Is your scanner ready for windows 7?

I am quickly discovering that many of the scanners I sold a few years ago are not Windows 7 compliant. If your scanner connects via Fire wire, SCSI or Kofax Adrenaline board, there is a good chance that there is a new scanner in your future. The good news is that the speeds and feeds you paid for originally can now be obtained for a lower price. If you would like to refresh your technology, give us a call for a review to ensure you will not get stuck.

Ruben Kerson
Inside Sales Manager
ImageSource, Inc.

Kofax, Oracle, EMC, Documentum, FileNet, SharePoint, Captiva, Oracle UCM, Oracle IPM, ILINX Capture

Capture Information, Index Metadata, Route Workflow, Approve Transactions, Archive Images, Manage Records, Retrieve Images and associated transactional information.  How do you Integrate all these functions in one simple, cost effective way?

In today’s challenging economy every organization is looking for ways to maximize each dollar spent in every project, department and process.  If you are investigating ways to stretch your budget and reduce the overall costs associated with your ECM platform, Support, Training and Integration efforts then…..

Look no further!

ImageSource is a leading provider of ECM software, scanning hardware, Storage solutions and Expert professional services.

We offer a wide variety of products, support programs, training and consulting services to give you maximum value for your dollar.

Visit our case study list to review a small portion of the Customer Partners we have worked with to build ‘first in class’ ECM solutions.  If you are an existing ImageSource customer contact us to schedule a complimentary ECM Cost Savings Analysis.  We are confident we can help you identify ways to reduce the ongoing annual cost associated with your ECM platform.  If you haven’t worked with us we would welcome the opportunity to compete for your business.

Shadrach White
Chief Technology Officer
ImageSource, Inc.

  

SCSI vs. USB 2.0 in Production Scanners

Over the course of my time selling imaging hardware, i.e. scanners, many customers ask me which is better…SCSI or USB 2.0?  Actually some don’t even ask, they insist that SCSI (small computer system interface) is still the fastest option.  Unfortunately for them, almost all scanner manufacturers have moved to using a USB 2.0 interface as option on their scanners and some are USB 2.0 exclusively. 

When the first USB (Universal Serial bus) it was slower than SCSI and at times Flakey. Anyone who has ever installed a SCSI device knows that there was definitely room for improvement in this technology as well. Between double checking SCSI ID’s and triple checking the Termination you could spend quite a bit of time sorting out a SCSI install if it didn’t go right the first time. But when USB 2.0 came out it was stable and fast. In fact there is little to no degradation in speed with the scanners.  In fact, Kofax has stopped manufacturing SCSI cards all together.  VRS used to be a limitation of USB in a production environment because it required a SCSI adrenaline board interface, but now the latest versions of VRS are more versatile and work with USB 2.0 just as well if not better than SCSI.

USB 2.0 is working its way to becoming the standard in imaging technology because it less expensive than SCSI and so much easier to work with.  You also have one less point of failure with the USB 2.0 vs. the SCSI card.  So for those people with the common misconception that SCSI is faster and better, I’m here to tell you that USB 2.0 is just as good when it comes to speed and less expensive for your pocketbook. It also opens up the door to using laptops.

ImageSource, Inc. offers the all of the best names in imaging hardware – Fujitsu, Bowe Bell & Howell, Panasonic, Canon– each one with their own strengths, but all equipped with the newest and latest connectivity of USB 2.0

 

Andrea Latham, CDIA+

Inside Sales

ImageSource, Inc.

  

The Wonderful World of Enhanced Bar Code Recognition

Capturing and reading bar codes has been done for many years, but more recently it has expanded due to color technology.  There is more information to assist in bar code interpretation and the enhanced bar code ready is able to achieve more accurate readings of all supported bar code types at lower DPI (dots per inch) levels and varying levels of quality.  Some prospective users of this technology are not sure exactly when this process can take place, at scan time or during recognition and the answer is…both!

The EBC (Enhanced Bar Code) module is an add-on from Kofax to their Capture product, but can also be added to other Capture products as well.  The EBC can be used at scan time if that is more effective for the scanning process, but also can run at recognition if you have many scanners capturing bar code information which needs to be released and processed at the same time through the server. 

Enhanced Bar Code recognition is also included in the KofaxVRS product in the Workgroup and Professional versions.  The EBC, when used directly from the VRS product can only be run at scan time, not at recognition.  So if you are in need of that capability, you may need to look into purchasing the separate EBC add-on directly to the Capture product.  If you have more than one installation of Kofax Capture, be aware that you will need to purchase the EBC module for each installation that needs that capability. 

In addition, ImageSource offers www.ilinxcapture.com to compliment an existing batch capture environment.  ILINX Capture allows content to be submitted in an adhoc manner from around the enterprise and offers enhanced bar code capability.

Some of the new improvements to the EBC functionality includes the ability to work with grayscale images in addition to having improved bitonal recognition capability.  Another significant advancement is the support of two-dimensional (2D) bar codes.  If you have any questions or need more information on this or other Kofax products, give ImageSource, Inc. a call and we can certainly help!

 

Andrea Latham, CDIA+

Inside Sales

ImageSource, Inc.

To Renew Or Not To Renew…There Is No Question!

The current business model for enterprise level capture software suites is not simply to sell you a product and walk away, but rather it is to become a partner. The initial purchase is the beginning of that relationship. When you invest in a software suite such as Kofax Capture or ILINX Capture, you are modifying your business processes to accommodate the features and capabilities of the product to hopefully improve you productivity.  Once these capture products become part of your work life you will want to keep up your maintenance/software Assurance/upgrade assurance, so as new versions are released, you take advantage of a new feature or simply to stay compatible with your current operating system. If it was worth investing in originally it is worth maintaining.

Some customers choose not to adopt the partner model and never buy maintenance beyond the first year. Then the day comes when the system goes down and they don’t even know where to start to fix the problem.  And in order to get the current version, the manufacture requires them to pay for all the back maintenance plus a reinstatement fee. Sure the first reaction might be to start over fresh with another product, but once you look at changing your processes to accommodate a different product, you can quickly eliminate the savings you thought you were getting in the first place.

In terms of license volume reduction, it has been my experience that the customer is only saving hundreds of dollars today with the potential of spending thousands in the future.  I think that it is a bold move by some manufacturers  to enforce the “all or nothing” approach to license renewal but it is really in the best interest of the customer to keep current with all of their licenses.  I think this was a driving force when this policy was constructed.  I think it causes a lot of work for more than one person to keep track of licenses that customers may or may not be using when they are considering just a partial renewal.  That is one of many reasons why end users are becoming more and more interested in ILINX Capture, to avoid the hassles of volume-based licensing.  The pro’s to renewing software assurance are obvious and the expenditure is nominal; the cons are sometimes surprising and the expenditure is often alarming.

Whether using Kofax or ILINX Capture, staying current gives you the comfort of knowing that you are entitled to the necessary software to upgrade when the time comes.  And partnering with ImageSource, Inc. lends the right expertise to get the job done right the first time!

Andrea Latham, CDIA+

Inside Sales

ImageSource, Inc.