May 1999

Best of AIIM

ıA vibrant market energized by the emergence of the Web.ı

GartnerGroup used these words to summarize an in-depth study of the document technologies industry released at last monthıs AIIM show, but the description applied equally well to the show itself. As 323 exhibitors and an estimated 34,643 attendees converged on the Georgia World Congress Center, April 12-15, the broadest theme to emerge centered on Web-enabled solutions driving everything from simple improvements in efficiency to dramatic reinventions of business processes.

This yearıs show witnessed less sizzle and more steak, with real business solutions on display. More than a score of imaging and COLD-ERM vendors, for example, exhibited image, bill and customer self-service solutions aimed at bringing documents and reports to customers and business partners through the ubiquitous browser. Portal purveyors brought together the knowledge residing within the enterprise.

The Web theme was even hammered home by keynote speaker Ted Leonsis, President and CEO of America Online Studios, who opened his address saying ıIım here to tell you that the Internet is underhyped.ı

There were other hot themes at AIIM ı99, two of them being growth in capture and the emergence of color imaging. The score of capture and forms processing exhibitors were among the most aggressive exhibitors in launching new products at the show. Color made a splash with a handful of vendors debuting color document imaging technologies aimed at volume applications.

One the storage front, DVD grabbed the lionıs share of attention, with new jukeboxes and software support figuring prominently among the product announcements. ıDH

E-business Solutions

Many products at AIIM were aimed at filling the content management, Web publishing and e-commerce gap. COLD-ERM is driving bill presentment and customer self service. Information portals are opening up enterprise-wide knowledge assets. Data-interchange-savvy XML solutions are presenting open, standardized gateways to multiple repositories.

E-business Solutions

Adobe Systems
San Jose, CA 408-536-6000
www.adobe.com
Product: Adobe Acrobat 4.0
Ship Date: Shipping
Comment: Adobe demonstrated Adobe Acrobat 4.0 for Windows and Mac ($249), which offers new ways to convert MS Office documents to PDF, capture Web content, re-use content and annotate and digitally sign documents. Acrobat lets you convert Word, Excel and PowerPoint files to PDF by clicking a new ıcreate PDFı icon installed on the applicationıs tool bar. New annotation tools include pencil drawing, text underline or highlight and sticky notes. Users can also import whole Web sites or select a capture level and save the data in PDF format, retaining the structure and links.--LL

Compound Document

Correlate
San Francisco, CA 650-326-5501
www.correlate.com
Product: Correlate 1.0
Ship Date: Shipping
Comment: Correlate 1.0 is an application that extends the sharing of structured information to the Web. The product lets users create templates that define the structure for different document types by simply dragging template items to an authoring window or ıwork space.ı From there users can compose documents by filling in the template with the specified items. These elements can be Office files, databases, MRP, ERP, DM files or Web page items. These items can be shortcuts to files or the actual files can be embedded within the template in a compressed format. The file can be distributed on the Internet or through email. The format is viewable to anyone with the full version of Correlate ($199) or a free Correlate plug-in.--LL

Transaction-savvy Management

IntraNet Solutions
Eden Prairie, MN
612-903-2000
www.intranetsol.com
Product: Intra.doc Version 3.6
Ship Date: Now Shipping
Comment: IntraNet Solutions announced new enhancements to Intra.doc! ($30,000 for 50 contributors), a Java-based management system that includes a new portal interface, a developersı kit and e-commerce capabilities. The Internet repository supports check-in and check-out, revision control and automated Web publishing in formats such as HTML and PDF (and PDF forms). Contributors can also view files in their native application. The portal interface automates retrieval based on customized settings. The Softgoods E-Commerce Solution monitors distribution and billing for intellectual property downloaded on the Internet. The Developerıs Kit lets you customize Intra.doc! --LL

Web Delivery Without HTML

Profound Solutions
Indianapolis, IN 317-579-5100
www.profoundsolutions.com
Product: Trailblazer
Ship Date: Shipping
Comment: Trailblazer ($4,995 for 1 server, 5 publishers) publishes any Windows-compatible documents across the Internet or intranets. It uses native file formats without converting to Web formats like HTML and builds tree structures and hides files based on user security. It automatically manages versioning, expiration and purging. Users can subscribe to content and receive notifications when updates are published without being online. Trailblazer does not require a particular browser; rather, it includes its own Trailblazer Explorer interface (free) that supports all Windows clients. The interface brings users to a URL where they can search repositories and request documents, reports or graphics, which are transferred using HTTP and dual compression. --LL

XML-based Capture and Information Portal
Radian Systems
Alexandria, VA 703-317-2000
www.radsys.com
Product: WSDOM
Ship Date: Shipping
Comment: Radian Systems announced two new truly innovative products that are extensions to their WSDOM family of capture products: XML-Express ($5,000-$25,000) and XML-Portal (starting at 1 server for $15,000 and $600 for each named user). These products work in conjunction with Radianıs WSDOM Capture to handle the distribution of captured images as well as documents residing in other systems. Both products take advantage of the eXtensible Markup Language (XML) standard to tag files and share data between legacy databases or applications such as ERP and document management systems. The XML tags create metadata that provides context to search for more accurate results.
XML-Express handles the conversion of legacy files to XML-tagged files. XML-Portal is a browser-based repository and manager for the XML-tagged data. It provides a single point of access to various data sources. The customizable browser interface (presented in HTML using ASP and XSL) can point to any URL, including your own company Web site. There is no client software to install. Selected image files can be viewed as TIFF images. Other types of documents can be viewed in any file format supported by the licensed INSO image viewer, which makes multiple file types created in different applications viewable by anyone. --LL

Electronic Bill Presentment
IBM
Somers, NY, 914-766-1330
www.software.ibm.com/data/edmsuite
Product: OnDemand COLD-ERM
Ship Date: NT, HP-UX, OS/390 versions shipping; AS/400 Version 4 due in May.
Comment: IBMıs OnDemand product line has been totally revamped in the last six months, and itıs as powerful as any in the COLD-ERM market. A six-month-old alliance with BlueGill Technologies is helping IBM to integrate electronic bill presentment and payment solutions that improve customer service while reducing the cost of printing and mailing bills.
OnDemand for AS/400, due out this month, features new graphical administration functions and a choice of viewers. OnDemand delivers a consolidated view of bills and statements to administrators, customer service agents or the customers themselves. Bluegillıs 1 to 1 Server accepts a range of print and data streams, and it delivers multiple output formats. Users can customize the look and depth of information, sorting by month, date, type of expense, etc. The server will also share data with external data mining and profiling systems so you can further customize services and marketing. --DH

Web-based Document Management
AccuSoft
Westborough, MA 508-898-2770
www.accusoft.com
Product: NetVue 3.0
Ship Date: Shipping.
Comment: AccuSoft has added server-side OCR, full-text searching and support for Office files, CAD files and PDF with NetVue Version 3.0. The Web-based DM system supports more than 100 file formats, and you can choose from Java or ActiveX viewers. You get image thumbnails, annotation and editing, document directory browsing, security controls and local storage and print capabilities. An annotation add-on modules provides 16 markup tools and support for hyperlinks and layers. Security services control who has access to read or write annotations. Prices start at $6,995 for a 10-concurrent-user license. --DH

Email Management

Microsoft-savvy DM
80-20 Software
Redmond, WA, 425-739-6767,
www.80-20.com
Product: Document Management Extensions for MS Exchange V6.0
Ship Date: Shipping
Comment: Document Manage-ment Extensions may be to Exchange what Domino.Doc is to Lotus -- DM for the masses. Australian developer 80-20 Software even has offices in Redmond, WA. DME lets you manage documents from Windows Explorer, Internet Explorer, Outlook 97/98, Office applications or from the Desktop. The system provides core functionality including library services. The new news at AIIM was V6.0, which adds management, control, search and retrieval of email correspondence for Exchange environments. Pricing starts at $5,950 for a single server license. --DH

Email Meets IDM
Hyland Software
Rocky River, OH, 216-898-3000
www.onbase.com
Product: Subscription Server Ship Date: Shipping
Comment: Subscription Server automatically captures emails and attachments directly from MAPI and VIM systems and stores them in the OnBase Integrated Document Management System. This add-on module ($7,000 per processing station) to the OnBase suite indexes and stores emails and corresponding documents without manual intervention. You can use the OnBase client to retrieve stored emails and attachments as well as related documents of any size. The system creates subscriptions to email categories such as ıAll Employee Memosı or ıProject Alpha.ı You can also send outgoing and incoming emails to Hylandıs new Workflow module. --DH

Email Lifecycle Control
ByteQuest
Ottawa, Ontario, 613-728-5977
www.bytequest.com
Product: ByteQuery for BackOffice
Ship Date: Released at AIIM
Comment: ByteQuery for BackOffice is an Exchange application that organizes email, its metadata and attachments within a Knowledge Map. It then subjects them to lifecycle rules pertaining to creation, classification, retention and disposition. Emails and attached documents remain within Exchange-based libraries, so you donıt extract them and redundantly store them in a document manager. The system is integrated with Outlook, workflow and line-of-business apps using COM connectivity. The system gives you the control to, for example, delete emails no matter where theyıve been forwarded within the enterprise. It provides surveillance capabilities aimed at monitoring unusual activity, such as emailing of large attachments to competitors. Volume-based prices range from $100 to $300 per named user. --DH

Collaboration Alternative >Punch Networks
Seattle, WA, 206-343-7661
www.punchnetworks.com
Product: WebGroups
Ship Date: Second quarter
Comment: This upstart plans to offer a collaborative environment that is an alternative to email. It will be sold as an enterprise-level solution or as an outsourced service. If youıre not already invested in document management and groupware, it may make sense. WebGroups provides a password- and SSL-secured central repository. Only one user can update a file at a time, and you get automatic version control and auditing. You can quickly upload and download even large files (graphics, presentations, engineering drawings, etc.) that often canıt be shared via email. If you store documents on your desktop, you are notified of changes, and then only the information that has changed is updated. The system requires any MS or Netscape 4.x or higher Web browser. The enterprise version requires a server, server software and an OBDC database. --DH

Document/Data Capture

Processing free-flowing documents as forms, allowing remote editing and verification, and more and better recognition of forms and characters were themes among the image and data capture crowd at AIIM.

Forms Via PDF
Cardiff
San Marcos, CA 760-752-5200
www.cardiffsw.com
Product: PDF+Forms
Ship Date: July
Comment: In a partnership with Adobe, Cardiff has developed a new module for its Teleform series of forms processing software. PDF+Forms ($2,495 per server) offers a forms designer with lookup tables, JavaScript client-side data validation and error checking and other traditional electronic forms features. The person filling out a form doesnıt have to be on the Internet to do it. They can save it onto a disk and email their response, or they can print and fax it.
This software will also work with a CrossPad digital notepad. At the show, Cardiff announced an exclusive co-marketing agreement with Cross Pen Computing Group (Lincoln, RI 401-333-1200
www.cross-pcg.com). The device is a $399 electronic tablet on which the user writes freehand with a special pen. The pen captures information about the writerıs strokes and transmits it to the pad, which stores 100 formsı worth of data. You can download that information to a PC at any time and itıs processed by Teleform the same as a scanned or faxed form. --PL

Two Solutions for Unstructured Forms
CereSoft
Silver Spring, MD 301-445-8413
www.ceresoft.com
Product: DocAgent
Ship Date: September
Comment: Ceresoftıs new DocAgent product (starts at $25,000) can scan large batches of like but dissimilar documents and automatically extract information based on definitions inside a database. In an accounts payable application you could scan 1,800 invoices from 1,800 different companies as one batch and extract information such as date, vendor name, vendor number, subtotal, tax, freight and total. This product also handles document capture, indexing and storage. --PL

Mitek
San Diego, CA 888-363-6767
www.miteksys.com
Product: Doctus
Ship Date: Late June
Comment: For forms that donıt have an ID number, registration marks or fields that are always in the same place, Mitek put unstructured forms recognition in its new Doctus product ($35,000-$50,000). The software OCRs the whole form and then finds relevant fields.
Doctus uses neural network technology to recognize machine and hand print. It has 11 modules, including batch scanning, an editing screen designer (shown below), forms definition, system administration, workflow configuration, a fax utility, document and text recognition, high-speed character editing and storage to ODBC databases. --PL

Maximum Validation
RAF
Redmond, WA 425-867-0700
www.raf.com
Product: Cartouche 2.0
Ship Date: Now
Comment: Accuracy is the main point of Cartouche 2.0 forms processing software from RAF. (The price starts at $9,500.) Not only does it perform rigorous character and form recognition, it checks and double-checks the information against lookup tables, rules and definitions to make sure the data are right, even if the person who filled out the form made a mistake.
In this version, RAF made the templates easier to set up and the interface easier to use. --PL

Notable Upgrades

• dakota imaging (Columbia, MD 410-381-3113) showed their new Transform 4.0 ($100,000 to $800,000) at the show. Features added to this forms processing solution include browser-based remote management (they already had Internet-based remote editing and verification), more correction screen modes and automatic routing of mixed forms.
• Top Image Systems (Tel Aviv, Israel 972 3 648 7722) released version 3.0 of their AFPSPro product ($12,440+) at AIIM. New features include internet modules that allow remote data completion, an ActiveX programming interface and a new form recognition and removal tool. --PL

color Imaging

OCR Software
Paravision
Milpitas, CA 408-934-7878
www.pagegenie.com
Product: PageGenie
Ship Date: Now for the standalone version, May for an InputAccel module, June for an enterprise version.
Comment: Paravision is the first company to introduce a color OCR engine. Its core engine is Xpervision 4.5, but they can color-enable any engine. The product takes advantage of the extra information in color images to improve OCR results 50% to 100%.
A standalone low-end version ($100) available today takes any image and performs page and character recognition.
A PageGenie module ($12,000) for InputAccel 2.2 is for high-volume scanning. It finds text and reads it. It combines OCRed text and graphics, recreates the original layout, and stores the file in PDF format.
Paravision will have a stand- alone enterprise version of PageGenie ($599) ready in June. All versions work with the Kodak 3590C scanner. --PL

Low-priced Color Scanner
Canon
Lake Success, NY 516-328-5000
www.usa.canon.com
Product: DR-5080C
Ship Date: June
Comment: Canon displayed a new small color scanner, the DR-5080C. This $7,000 - $10,000 device scans up to 75 ppm in bitonal mode and eight pages per minute in color. It has a contact image sensor that produces an optical resolution of 300 dpi. The scanner has a nice mechanical deskew that straightens paper as it feeds. A control panel lets you switch between bitonal and color scanning by pressing a button. --PL

Upgrades and Demos
Some color products at AIIM were upgrades of existing products, while others were months away from release:

• IBML (Birmingham, AL 205-439-7102
  www.ibml.com) showed off the new SofTrac interface software for its three-year-old high-volume 90-ppm ImageTrac scanner ($100,000).
• Siemens/CGK (Vienna, VA 703-868-2117
  www.cgk.de) displayed its admirable 50 ppm ScanStar duplex color scanner, which can output bitonal, grayscale and color images on both sides of documents.
• Tower Technology (Boston, MA 617-236-5500
  www.towertechnology.com) demonstrated their Integrated Document Management software, which will support the new Kodak 3590C. This product has been managing color images for years. It also provides workflow, retrieval and COLD.
• ReadSoft (Chicago, IL 312-470-9067
  www.readsoft.com) Eyes & Hands for Forms release ı99, due out in the fall, will support color images both for viewing and character recognition. The company has been working to adjust their OCR engine to handle color files.
• Be on the lookout for a duplex color scanner coming from Bell & Howell (Arlington Heights, IL 847-357-0630
  www.bhscanners.com). They showed a prototype color version of the Copiscan 8100.

Mid-Speed Color Scanner
Kodak
Rochester, NY 716-724-4000
www.kodak.com
Product: 3590C Scanner
Ship Date: August
Comment: Kodak has worked for the last year on its first color document scanner, the 3590C.
The scanner has a high-quality trilinear CCD array that produces 24-bit color. The lens has an optical resolution of 600 dpi. Even though the scanner outputs 100 and 150 dpi color images and up to 300 dpi bitonal images to keep the file sizes down, the quality of the images is superior to images scanned at 100 or 150 dpi. The reduced file sizes solve a very real problem. If you were to scan 300 dpi, 24-bit color on both sides of a document, your files would be about 48 megabytes per document.
So far, the $30,000 3590C has one color camera. It simultaneously outputs color on the front of a page and bitonal on the back of the page as it scans. This is fine if your documents tend to have important information on the front of your documents and less important data on the back. It runs 57 ppm in color. That makes this the lowest-priced color mid-range scanner. Pixel Translations, Eastman, FileNET, Hyland, Kofax, MTI and Tower are all providing drivers or applications for this scanner. --PL

Color Image Processing
TMS Sequoia
Stillwater, OK, 405-377-0880
www.tmssequoia.com
Product: SpectrumFix
Ship Date: This month
Comments: TMS Sequoia brings to color scanning a comprehensive image processing and scan fixing utility. SpectrumFix separates colors, selecting a color or range of colors defined by the user for preservation while dropping out unwanted colors. Color documents that would scan as undifferentiated grays can be made fully legible when scanned and processed in color. Scanning low-contrast color forms or carbonless copies? SpectrumFix pulls out the desired text intact. SpectrumFix is available as an SDK, application or TWAIN driver that can be used with any scanner with no programming. --LR

Bitonal Imaging
Virtual ReScan
Two scanners were shown at AIIM with Kofaxıs (Irvine, CA 949-727-1733
www.kofax.com) Virtual ReScan image enhancement board and software. This proviedes automatic grayscale deskew, image cropping and gamma curve correction.
Bell & Howellıs CopiScan 8000 scanners will now come bundled with Virtual ReScan at no extra cost. Theyıll include the option of using B&Hıs ACE image enhancement board alone.
Fujitsu showed Virtual ReScan on its 3097DE scanner. Fujitsu will be making the next release of Virtual ReScan available on the web. That and an adjustment inside the scanner will make existing 3097DEs upgradeable to VRS.
VisionShape
Placentia, CA 714-792-3612
www.visionshape.com
Product: Millenium Scanners
Ship Date: June
Comment: VisionShapeıs Millenium scanners (the 60 ppm DS-60, $9,000, and the 90 ppm DS-90, $13,000) offer three interfaces: USB, SCSI II and video. That lets you use any kind of board you want, or no board at all (with USB). The scanner is made of steel and is industrial-strength. --PL

DVD Breakthroughs

DVD was the most prominent storage technology this year at AIIM. DVD was seen in storage hardware and software alike. Every storage management software vendor, including Pegasus, Kofax, Tracer, KOM and ADIC, announced DVD support within their products.

Pioneer DRM-7000
Long Beach, CA, 310-952-2111
www.pioneerusa.com
Capacity: 370 - 720 discs, 2 - 16 drives
Price: $13,500 (ROM)
Ship Date: August for ROM, Q4 for DVD-R.
Comment: This new jukebox has a unique disc-flipping mechanism that harnesses the second side of a DVD, effectively doubling capacity to a whopping 6.7 terabytes.
--LR

Cygnet Smart Dax
Milpitas, CA, 408-954-1800
www.cygnet.com
Capacity: 700-720 discs, 1 - 4 drives
Price: $43,000
Ship Date: Now shipping
Comment: The Smart Dax is a new design with the discs arranged on circular trays around a robotic arm that rotates 360 degrees. This allows high disc densities in a compact unit. The small jukebox shown at AIIM had a capacity of more than 700 discs. It should also be easy to make larger jukeboxes simply by stacking units on top of each other. Cygnet offers a network attachment option as well. --LR

NTD NAS 1024
Laguna Hills, CA, 949-348-8250
www.ntdi.com
Capacity: 250-1,000 discs, 6-24 drives
Ship Date: Third Quarter
Comment: The New Technology Development (NTD) NAS 1024 is similar to the Cygnet SmartDax in its circular configuration. Thereıs a network attachable option and hard drive caching. The mail slot accepts single discs or 20-disc magazines. -- LR

Asaca Teracart DVD
Golden, CO, 303-278-1111
www.asaca.com
Capacity: AM-250: 200 - 250 discs, 1-6 drives; AM-750: 600-750 discs, 1-12 drives; AM-1450: 1,100-1,450 discs, 1-24 drives.
Ship Date: May
Comment: The AM-1450, with up to 1,450 discs, is one of the largest jukeboxes available. It can also flip discs to read both sides of a DVD, giving you up to seven terabytes of storage. -- LR

Smart Storage
Andover, MA, 978-623-3300
www.smartstorage.com
Price: $450-$7,500 Ship Date: Shipping
Comment: The latest version of Smart Storageıs jukebox management software has been renamed from SmartCD to SmartStor. The name change reflects new support for DVD-ROM, DVD-RAM and magneto-optical, making SmartStor one of the few storage management products to support such a wide array of technologies. Although the initial version is primarily for WindowsNT, the companyıs recent acquisition of iXos Jukeman promises support for all versions of Unix, including Linux, by the third quarter. -- LR