SOA for capture
Kofax has announced the Document Scan Server, which allows companies to add scanning capabilities to any enterprise business application without the need for additional software or disruption of their current business process.The company says Document Scan Server was created to address the growing need for organizations to digitally capture documents at the point of entry into their business process. Previously, Kofax claims, a solution of this kind required specialized software and drivers to be installed on each computer, which, it says, commonly leads to increased administrative costs because IT staff must set up administrative rights, train workers on the new software application and perform timely remote updates and troubleshooting.
The Kofax Document Scan Server is designed for industries that are more paper-intensive and/or verticals that have already implemented information capture solutions, such as financial services, healthcare, transportation/logistics and government. Document Scan Server offers the following three major features:
Software Development Kit (SDK), which leverages services-oriented architecture (SOA) to allow a developer to integrate scanning into an existing or new application no matter the operating system or programming language. This services-based document integration provides a tighter integration of scanning to a core application. In addition, adding scanning capabilities to an existing application is less disruptive to a user's existing workflow and allows for more efficient and effective business processes.
Scan Server, an appliance that includes a USB port for scanner connectivity and an Ethernet port that connects the scanner to a network. Users only need to plug the scanner into the USB port in the Document Scan Server appliance and plug the Scan Server appliance into the LAN. Because this is a hardware-based approach to scanner connectivity, it is also more secure as administrator rights are not needed on the PC to install drivers or document capture applications.
Management Console, a Windows-based application that offers administrators the ability to remotely access the functionality of any Document Scan Server that is connected to the network (LAN or WAN) that is used for network discovery, configuration and management. Through this centralized console, administrators can configure multiple Document Scan Server appliances and can push out firmware updates and new drivers to keep them up to date. Plus, new users and user profiles can be set up and shared with other Scan Servers on the network. The Management Console can also remotely diagnose and grant access to user statistics and logs to proactively manage capture hardware.