eCopy ShareScan is an outstanding document imaging solution. It allows users to get rid of their filing cabinets by transforming their paper files into electronic documents that are integrated directly into the appropriate applications. ShareScan currently supports more than 75 Connectors for integration with third-party applications, and roughly 100 more are currently in development.

Ease of use is another key strength of ShareScan. With a very simple step-by-step guided process at the MFP, ShareScan enables a document to be easily scanned and sent to the desired destination, including e-mail, fax, a desktop PC or back-end application. With user authentication at the MFP, eCopy provides an audit trail so organizations can keep track of which users sent which documents.

Meanwhile, eCopy Desktop allows users to edit the documents they scan or receive electronically. Users can combine different types of documents into a PDF, mark up PDFs with stamps and annotations, insert digital signatures and perform OCR. Combined, eCopy Desktop and ShareScan enable users to fully integrate paper documents into their electronic workflows.

2. What are some of the application areas you see MFP document imaging best suited for?

There are a wide range of areas that are well suited to document imaging solutions. Construction companies, for example, can use it to scan documents and send them electronically, which is a significant time-saver in an industry where the people who need to access the documents are located on separate job sites. Banks can use it to meet the data archiving requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act by scanning financial documents to a central repository where they can be archived and searched. Other industries, like healthcare and legal, will benefit from the ability of a good document imaging product to transfer documents electronically with authentication options that enhance security and accountability.

3. How important is it for document scanning software to integrate seamlessly with other business applications like content management, email and collaboration software?

Integration with third-party applications is essential. It's great that organizations are digitizing their documents, but that's of only so much value unless those documents are being sent to the right places. Tight third-party software integration allows documents to be merged into organizations' existing electronic workflows, which is essential for making any business's operations more efficient.

A simple, but common example, of the importance of this integration occurs when a user scans a document to an e-mail address at an MFP. With Outlook integration, a copy of the e-mail message will automatically appear in the user's Sent Items folder in Outlook on his PC, just as if he'd sent the message directly from Outlook.

4. When evaluating document imaging software, what are the top capabilities that IT managers should focus on?

In addition to third-party software integration, document encryption is also essential. You can put paper files under lock and key, and you have to do be able to do the same with your electronic documents. Support for smart cards and identity assurance services are also important, as is single sign-on at the MFP, so users don't have to enter separate usernames and passwords to scan at the MFP and login to back-end applications where they'd like to send those scanned documents.

Hardware compatibility is also a very important issue in document imaging. Some products, like eCopy ShareScan embedded, are able to integrate with the MFP, allowing users to operate them right from the MFP's control panel. However, this hardware integration only works with compatible MFP brands. If an organization is in the middle of an equipment lease, but has several different brands of MFPs in its offices and doesn't want to wait several years until the lease is up before deploying document imaging software that will work with its MFPs, then a product with widespread device compatibility, such as eCopy ScanStation, is essential.

Many IT administrators become so focused on additional features, however, that they lose sight of the most important one: ease of use. If a solution is difficult for end users to operate, they won't use it, making the product worthless, regardless of how many advanced features it offers. In order to be effective, solutions need a clean, intuitive interface that allows users of any level of technological savvy to use it with only minimal instruction.

5. What issues – such as security and regulatory compliance – do you view as having the biggest impact on the MFP document imaging market in the next year?

While there are several issues that are important to the document imaging market, such as environmental concerns and integration with software solutions, you've pointed out what has become the key issue in document imaging: security. In response to organizations' growing security concerns, BLI now includes a comprehensive checklist of more than 35 security features in our lab test reports of all document imaging devices. Preventing unauthorized document access, providing audit trails that track document access by users and restricting and limiting access to certain functions are some of the most important security features a product can offer.

6. How is the push for increased network security affecting MFP scanning?

Traditionally, organizations have had to find a balance between security and efficiency. Either a file was locked away where it was difficult to access or it was available for many employees to see. MFP scanning, coupled with robust document imaging software, stores documents on the local network with encryption and permissions, making these files easily accessible, but only to those people authorized to view them.

There's also a growing push by organizations to increase accountability of document handling to keep track of which users are viewing and sending particular documents—something that's just not going to happen with paper. By requiring user authentication at the MFP, organizations have an audit trail.

Many organizations are also looking for ways to send documents more securely. Having sensitive financial, legal, medical or other documents sit in the output tray of recipients' fax machines isn't a viable option for many companies. Instead, e-mail is becoming the preferred means of transmission thanks to the direct link it creates from the MFP's scanner to the recipient's inbox.