What is archive scanning and how can it help your charity?

When the GDPR was rolled out in 2018, Woods Valldata saw many charities face a considerable challenge. Strict new data protection requirements raised serious concerns regarding the management of paper records in terms of storage, security, and access.

As a result, suppliers offering archive scanning services have become the go-to solution amongst not-for-profits. The process digitises paper records, facilitating efficient, GDPR-compliant management of customer information.

The problem? It takes time to get document scanning projects up and running and finding a reliable, established supplier with the capacity to take on several projects at a competitive rate is becoming harder and harder.

But sitting on an archive that may or may not be infringing GDPR rules is not ideal. Woods Valldata is here to help, offering a fully compliant, cost-effective archive scanning service.

The benefits of archive scanning

Archive scanning offers charities a whole host of benefits:

• GDPR-friendly: peace of mind that all digitised records have been checked (and redacted, where necessary), are easily accessible, and are securely stored online.
• Saves time, boosting productivity: staff can quickly locate specific documents via digital look-up, instead of searching through boxes of paper records.
• Cost-effective: dispenses with the need to waste funds or space on the storage of paper records.
• Security: protects and indefinitely saves important documents via safe, secure electronic backups – paper documents can deteriorate or be misplaced.

Our archive scanning service

Woods Valldata will digitise any documents our clients need to retain for legislative purposes. After scanning, the remaining hard copies are destroyed and recycled.

Our service includes:

Step-by-step guidance

We’re able to see a project through from the initial starting point – sorting through boxes full of unknown contents – to the scanning, digital storage, and disposal of documents, such as:

• Gift Aid Declarations
• Supporter registration forms
• Direct Debit forms

If required, we can arrange the secure transfer of documents via courier, collecting and transporting them to our Wiltshire HQ.

Easy, secure access

Upon scanning hard copies of documents, we save and securely store their digital images online. Soft copies of the images can then be returned to the client if they wish; we can also make them available for viewing via a secure online portal with a look-up facility, so clients can locate records quickly and easily, with the ability to download the images themselves if needed.

A fully compliant scanning solution

We are a Payment Card Industry (PCI) Level 1 compliant company. Our clients can use our service secure in the knowledge that all customer credit card details will be handled in a PCI compliant environment, with information redacted where necessary.

Digital records are encrypted both in transit and within back-ups; regular snapshots of the records are taken and stored throughout each working day, in addition to a full nightly back-up.

Full back-ups are retained for 12 months; only approved staff members will be granted access to our clients’ records. Client access is facilitated via fully compliant, confidential methods agreed at the start of a project.

Comprehensive disposal

We understand what a headache GDPR can be. Should the need arise, we’re able to remove a single record on request, or multiple records after an agreed time. Any required retention periods are discussed with our clients and put in place at the start of a project.

Clients are kept in the loop, receiving email notifications as and when data is destroyed. We work with a trusted supplier who securely destroys all of our paper waste.

During disposal the required ISO standards are adhered to, including ISO BS EN 15713 – destruction certificates can be provided if needed.

Bulk scanning facility

Our Docuscan 9000 scanners utilise BancTec hardware and Captiva OCR software, operating at impressive speed – thousands of images can be scanned per hour – whilst maintaining great accuracy. As a result, we’re more than equipped to take on bulk scanning projects.

Eco-conscious

We want to do our bit to help the planet. Once hard copies of documents are shredded, they’re used as pulp to make new batches of paper.

We’re here to help

As we mentioned earlier, setting up an archive scanning project takes time and careful coordination.

We’re a trusted, well-established company with many years’ experience working alongside charities. Our archive scanning service is secure, fully compliant, and competitively priced.

Projects of this nature can quickly stack up, so please get in touch today if you’d like to use our archive scanning service.