Scanbition Framework 3: Scan and Maintain the File Room
Scan and Maintain the File Room
As part of our series on enterprise scanning initiatives, DocSolid summarizes five different approaches that our customers have used successfully, to get started and grow serious scanning across the organization. The third of these Scanbition Frameworks, is called ‘Scan and Maintain the File Room.’
This framework is based on the principle of accommodating the old-school culture of paper, while going digital. Using the Scan and Maintain the File Room framework, a firm profiles and scans to the DMS all incoming paper documents, but still manages a hardcopy Redweld (paper file) during the matter’s active lifecycle. The firm may choose to keep a paper file for every matter, or only for the designated matters for which the attorney has a paper preference.
DocSolid’s survey with over one hundred firms shows that about half of the attorney population today prefers working with a paper file, and the other half wants everything digital and available from the DMS. So the Scan and Maintain the File Room approach runs a dual system during the active lifecycle of the matter, to do both. This avoids any catfights or adoption curve with attorneys who prefer to work with paper.
When the matter is retired, all related paper is already scanned, profiled, and in the DMS, and after a QC and retirement process the paper can be shredded. This results in substantial hard savings by eliminating long term records storage, and unifying overall retention and disposition practices – everything is digital. Operationally, there is less cost reduction up front because a paper file room operation needs to be maintained. But as the years pass, the digital advantages of image retrieval sell themselves across the firm, and paper-preferring attorneys gradually jump on the digital bandwagon.
DocSolid’s account, Royston Razor, is an example of the Scan and Maintain the File Room approach. Their Scanbition Framework was based on a commitment to enterprise scanning, with an integrated scanning plan that actually started in accounting, then rolled out to the practice areas. But rather than force use of images onto every practice, Scan and Maintain the File Room enabled them to accommodate digital and paper preferences from the start. And as you’ll see in the case study, Royston grew their scanning muscle to the point where they tackled their old offsite records as well, eventually eliminating all offsite storage.
Scan and Maintain the File Room is an effective Scanbition Framework for firms with these objectives:
- Reduce offsite storage costs
- Accommodate both paper and digital work preferences
- Establish an enterprise scanning platform for gradual transition to a paper free operation
For more information on this and other Scanbition Frameworks, contact consulting@docsolid.com , or use the information request form at the Contact Us page at our web site.