Document Scanners are a requirement for many businesses, especially those that are moving in a Green and/or Paperless direction. Once the necessity is realized, the question then becomes: what type/brand/model is best suited to the business?

There are numerous characteristics about business quality scanners that should be evaluated when shopping for the perfect solution. Here are a few questions business leaders should ask while comparing competing options.

1. What document size(s) will be scanned? Does the business have a lot of legal-size documents that need to be scanned? If that’s the case, then a scanner with a feeder which can accommodate that size is necessary. But beyond that, does the scanner need to support documents smaller than 8.5″ x 11″? Or even larger than legal? The hardware should support the document sizes that the business will be scanning.
2. Is speed important? Not all document scanners are created equal when it comes to scanning speed. In fact, it’s a foregone conclusion that scanning speed is directly related to price. The faster the scanner scans, the more it costs. It’s also important to tie this point to the previous point: if the scanner is advertised at scanning x pages per minute (ppm), that metric assumes 8.5″ x 11″ sized documents. If the business will be scanning a lot of legal size documents, the throughput will be slower than advertised because those documents are longer.
3. What type of paper will be scanned? If the business will need to scan card stock, photograph paper, thin paper, or some other unusual material, this should definitely be a consideration when shopping for a scanner. There are a few things more frustrating to business leaders than investing a large sum of money in a scanner only to find that it jams frequently because it can’t handle various paper formats.

If your business is searching for a great document scanner, feel free to contact us. We’ll be happy to discuss various options with you and provide a recommendation suited to your situation.