Brother UK has released new research showing the most desired requirements for scanner solutions among Britain’s SMEs as a result of ever-changing workplace environments.
According to the research, when it comes to the most sought-after features, network connectivity is considered the most important. In addition, the ability to integrate with document management systems and having a simple user interface score highly among small firms.
The business attributes the high demand for these features to growth of collaborative working, an increasingly mobile workforce as well as the need for improved efficiency in firms’ document capture and workflow.
The findings are based on Brother’s research of over 400 decision-makers and IT purchasers in businesses with between one and 249 employees. According to the findings, 52 per cent of respondents scan between 11-100 documents a day with 45 using a dedicated scanner device. During scanning, 44 per cent of respondents scan directly to a network server, 27 per cent to the cloud and 19 per cent to a document management system.
The information, communication and technology service provider has highlighted that the greatest users of single-function scanners include manufacturers, wholesalers, healthcare organisations and businesses across the construction industry. Financial services firms (31 per cent) and not-for-profit organisations (30 per cent) make up the greatest proportion of those with high volume scanning needs. Over a third (39 per cent) of all respondents’ documents are scanned to meet confidential, legal or regulatory standards.
Nick Gosden, Head of Scanner Category at Brother UK, said: “These findings confirm the trajectory of the scan market with businesses seeking integrated solutions rather than products that stand in solitude. With scanner use most common among business functions like customer communications and accounts payable, scanners have to have a role within workflow strategies and need to include features like cloud connectivity and integration with internal systems to derive efficiency.
“There’s a clear opportunity for resellers to broaden their scanner offering into a solutions-based approach. The findings show that, in order to do so, it’s more important than ever for the channel to have a robust understanding of potential end-user environments and where different scanner models can add value to access potential growth.”
