A process of capturing the hard copy documentation into digital format, known as document conversion.

The document conversion services do become time-consuming and hectic at times but the positive aspects outweigh the negativity always. The advantages observed are:

• The need for physically storing documents no longer required. This saves storage space and cost of printing, photocopying, or for storage.
• There is no need for manual handling of the data. This reduces the risk of data loss or rekeying of data.
• No business wants to show a disorganised face to their customers that can lead to loss of customer loyalty or company switch. This service can make the surplus amount of data manageable and available at the click of a button.
• Once the time-consuming part of the service is done, the usage of data or documents is faster than finding physical documents from the storage room.
• Large complex data incorporated into specific information with ease that becomes easily accessible at any period of time and requirement.

Things to do before the process of document conversion undertaken:

Catalogue:

When planning for document conversion, it is better to take a note of all the physical copies or hard copies of the data converted. An additional task of listing number of output formats after conversion, estimated cost required to do so, etc. is important. If documents need to be relocated from one place to another for conversion purposes, transportation cost, temporary storage cost and space, need to be registered too.

Pigeonhole:

Different documents belong to different sectors of the business and mixing will be a great problem. Some are catalogues, manuals, insurance papers, lease agreements, financial records, regulatory notices and much more. These documents need categorised under the respective headlines for the ease of access. Delivering them already categorised in physical form will speed up the conversion process for the service providers.

Format:

Determine the target format required for the conversion. It can be one or more formats as per the future usage. Plan, research the market and sort out the desired format(s) in which the document needs converted.

Timeline:

As the time required to convert depends on the size of the input document, time becomes subjective in this case of conversion. Thus it is suitable for the companies’ part to plan specific timelines and deadlines for particular documents to avoid any impact on the daily operations of the business.

Confidential:

Documents, rather the data in the documents vary from one company to another and they are highly confidential in nature. Ideas leaked or stolen from documents that would benefit one company while hampering the existence of another. Thus while selecting a data conversion company, background study, research and checking of regulatory rules, policies, experience and reviews must be kept in mind. The employees who will assist the service providers must also be trustworthy.

Businesses can use this service to enhance the productivity and efficiency altogether.