As a wills and estates lawyer, I often meet with elderly or hospitalized clients in their residence or hospital room. When I meet clients at my office, it is a simple matter to use our office equipment to scan documents such as deeds, birth certificates, financial statements, and insurance policies which we ask clients to bring. However, when visiting clients outside of the office I have to ask if the client will allow me to take documents away for scanning at the office — not something that either I or the client really want to happen.
Fortunately, I’ve found a great solution. A company called ‘neat’ has developed a portable scanner that suits my needs well. The neat scanner is about the size of a rolling pin, weighs less than a pound, and is powered by a USB cable connected to my laptop. The scanner also comes with decent software and a sturdy carrying case which holds the scanner and its USB cable. Scanned documents can be created as pdf files straight out of the scanner by simply pressing the ‘pdf’ button on the scanner.
This great little scanner has also solved the problem of obtaining client identification for my records. I was delighted to discover that it does a great job of scanning a plastic driver’s license. To ensure a sharp, clear image, I set the resolution to 300 dpi when scanning identification documents. For most other scanning, especially for documents that have printed text and no graphics, I find that a setting of 150 dpi or 200 dpi is sufficient. The lower resolution results in smaller files.
The software shipped with the scanner is helpful for organizing personal and business receipts, bills, and other papers. During scanning, it can recognize the text on business cards making the scanned information fully searchable. Imagine how quickly and easily you could organize all those business cards you collect at networking events, conferences, and trade shows. I am looking forward to the upcoming ABA TechShow in Chicago, March 25-27, 2010, so that I can put the scanner to the test!
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Blog posts pre-dated December 1, 2015 were originally published under Neff Law Office Professional Corporation.
