Everything You Need To Know About High Speed Document Scanners

Key Benefits of High Speed Document Scanners



1. Efficiency via Speed
   What would a high speed scanner be without impressive speeds? Ranging from 20 pages per minute (“PPM”) to 600ppm high speed document scanners are at the forefront of high volume projects, such as those seen in archival, accounting, or other records management applications.
2. ADF/Continuous Feed
   Achieving the aforementioned speed requires a robust and reliable Automatic Document Feed (“ADF”) system. Utilizing a specialized feeder assembly and input tray a high speed scanner can handle mixed media-sizes, ranging from business cards to legal and even lengthy land and oil survey print outs. 
3. Image Quality
   Quantity over Quality is a phrase often muttered in the world, but in the high speed scanner field, speed and accuracy are not always inversely related. High resolution cameras, advanced image optimization, customizable color profiles, and more settings allow for optimal digitization of documents.
4. Integration
   Many high speed document scanners integrate seamlessly into the workflow via a capture program (such as CrossCap), allowing images to readily be fed into cloud storage, local storage, enterprise content management, document management systems, and other production software. The images supplied by the capture process are often immediately usable and accessible.

Who Needs a High Speed Document Scanner?

• Legal Firms
  For example for: Client Records, Case Files, Legal Documents.
• Medical Practices
  For example for: Patient Records (for conversion to Electronic Medical Records).
• Educational Institutions
  For example for: Student Records, Administrative Files.
• Accounting Firms
  For example for: Financial Documents (Receipts, Tax Records, Reports).
• Government Agencies
  For example for: Elections (Mail In Ballots, Polls Ballots), Archival (Cultural, Historical), Records (Military, Administrative).

Key Features of High Speed Document Scanners

1. Speed
   Generally measured in either pages per minute (PPM) or images per minute (IPM), a high speed scanner’s speed is often used as one of the key metrics when deciding on a solution. For more delicate operations, systems that can provide extra-slow speeds when needed can be as valuable as those which only sport the extreme speeds to achieve maximum throughput.
2. ADF
   Your scan speed is only as good as your ability to provide a steady flow of documents to the scanner. Thus an essential feature of a high speed document scanner is the Automatic Document Feed, allowing batch scanning operations via an automatic input system.
3. Simplex vs Duplex
   To maintain a high speed and an efficient work flow an optimal high speed scanner will allow documents to be scanned in a single pass. To achieve this duplex scanning (where both sides are imaged in one pass) is a necessity, alternately many scan systems may be simplex (where only one side of a document can be scanned per pass).
4. Connectivity
   High speed document scanners not only require rapid input, but rapid output to maintain their rated speeds. How a scanner communicates with a host PC, network, and capture solution can be optimal or detrimental to a high volume operation. USB3, USB2, and Ethernet are all examples.
5. Duty Cycle / Durability
   In the highest volume projects a high speed document scanner needs to be fast, but it also needs to be durable. Minimal impact from wear and tear allows for maximum daily throughput.
6. Imaging Technology
   High quality cameras, fine tuned calibrations, and a tool box of image enhancement technology (auto-cropping, background removal, black page detection, gamma correction, etc) reduce file size, improve image clarity, and eliminate unnecessary post-production corrections freeing staff to get the most crucial work completed.

Best Practices when Using High Speed Scanners

• Document Preparation
  Before documents ever reach a high speed scanner they require review for staples, dog-ears (folder corners), sheet integrity (tears or holes), and alignment. Proper preparation minimizes unexpected stops in the scan process. This can depend also on what features your scanner high speed has, like paperclip detection.
• Templates & Profiles
  A well thought out work flow can be strengthened and repeated by creating and adjusting project templates and scanner setting profiles to save optimal configurations.
• Regular Maintenance
  High volumes of documents can bring high volumes of debris, dust, wear, and tear inevitably. Regular, or routine, maintenance cycles keep systems clean and running smoothly. For more information on scanner service, contact us