How Scan to Zero Transforms Traditional File Cabinet Storage

Papers, files, folders, and the hum of printers and copiers—paperwork has long been considered the cornerstone of running a business. 

Up until a few years ago, the hallmark of a well-established business was an office filled with row upon row of file cabinets!

And once the office ran out of space, the papers found their way into basements and then into expensive document storage areas. 

This meant that when you needed a document, you could no longer retrieve it by leaning across your desk and reaching up to a cabinet crammed with files. You had to send someone to the storage space to look for the right folder and the specific document and bring it back to the office!

Cut to the present—fortunately, we now have a better way to manage business documents. No longer is business synonymous with filing cabinets. Instead, today's offices are lean and minimalistic—desks with laptops and conference rooms—no file cabinets in sight!

Paperless offices are now the norm. They are the indicators of a modern, progressive business ready for the digital era.

The (bygone) age of the office printer-scanner

Paper went out of fashion a few years ago. Converting paper documents into digital files in an office environment was not unusual even a few years ago. The typical office printer-copier-scanner was the office hero. But soon, the office scanner could not handle the volume and speed of scanning required for modern offices. As businesses adopted digital communication and transaction methods, paper became obsolete. Native digital files generated by software left paper out of the equation.

But what was to happen to the stacks of legacy paperwork? The rows of file cabinets? Even if you have moved to digital documents recently, you still need to deal with the old file cabinets that have accumulated papers for years.

Scan to Zero: A step-by-step approach to reducing your dependence on paper

Scan to Zero has one goal—get you to operate with zero paper! How do we do that? We schedule a month-on-month, regular scanning of a fixed number of paper documents until none are left! It stops paper from accumulating and eating up expensive storage space. Depending on the budget, you can define the number of records to be digitized per month.

The main benefit of using a Scan to Zero service is that there is no upfront or one-time investment you need to make to digitize your documents. This is especially important for organizations with a large volume of legacy paper records that may require significant investment for a one-time scanning project.

The real beauty of Scan to Zero is that there is no disruption to your regular operations. If you need a document that is currently with us for scanning, all you have to do is inform us, and we will have it delivered to you or sent over electronically, so your employees don't suffer any downtime because of the scanning project.

Reclaim those file cabinets and storage spaces!

As your organization grows, so does your stockpile of paper documents!

Are you currently paying out large sums toward offsite storage costs for physical records? Do you have a fixed budget for the digital conversion of your legacy documents?

Scan to Zero is the perfect choice as you can invest your existing budget toward achieving a paperless state while saving recurring costs of rented storage.

Mitigate the risks of retaining important information on paper

Paper originals are prone to damage due to environmental conditions in storage and there is also the risk of data loss if they are stolen or misplaced. 

Important information is better stored in digital formats, which can be backed up and safeguarded using advanced data and network security solutions. With the organization's reputation and credibility at stake, keeping vital information secure is a top corporate priority.

Scan to Zero helps you secure critical information. Once digitized, we can route the data to your DMS or AppEnhancer, our content management system, which uses advanced security protocols, and has stringent access control features, mitigating the risks of data breaches, physical damage, and theft.

Save time & stay on budget

When you have a limited digitization budget, scanning all your legacy documents as a one-time project may prove too expensive.

Scan to Zero allows you to scan a batch of documents every month, depending on the budget available, helping you avoid upfront investment.

Storing digital copies on cloud storage is more affordable than renting storage space for physical documents—so you'll save significantly on storage. Plus, you'll save on resources previously used to manually handle and process paper. Your teams will save time as collaboration is streamlined with digital documents. 

RDS offers Scan to Zero Services to help offices achieve a paperless state

RDS offers a Scan to Zero service for digitizing large volumes of legacy documents. The scanning becomes a background activity which carries on without any disruption to your daily operations.

We estimate the volume of documents you need to digitize and spread the project over a period of time, depending on the monthly budget you would like to spend.

Month-by-month, we convert your stock of legacy paper or microfilm documents to digital formats. Our state-of-art scanning bureaus house your documents safely and securely during the scanning. Once the scanning is complete, we can transport the papers back to your premises or send them for secure shredding if they have reached their expiration dates.

The digitized files can be integrated seamlessly with your existing LoB applications. Speak with an RDS document digitization expert today to get a quote for our Scan to Zero offering today.