Microfilm Scanning Services - Selection and Benefits

Microfilm scanning allows you to convert your existing legacy documents that have been archived on Microfilm into digital images. There are many benefits of scanning Microfilm such as:
• Documents can be made accessible throughout your network and at remote locations
• Retrieval time is greatly reduced
• Digital images do not degrade with use like Microfilm
• Digital images mitigate the risk of loss of physical images
• Information can be linked with other applications (ECM, HRIS, CRM, EMR, etc)
There are many factors to consider when planning Microfilm scanning. The first is should you purchase equipment and do it yourself, or should you outsource it? In most cases outsourcing Microfilm scanning make more sense for a variety of reasons, including these:

• Quality Microfilm scanners cost $50,000 or more, so outsourcing saves money
• Learning curves on the equipment and software is steep
• Microfilm scanning is very time consuming, outsourcing will complete your project sooner since your vendor should have many scanners and run multiple shifts.
• Professional Microfilm scanning service companies have advanced Quality Assurance processes
• Professional Microfilm scanning service companies offer data entry and indexing and can help you load the data into your software systems.
Once you have decided to outsource your Microfilm scanning you should consider a company's experience in Microfilm scanning, as well as the capacity they offer to do your project quickly. You will also have to decide if you want bi-tonal images or grayscale images scanned from the Microfilm. If your software allows it, grayscale images are often the best choice for older or poorly filmed Microfilm, where the image quality is not so good.

In addition to the scanning of the Microfilm, you will also need some level of indexing in order to retrieve the images. Some Microfilm contains blips which can indicate the start of each new document. Sometimes Microfilm is blipped at multiple levels, such as Folder, Document and Page. You Microfilm scanning vendor should be able to detect these blips which partially automates the indexing process and reduces the cost of indexing.