Now that your firm has decided to finally do something with all the documents in assorted boxes, file cabinets, offices, storage rooms and warehouses, you need to figure out how to really get it done.  Most importantly – what is it going to cost?  How long will it take?

At Armedia our approach is to give you the answers.

We recently received a request to quote nineteen, four drawer file cabinets.  Our first question was – how big are the filing cabinets? The response: standard cabinets. Ok – just to be clear – standard to who, to what?

At Armedia we understand there are dozens of different sizes for 4 drawer file cabinets.  They can be 12”, 24”, 36” wide or even larger.  How deep are the cabinets?  Some file cabinet drawers seem to go on forever when pulled open. Are the pages placed in an 8.5” x 11” letter width or are they set in a legal format?  The width definitely affects the volume of documents contained inside.  One Armedian first thought there would be 50,000 pages to be scanned but when asked to consider these other sizes it showed it could be up to 500,000 pages to be scanned.  Size matters.

Knowing the scope up front is the first priority.

To help you know what you have in your documents we need to know:

• How large or small: what is the size of your project?
  • An office full of cabinets
  • warehouse with thousands of banker boxes
  • combination of files, cabinets, offices, boxes, warehouse
    • how full are the boxes or cabinets
  • When do you want it done?
    • What is your bottom line turn around?
  • What is your budget?
    • Is the budget for one year or to cover multiple years?
    • Is there a fiscal deadline?
  • What type of documents do you have?
    • Fragile which require Manual scans
      • Documents cannot go thru a high-speed process and require extra care and effort
    • Non-manual which allow for High Speed
      • Any document that can be done quickly with little effort
    • Page size
      • Legal, letter, ledger, oversize, receipt, post it note
    • Type of paper documents
      • books
      • pamphlets
      • sticky notes
      • newspapers
      • architect drawings
      • carbon copies
    • Media Conversions
      • CDs
      • DVD
      • Cassettes
    • Security Level
      • Confidential PII
      • Secret / Top Secret
    • Number of boxes and file cabinets to scan
      • Location for items
      • Dimensions of boxes and cabinets
    • Damage to documents
      • How many will require repair and special attention
    • Age of documents
      • Paper younger then 10 years
      • Paper older then 11 years may require special attention
    • Bindings:
      • clips or staples
      • spines – can they be cut?
      • Will items need to be rebound after scanning?
    • How many of each do you have to scan?
    • Are there items not to be scanned mixed in with scan items that need to be sorted?
      • Are personal or non-essential items mixed in with files?

After reading the above questions I am sure your response is like all our other customers; a weary ‘I don’t know’.

Don’t worry – Armedia knows how to find the answers.  Armedia will send over trained document assessors to review and determine the scope of your work.  Our team will tag each box, cabinet and office with what they contain. You will have a visible form providing you with the answers to your project scope.  A clear reminder to folks as to what is tagged to be scanned to make their work life easier and uncluttered.

We will know that your nineteen, four-drawer file cabinets contain exactly 350,000 letter size pages, bound by staples, clips, have a few sticky notes, some are double sided, paper age under 10 years and all need to be scanned within 45 days of receipt within current fiscal year.  Now we can determine a fair and equitable price of your project.

Armedia also has experience in being shown into a storage room where everything needs to be scanned.  Our trained team begins the process of reviewing files, tagging boxes, cabinets, and drawers to provide an exacting summary of the project.

Our team has even gone into a cluttered office to remove car tires, box up folders on the floor, organize misplaced files in boxes on shelves to take what a client thought was 5 cabinets to scan but turned out to be 112 boxes of files to be scanned.  This client was amazed by the work our team did to restore their space and attain an exacting number of documents to scan.

In this specific case the Director was quite pleased we only showed the ‘after’ photos in our summary presentation as there was no way they would want their leadership to see how poorly their team had cared for their historical documents.

Armedia strives to leave places better than we find them.

A really quick way to determine the cost for your scan project is to know the total volume of items to scan.  To start we need to know how many document pages are to be scanned.  How many pages involved is to know the number of inches to be scanned.  If we consider a brand new ream of paper, with no clips, paper issues or other concern, it holds 500 sheets of paper. If they were scanned it would be 1000 double sided scans.  Do the math on your project – better yet – let Armedia come in and do it for you.

But remember extra work on documents requires extra costs.  The quality of the documents and the age will affect how the items can be scanned.  If we need to repair pages, cut book bindings or keep spines intact to scan, rebind items, or scan fragile documents, it require additional time which equals more money.

Don’t let the scope of your project worry you.  Let Armedia understand your answers to the above questions as we will be able to provide an excellent price for you to get your job done right, on time and within budget. We can discuss pricing per page, file, box, or space.  We want to understand your plan and will work with you and your team to meet the objectives.

Let’s begin the process. Call or email us today.

Learn more at www.armedia.com.

Safely, Securely, Successfully Scanning Documents

 

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