Rescuing paper-intensive insurance companies from tidal waves of claims and other administrative documents, scanner producers meet document management needs with high-speed solutions.
The Xerox Corp., based in Stamford, Conn., offers a family of multi-purpose devices in its Document Center line that allows insurers to scan documents and distribute them over a network of office PCs, explains Mark Burris, manager of the companys Document Management Division.
"We have offerings that allow users to scan documents directly to a clients desktop, e-mail or document repository for document management purposes," he says.
Devices in the companys Document Centre line are equipped with software recognized by most computer applications, the company says.
For example, the Document Centre 440ST is equipped with CentreWare drivers, which are compatible with PC operating systems such as Windows and Mac.
The software allows insurers to monitor scanning projects directly from their desktops, Burris notes.
The 440ST is cartridge-loaded, employs digital technology and scans documents at 40ppm (pages per minute) with a black-and-white resolution of 600 x 600dpi (dots per inch).
The 440ST model also serves as fax machine and can send and receive information at three seconds per page.
Prices for the high-speed commercial-end devices in the Document Centre line with scanning speeds of 75ppm range between $30,000 and $40,000, Burris said. For the low-speed devices at 20ppm, prices range between $6,000 and $9,000, according to Burris.
Burris says scanning systems provide a centralized electronic means for document use and a tremendous amount of cost savings for insurers in terms of document management.
"It is taking a lot of insurance companies documents that have been traditionally hard copies and using scanning technology to bring them into an electronic form," he says.
Managing a deluge of documents in an electronic form boosts an insurers operational efficiency, observes Scott Francis, senior product manager for the Imaging Products Group at Fujitsu Computer Products of America in San Jose, Calif.
"Mission-critical paper documents can be moved offline, reducing physical storage space. Imaging solutions give the large
organization the ability to react real-time while decreasing human error and maximizing efficiencies," Francis points out.
Part of Fujitsus line of production-driven scanners is the SP3091DC scanner, aimed at small workgroups, according to Francis.
The model processes black-and-white and color documents at up to 15ppm and is priced below $1,000.
"This product is ideally suited for workgroups of five to seven people who scan up
to 500 documents a day and require color and duplex for [outputting] documents," he says.