All automobiles serve basically the same purpose, getting their passengers from Point A to Point B. When we shop for cars, however, we tend to be very specific about what we want. That is because vehicles are specialized around HOW you want to get from Point A to Point B. There are vehicles optimized for fuel-efficiency, for passenger capacity, for towing, for performance, and for driving in all-terrain conditions. Consumers typically pick a vehicle around their driving lifestyle.
The same is true when researching document scanners. All scanners serve the same basic purpose of converting paper documents into electronic ones, but that does not mean that all scanners are the same. Smart consumers learn the basic differences and buy a scanner that is right for them.
There are 4 basic categories of scanners on the market. Identify the category that is right for you, and you will be well along the way to making a good purchasing decision.
Personal Scanners: These are the scanners that you find at Best Buy or get for free when you buy a new computer. They are often part of a multifunction printer/copier/scanner/fax machine. These can be an excellent way to get started scanning your personal documents. Flatbed and low-capacity ADF (Automatic Document Feeder) options are typically available. These scanners are best suited for personal family use or for a small, low-paper volume home office. Typically, scanning speeds are very slow per page, and the internal components are not designed for the wear-and-tear of significant volumes of scanning.
Business-class Workgroup Scanners: These are the small desktop scanners that you have likely seen in the front of your doctor's office like the Kodak ScanMate i1120, pictured to the left. These scanners usually feature a small Automatic Document Feeder and are designed to take up very little space on a desk.
What is the difference between these scanners and the personal scanners? It comes down to quality, throughput, and durability. Just like a nice camera does a better job taking pictures than a disposable one, these scanners do a better job capturing an accurate paper image. They typically scan up to 20-40 pages per minute, which is significantly faster than the personal scanner class. Their internal components are designed to stand up to the wear-and-tear of scanning up to 1/3 of a box of paper per day. If you are looking for a business scanner to keep up with daily scanning of one or a couple of people's daily documents, this is probably the class of scanner for you. Typically, this class is where you start seeing TWAIN driver support, which is important for many business applications.
Business-class Departmental Scanners: These are very similar to the workgroup scanners but with higher capacities and higher speeds. The Kodak i1320 Plus, pictured to the right, is a good example of this class of scanners. They have all of the advantages of a small business class scanner with the ability to scan up to a box of paper per day at speeds around twice as fast as workgroup class scanners.
Production Scanners: These are high-volume scanners like the Kodak i700 series of scanners pictured to the left. These extremely durable, large scanners work well in a mailroom or back-office environment for capturing large quantities of documents (up to 30 boxes or more of paper per day). Because of the high cost and capacity of these scanners, they are best used if you have a large quantity of documents to scan along with dedicated personnel to prep and feed work into the scanner.
Of course, this is just a brief overview of the main types of scanners currently out on the market. There are other important factors to consider when making your selection. Do you need to scan just one side of the documents or both? Do you need color scans? How much do consumables such as rollers cost to replace? Will you need to scan large engineering-type documents? Do you need to scan books or other documents that will not go through an Automatic Document Feeder? All of these are important questions to ask before making a purchasing decision. Helpful information regarding these questions and more will be featured in future articles.
i/oTrak is committed to making paper easier for people and businesses to deal with. We are a Kodak Authorized Reseller and Document Conversion Center. We offer a range of back-office services to help businesses of all sizes with their document needs, including E-Z Scan, E-Z Store, E-Z Shred, and E-Z Send. Contact one of our client solution specialists today to find out more about our line of quality Kodak scanners or our range of professional services today.
