What Kind of Business Scanner is Right for Your Office?

When it comes to choosing a business scanner, you may not realize what a vital role it can play in keeping the office running efficiently.

Not every business scanner is made the same, just like not every business is the same. It isn’t necessary to get the most high-performance scanner out there, if your office only has a low-volume need. However, not choosing the right one may cause downtime and prevent work from getting done in a timely manner. Central Business Equipment in Little Rock specializes in this kind of equipment. By quickly evaluating your company’s needs, we can help you get squared away with a scanner that is right for your office…not somebody else’s.

Document Type and Size

To start narrowing down business scanner choices, first ask yourself what kind of documents your business will be scanning and what characteristics they have. Does your office only need a scanner capable of handling standard paper measurements? Often these smaller scanners will be able to sit on an employee’s desk for personal use. Specialized scanners will have a higher capability to work with documents that are of unusual size or texture, such as a driver’s license. Some standard scanners cannot pull through pages past a certain thickness without jamming up, while flatbed scanners can. Whatever you choose should be able to handle the largest size document you’ll find yourself needing to scan, even if you only do so every once and awhile.

Scanner Speed

Higher scanner speed usually means a higher price to pay, but this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. If your office scans thousands of pages per day, a high-volume scanner is going to ensure you’re not spending hours on end waiting for documents to be scanned. In this way, the higher price saves you money by allowing you to actually get work done. If you choose a slow-speed scanner with such high-volume needs, half your day will be spent scanning. Departmental scanners are equipped to run thousands of pages per day and are typically shared by the entire department, hence their name. To get an idea of how much time you could save (and if it’s worth it) with a faster scanner, use the pages per minute speed of the scanner by how many pages your office typically runs per day.

Consider Service and Maintenance Costs

As with most equipment, a business scanner will require maintenance and upkeep if you want it to last. For this reason, it’s important that you choose a scanner based on the volume of documents you’ll scan on an average daily basis. Most business scanners have a recommended amount of pages that should be run through it per day. This suggested number of pages helps you to keep up with how it is wearing and when to schedule maintenance. When choosing a scanner, always inquire about what kind of warranty or maintenance contracts that come with it.

Choosing a Business Scanner

Hopefully, these guidelines help give you an idea of what sort of business scanner your office will need. If you can give us an idea of how often your office will use a scanner and for what kind of documents, we will be able to help you find the right one. If you don’t have a clue, that’s okay too! That’s what we’re here for.