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Despite the digital age’s penchant for making paper-pushing a thing of the past, there’s still a big demand for paper documents in the workplace. This means it’s important to be able to take a digital document and print it, or a paper document and scan it.

We’ve already discussed the value of OCR and its importance when it comes to scanning legal documents.

Legal scanning and legal scanning services are important, but they aren’t all which matters when it comes to documents. But what about for purely organizational purposes?

Can this process be useful for helping a company avoid the clutter of disorganized documents, and can it help them retrieve important ones when needed?

Here’s a little refresher about the basics and history of OCR, as well as how it can help with important organizational practices like document management.

What is OCR? Why is it So Valuable Beyond Legal Scanning?

OCR stands for optical character recognition. It’s a process by which a computer can convert a scanned image into text. The scanned image is analyzed by software, which differentiates between darker and lighter areas to determine what the text is.

The benefit of this is, previously, a text document was considered just an image once scanned. Whether it was handwritten or printed, it was still in an image format and thus impossible to edit, search, and organize like normal text documents.

OCR is valuable because it makes converting and sorting documents much easier, allowing paper copies to be read just like digital files are.

The benefits of this in terms of keeping copies of legal documents around are obvious. The same could be said for keeping important financial data like invoices and receipts. But what about from a purely organizational perspective – does OCR have a noticeable impact on a business’s ability to keep things in order?

Why Paper Documents Make Organization Tough

There’s a reason more companies have gone to digital methods for nearly everything. It’s less about saving trees and more about saving headaches. An office full of papers lying all around can make it hard to find the right thing when it’s needed. Even if there isn’t a legal issue involved, this can still present problems.

Take training material, for example. A person may want to scan a page from a training manual and add it to an employee’s digital training package.

The only problem is – this makes it hard to search.

Even if it is printed out so the employee can have their own physical copy, it’s still another paper to keep up with. There’s also the matter of losing important papers when they’re needed.

Examples could include reports detailing store performance, which could be due to higher management at a certain date. If they’re printed, they constitute another document which could be lost. But for handwritten reports, simply scanning it makes it hard to search and retrieve.

Organization Isn’t Just About Being Tidy

While there is a lot of stress to be avoided when a business isn’t drowning in piles of paper, there’s also a benefit to being able to search documents with ease.

Scanning paper documents may mean they’re available digitally – but only as images. Without OCR, a business may have a hard time finding what they need.

This is especially true in organizations where multiple parties need to search up documents quickly.

For big stores or chains, it is vital to be able to search up documents by type, title, content, and more. OCR makes it easy for people to stay organized in the sense they can order files. Even if they’re handwritten or typed and rescanned back onto a computer, they can be sorted and retrieved as needed.

A company may do a lot of printing, or even work with a company offering printing services. But printing companies may recommend using OCR to help with organizational needs.

For some businesses, having the right files at the right time can mean the difference between keeping a big client and losing them. This means even if the documents in question don’t have a legal bearing, OCR can still be extremely useful.

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But as we all know, lawyers and their legal teams don’t just have to search through paper files, they have to search through emails, internet browser history, text messages, and much, much more.

Searching through electronic files is known as electronic discovery collection, or e-discovery. And legal document scanning is an important part of the e-discovery equation.

Legal scanning can make your job even easier and save your team a lot of time.

Why Legal Document Scanning and E-Discovery Are Vital to Law Firms in Atlanta

Scanning legal documents – and important part of litigation document management – will benefit you and your team in at least five ways.

1. E-Discovery Is Easily Searchable

One thing we find lawyers appreciate about our legal scanning services is it makes data recovery so much easier.

When you have a pile of documents to pour through, you have to be diligent reading each line very carefully. Otherwise, it’s easy to miss an important component which could make or break your case.

With e-discovery, though, you don’t have to read every line of every page. Instead, you can search the document for certain keywords. Just type in a search word or phrase and your computer will find them within the document.

Then, all you have to do is read the context to see if this particular bit of information fits your needs.

We can’t tell you how many times legal teams have told us how much they appreciate this feature of e-discovery. It saves them so much time and frustration.

2. You Can Get Your Files Back in Multiple Formats

Something else our legal clients appreciate is they can get their documents back in multiple formats. They have PDFs which can be stored on their computer, which are great for quick and easy e-discovery collection within your team.

Another format lawyers are pleased about is CDs. We can scan your documents and create shareable CDs. You can share these discs with colleagues and whoever else may need to see the documentation you possess.

Just imagine how much money you’ll save on postage by sending a single, lightweight compact disc instead of piles of paper documents.

3. Electronic Data Can Serve You Well as Evidence in a Trial

The written word has been used in court cases for centuries. Just because we’ve gone digital doesn’t mean this changed. In fact, we have more documentation than ever before, which means lawyers and police have more evidence than ever before.

Emails, text messages, and even browser history can be catalogued as evidence and used in a trial. Keeping track of these digital documents is an important part of litigation document management and will make it easier to present evidence in your case.

4. Digital Information is Difficult to Destroy

Another great thing about digital information is it’s really difficult to destroy. This benefits investigators and legal teams immensely for multiple reasons.

First, during an investigation, even digital documents which have been deleted can be un-deleted. A person would have to physically destroy every single hard drive in order to permanently delete something.

A second benefit is your electronic files are safe and recoverable if you ever experience a fire or natural disaster.

5. It Serves Your Budget Better Than Paper Files

It seems like these days we’ve all experienced the need to tighten our budget. Because of this, most of us look for ways to lighten our load while still sticking to a budget.

While legal document scanning can cost some money up front, in the long run it will save time and money. It will allow you and your team to focus on more important tasks.

Save Time by Investing in Legal Document Scanning Services

While electronic data can be extremely useful and easier to navigate than paper documents, the idea of scanning all your documents might not seem very appealing.

We get it – you’re incredibly busy. This is why you should invest in legal scanning services. We will quickly, efficiently, and confidentially scan all of your documents. Then, we endorse a Bates number for each document and put the data in a format which serves you best – searchable PDFs, concordance, shareable CDs, or database files.

Scanning legal documents can make the work your legal team does so much easier. And when you invest in legal document scanning services, you’ll save even more time and money in the long run.

Do you need legal document scanning services? We can help! Contact us to find out more about our legal scanning services, as well as our business printing products and services.

The post E-Discovery and Legal Document Scanning: What Law Firms in Atlanta Need to Know appeared first on Document Pros.

How do you access this electronically stored information (ESI)?

You can do this through a process called electronic discovery, or e-Discovery.

Gaining access to and storing electronic files in a safe way is especially important in the legal profession because you hold so much of your clientele’s person information.

If any of this information is compromised, it could adversely affect your case, as well as your reputation.

We’ll explain why e-Discovery is so important to your practice and how to protect yourself and your clients’ information.

What Is E-Discovery and How It Has Changed the Legal Profession

E-Discovery is the act of getting information via electronic format.

People don’t use paper as much as they used to. Instead, they write and send emails, search the Web, take notes on their phone, send texts, and send faxes.

All of this information is stored in the memory of the computer, phone, tablet, and cloud.

E-Discovery is a way of gaining access to this information, either to analyze it for data or to use it as evidence in a case.

This form of data recovery is so important some claim it’s changed the legal profession. The data gathered from emails and the like can make or break a case.

Here’s three more ways this tool can help you.

1. It Speeds up the Evidence Gathering Process

There’s not always a lot of time to gather information during litigation. When things are down to the wire, electronic discovery can be a life-saver.

Compiling evidence with the aid of e-Discovery can save you a lot of late nights, while helping you gather the information necessary to serve your clients to the best of your ability.

2. E-Discovery Helps You and Your Staff Practice More Efficiently

Solid evidence is needed to argue, and hopefully win, your case.

E-Discovery programs make it easier to stay organized. It will be easier to see what kind of information you still need to argue your case, and all of this information will be in one place. Whatever you need to present will be at your fingertips.

3. Electronic Discovery Can Help You Save a Lot of Money

We all try to save money where we can. Evidence gathering is one of those things which can add up quickly.

But with electronic discovery methods you can save time and money.

You don’t have to worry about document, copy, shipping, or storage fees.

Saving money will not only make you feel better, it will be something you can pass along to your clients which will help you earn a good reputation.

Law Schools Teach the Importance of E-Discovery to New Lawyers

Because e-Discovery is proving to be so important in litigation, more and more people within the legal profession feel electronic discovery management should be taught in law school.

Unfortunately, many law students – and even some seasoned attorneys – shy away from this topic. They feel it’s too “techy” and like they don’t have enough know-how to properly use this tool.

Granted, there are some challenges we face when it comes to electronically stored information. Technology is constantly changing and the way we transmit information is proliferating rapidly.

We have smartphones, smart watches, and a whole slew of social, business, and productivity apps in which information is stored and transmitted.

Thankfully, many law schools are teaching courses on e-Discovery to better equip new lawyers.

Find a Safe, Reliable Company to Help with Your E-Discovery and Litigation Needs

One of the best ways to protect yourself and your clients’ information is to utilize the services of a reliable legal printing company.

A company with a good reputation prides itself on protecting your electronic and print information.

At Document Pros, we’ll do everything in our power to keep your information secure.

Not only that, but we’re completely equipped to serve all of your litigation, copying, shredding, printing, and e-Discovery needs.

We understand how important e-Discovery is to the legal profession. Therefore, it is our mission to serve as the premier electronic discovery source for Atlanta lawyers.

The post What Is E-Discovery? What You Need to Know about Electronic Discovery appeared first on Document Pros.

What we find interesting is so many of the inventions are inspired by the human body. It makes sense, though. The way the brain works, the function of our bones and muscles – it’s all pretty incredible.

Did you know some digital technology was actually based on the abilities of the human eye? That’s right – it’s called Optical Character Recognition. And it’s something we utilize during our legal scanning process.

What Is Optical Character Recognition?

Optical Character Recognition – or OCR – is based on the eye’s ability to recognize certain characters. We aren’t even aware our eyes do this because it’s done naturally and doesn’t require any effort on our part.

Our eyes recognize patterns when we read. They differentiate between the light and dark type on the page, as well as the shapes of the letters. This is how we’re able to distinguish a letter from a number or a hyphen from an exclamation point.

To some extent, computers can do this, too. But it’s not easy for them. They don’t have the incredible human brain or eyeball. Therefore, when you ask a computer to scan a file, it won’t be able to differentiate between an image and text.

The computer just sees a whole bunch of pixels.

And this is where OCR comes in. This technology allows the computer to recognize the difference between handwriting, text, and images.

When we put this technology to use with data recovery software, the results are fantastic. We can then search a document with ease based on the content within.

This technology is benefiting pretty much every industry, too, including medical, research, legal, and more.

Why OCR Is So Important for Legal Scanning

Optical Character Recognition is utilized in conjunction with our legal copy service. When we scan your legal documents, we enable features which allow for electronic data recovery and OCR.

Legal scanning services like these are vital to nearly every business – not just lawyers. You can benefit from legal scanning if you:

• Are a medical practice with patient information
• Use legal contracts with your customers/clients
• Keep customers’ personal information on file

Having electronic files is safer in the case of fire or natural disaster. And you’re better protected against theft. You can rest assured your data is safe!

Electronic data recovery with OCR also makes your work life so much easier. It helps you and your team to be more efficient. You don’t have to worry about wasting time searching through files. With OCR, you can search your digital documents by content, which is great if you’re in a hurry.

Science and Technology Help Us Become More Efficient

It seems like every day the scientific and technological communities create something to make life easier.

Remember when you bought your first cell phone? This was a huge deal. Now, most people have phones which are basically mini-computers, photo studios, and a telephone all rolled into one. And when we get our latest smartphone, we expect it to help us be more efficient in our day-to-day activities.

Really, though, we should expect this with every new development. We should also expect people offering certain services – like a printing company – would familiarize themselves with the latest technology.

In doing so, they are better equipped to serve their customers. In turn, their customers can receive a huge ROI in those services. We all need to make investments in our businesses. Why not put forth the time and money to utilize the latest technology which will truly benefit us all?

Document Pros’ Document Scanning Services Use Only the Best Technology

The Document Pros team is committed to providing the best legal copy service in Atlanta. Therefore, we continually educate ourselves on the latest digital and legal scanning technology.

We understand how important proper scanning is and how important it is you find what you need quickly and easily.

This is why we are happy to announce we’ve been utilizing Optical Character Recognition software for a while now. And every person on our team is completely equipped to carry out your scanning and copying needs utilizing this technology.

Technology is here to make our lives easier and more efficient. We pride ourselves on the fact our team is willing to get the training needed to understand this technology. With such a dedicated team, it’s no wonder we’re able to offer competitive, affordable printing services.

The post What Is OCR? Is It Important to Legal Scanning? appeared first on Document Pros.

But is something like legal document scanning really this important? Does it serve the needs of a company and its customers, clients, or patients?

Actually, legal scanning is extremely important to most businesses.

The Benefits of Legal Scanning – Why Most Businesses in Atlanta Transition to Paperless

When we mention the benefits of a paperless office to most business owners, they tend to think in terms of saving money on paper, ink, and postage.

While this is definitely a perk of going paperless, there’s more involved.

Legal scanning can provide you with a more organized record-keeping system, while making it easier for you and your employees to find specific documents.

Additionally, getting rid of as many paper files and documents as you can will reduce the amount of storage you need, which is especially helpful if you ever need to move or if you don’t have a lot of storage space in the first place.

4 Reasons Why Legal Document Scanning Should Be Implemented Right Away

Legal document scanning is important for a number of other reasons, too, especially if you run a legal practice.

1. Keep in Step with the Digital Age

Digitization of records is the way things have been going for a number of years now. More and more companies are doing their best to go as paperless as possible. Digitization companies will continue working hard to create easier-to-use equipment, tools, and techniques to help companies achieve their paperless goals.

2. Easier Disaster Recovery

Investing in legal scanning services can help you, too, if you ever experience a disaster. Fires, floods, earthquakes, tornadoes, tsunamis, and hurricanes all have the potential to destroy businesses, office buildings, and the records within.

Having a digital copy of all your important legal documents will make it easier for data recovery to get your business up and running after such an event.

3. Better Compliance with Disclosure Laws

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 was passed by Congress to protect investors from fraud. It requires corporations provide financial information to their investors quickly, efficiently, and thoroughly.

Other similar disclosure laws have been enacted to protect people and provide them with the information they need.

Having everything available in electronic form makes it easy to provide the documents to those who request them.

4. Easier File Sharing Between You, Employees, and Colleagues

Another benefit of digitizing your files is the fact it’s incredibly convenient. Files can be easily shared with employees and colleagues, or sent to others who request them. Just imagine the time you’ll save not having to search high and low for the right paper file.

Legal Document Scanning Services Makes Scanning So Much Easier

It’s easy to see why legal scanning is so important to businesses. However, this doesn’t make the job any easier.

Trying to scan your own documents – especially if you have a lot of files, legal papers and contracts – can seem like a frustrating, daunting, and time-consuming job.

Fortunately, you don’t have to do it all on your own.

With legal document scanning services from Document Pros, you don’t have to worry about spending an extra minute at work scanning files. You and your employees can stick to the tasks at hand and do the work you love.

And we’ll do the work we love. Legal scanning services are one of our most popular services and one we enjoy doing. It is our privilege to serve business owners in our community in this manner.

With these services, you’ll be able to take one more step to keeping your business and your important documents safe and easy to access.

Do you need help with document scanning and printing services?  Contact us today!

The post 4 Reasons Why You Should Start Legal Document Scanning in Atlanta Right Away appeared first on Document Pros.