost of your office space devoted to storing hardcopies.

Many small to midsize businesses now find that their investment in document imaging pays for itself within a year. To find out more about this exciting technology, please contact sales@databranch.com.  As an added bonus, the first person to email or call us at 716-373-4467 and ask about Document Management receives a $50 gift certificate to the HP.com store.