Misconceptions of MFP Scanning

Today there are millions of MFPs populating the workplace. The ease of MFP scanning makes it attractive to everyday office professionals to add hardcopy documents to their electronic workflows.

But MFP scanning is still new to many organizations, leading to questions about whether it is possible to use MFPs the way you would standalone scanners. Here’s a look at four common misconceptions of MFP scanning:

• Scanning will create a line at the MFP. People will queue up. Not true. It takes 30 seconds to two minutes to scan almost all documents if the scanning software is properly designed, and you can scan while someone else is printing.
• You won’t be able to preview a scanned image at the MFP. Yes you can. Previewing will allow you to check the image to be sure it scanned correctly before returning to your desk.
• You can’t use barcode recognition to automate routine document scanning tasks. Not correct. For example, using barcodes during a batch process can eliminate bottlenecks with automated splitting of document batches and naming of files.
• You can't do image cleanup or drop colors out of images automatically. Yes, you can create clear, legible images from less than perfect originals on the fly with MFPs, eliminating scanning errors and saving time.
  
  Today, eCopy introduced Business Automation Services that address barcode recognition and image enhancement. You can read the news release here.
  
  Please share with us other MFP scanning misconceptions you have experienced.

Comments

[Document Technology Guru]

Thank you for clarifying some of the more misunderstood aspects of MFP scanning. I understand its uses more fully now. Thanks for the great resource!

[Bill Brikiatis]

You're welcome and thanks for commenting. People have suggested that I should publish a post on the advantage of standalone scanners over MFPs. There are many.

[FRank Stellato]

Can I OCR a document for editing using ecopy desktop?

[Bill Brikiatis]

Frank -- What a timely question. Yesterday eCopy announced availability of the next generation of eCopy Desktop, which is now called eCopy PaperWorks. You can OCR a scanned document using either eCopy Desktop or eCopy PaperWorks and create a text or Word document.

The OCR capability of eCopy PaperWorks is improved over eCopy Desktop, so I would recommend that you use PaperWorks.

You can try this for yourself for free by going to http://www.ecopy.com/Products-eCopy-PaperWorks.asp and downloading the 45-day trial version on the right hand side of the page.