Handheld scanners are a great way for employees to be able to digitize content while on the go. Document scanning can greatly simplify the storage and management of paperwork for your business, and portable hardware makes it easy to capture important documents, receipts, invoices, and other paperwork without having to bring everything back to the office for archival.

Image Scanning

Handheld image scanners are suitable for recording any kind of document, including letters, invoices, blueprints and plans. Typically, a handheld image scanner requires you to place the device face down on whatever document you wish to capture, and then slowly move the scanner across the page. If the page is larger than the scanner, you may need to pass the device over multiple times, and stitch the output files together using photo manipulation software in order to record the full image.

OCR Scanners

Many scanners use optical character recognition technology. A normal image scanner can save a page as an image file that you can manipulate or reprint, but editing, searching, or importing the actual text on the page requires a further step. OCR scanners search the image file for letters and numbers, and can output the result into a text file or electronic document that you can manipulate as you see fit. Some OCR scanners are pen readers, and you simply run the tip of the device over lines of text to scan and transmit the characters into the computer system. While OCR technology has become good at interpreting most common typefaces, you still need to double check any entries to avoid missed characters or typos.

Business Cards

Business card scanners allow you to collect contact information for customers and vendors quickly and easily by feeding their cards through a small handheld scanner. These devices usually contain OCR scanning technology and the ability to identify common card block layouts, automatically detecting names, addresses and phone numbers to save time. This way, you can automatically import the contact data to your computerized address book while maintaining a raw image file of the business card for later reference.

Receipts and Invoices

Handheld scanners are also useful for capturing receipts and invoices at the point of sale for field employees. Instead of worrying about retaining these small, fragile slips of paper, you can simply scan the receipt or invoice and save an image file for accounting purposes. When paired with OCR technology, a handheld scanner can automatically import data from receipts and invoices directly into the accounting system, reducing the likelihood of a missed entry or late payment.