A Document Management System for business environments on all levels can be bit of a disappointment. Individuals buy the hardware expecting it to resolve one thing but they soon discover the hardware and software is deficient for their needs in several ways. These deficiencies can include the ease of use of the hardware, software; or simply struggling to organize an intuitive way for document scanning and retrieval. Purchasing the software and support for one of these scanning systems for creating a paperless environment can be very expensive. The industry term for this niche area of scanning documents and organizing them is called a Document Management Systems.
We provide some tips for utilizing our favorite document management software, old and new. We also consult on what Printer – Scanner (MFP – Multifunction Printers) hardware manufactures you may want to focus your energy on. Pay attention (illustrated below – “my scans folder”) to how we have one scans folder for several solutions on a network share. We don’t recommend this folder organization but your document management will evolve as you implement new processes such as the implementation of the Dewey Decimal System.
Using the example below, a question can be posed, what do 100.00 and 200.00 buy you, as opposed to a hierarchical folder structure like:
Insurance>
Accident and Health
Accidental Death
Long Term Care
Whole Life
Maybe the client likes the flat based folder structure? These are all questions you must ask yourself when planning out your phone structure.
My Scans Folder
Some hardware MFP examples:
- Canon MX Series – Multifunction Printers (New $100 to $200 ink jet printers)
- Again, the MX series is Twain compatible. Here’s a quote from a Canon MX manual. “You can scan an image from a WIA-compliant application and use the image in that application. … Scan documents from a TWAIN-compliant application to specify advanced settings for scanning.” This allows for greater flexibility with all Document Management software
- Buy Paperport Standard if not connecting to file server or network share.
- Note: Paperport 14 Pro is the only version that supports shared network folders
- The MFP may be cheap but the ink gets expensive.
- Brother MFC-9340CDW (New $400 – $500 Twain compatible color toner with WiFi and wired connections)
- Brother bundles Paperport Standard Edition with their MFP hardware.
- Great for small and medium size businesses
- Note: Possible AD connectivity issues for sending scans to network shares.
- The MFP hardware may be a bit outside your budget but the toner will give you a lot more bang for your buck than ink. Plus, it doesn’t scream cheap when you play around with the hardware.
- Brother MFC-8900CDW (Newer version of the Brother MFC-9340 $400 – $500 Twain compatible color toner with WiFi and wired connections)
- Brother bundles Paperport Standard Edition with their MFP hardware.
- Great for small and medium size businesses
- Note: Possible AD connectivity issues for sending scans to network shares.
- The MFP hardware may be a bit outside your budget but the toner will give you a lot more bang for your buck than ink. Plus, it doesn’t scream cheap when you play around with the hardware.
- Additional specs: Comes w 3000 page black toner cartridge and 1800 for color. It mentions 6500 high yield replacement cartridge so that sounds appealing. 250 – 500 sheet capacity between trays and I guess you can optional trays that increase capacity to 1300
- Fujitsu Fi-Series
Types of Scanning and Sharing of Files Capabilities on a computer network:
- Scan to share folder
- This is great for collaborating with other users or if you are utilizing more than on machine.
- Scan to email
- This is great option for plopping pages down in the feeder and setting up some favorite employees or partners to email the attachment directly to them. There is no summary or explanation email just the attachment.
Paperport software scanner compatibility and other document management hardware and software.
If the scanner hardware is working and it has ISIS, TWAIN, and/or WIA/WIA2 scanning drivers that work with your version of Windows (including bit level), then other document management/imaging products are very likely to work with it, including PaperPort, Power PDF, and many others.
ProTip! Almost all scanners these days are TWAIN and WIA compatible, with the notable exception of the Fujitsu ScanSnap series (the entire ScanSnap series does not have any industry standard scanning drivers, i.e., its scanning driver is proprietary to Fujitsu and you must use the ScanSnap Manager to scan). Other than the ScanSnap series, most scanners are TWAIN and WIA compliant. Same goes for the Fujitsu N7100 Network Scanner. I love this device. It has a big touch screen display to shoot out documents to each workstation but it may not work for your needs.
What does the software prompt look like for using TWAIN, WIA, and other scanner resources?
Other Scanners and Multifunction Printer Options
- Fujitsu
- The entire Scansnap series drivers are proprietary. They do not use industry standard drivers. You must use Scansnap Manager to scan.
- Fi Series is completely compatible with most document management systems out there because they utilize ISIS and Twain.
- The Fujitsu N7100 and other network document scanners although has some very cool workflow functionality may not accomplish what you need for document management.
- Kyocera
- The Kyocera M-Series is pretty cool and Twain compatible but I have not followed up with the latest and greatest MFP hardware from them. I’ve received and encountered a couple hardware issues from them of late.
Scanner Software for Small Business
- Canon MP Navigator – Document Management software for the Canon MX series printer – MFP (old) – How to Setup/Troubleshoot link
- This is available or packaged with an older Canon MX series printer.
- The MX series is Twain compatible. Here’s a quote from a Canon MX manual. “You can scan an image from a WIA-compliant application and use the image in that application. … Scan documents from a TWAIN-compliant application to specify advanced settings for scanning.” This allows for greater flexibility with all Document Management software
Canon MFP Software – MP Navigator
While not as feature rich as a true document management system like Nuance Paperport, it does the job for many micro businesses. It’s unfortunate the software was discontinued on newer models.
How to Setup/Troubleshoot link
Brother MFP Software – Control Center 4
While not as feature rich as a true document management system like Nuance Paperport, it does the job for many micro businesses.
Document Management Software – Paperport Pro 14
Document Management:Duh. It has that.
PC Compatible: Not for Mac. Maybe try PDFClerkPro from SintraWorks ($50)
Why Pro? Better for network features and support.
Paperport Quick Summary
Paperport is a very reasonable software solution for businesses that really want to start attacking box loads of paper and the software helps you strategize the best method (by creating a sample folder structure) for you to move forward with creating a full solution for electronic records.
Bonus Paperport Features (not utilized much)
The Nuance Cloud Connector application: Now you can gain access to a number of cloud services, including Microsoft Live SkyDrive, Google Docs, Box.net, and many more. Plus, files are accessed in the PaperPort folder directory, so you can scan, stack, or unstack PDF files, and create PDF files directly in the cloud.
Evernote “Send To” Connector: Drag-and-drop files to the Evernote Send To Connector, create a new note or add the document to an existing note. You can also right click on the Evernote connector and get files attached to any note so they are copied to the PaperPort desktop.
MFP Troubleshooting Resources:
Brother MFP Troubleshooting and Setup Scan to Email PDFs
We will use Gmail mailbox for this example since it is the most common mailbox to scan from.
smtp.gmail.com
port 587
smtp-auth
TLS
uncheck verify server certificate.
You may have to “allow less secure apps” in order for gmail to allow the Brother machine to communicate. Since this does make the account a little less secure, many customer setup a new gmail dedicated to this purpose.
Be signed into the account you want to use in your web browser when you go to the following link
https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/6010255?hl=en
Brother Scan to Email Setup Instructions
Scan to Network Share from Brother MFP itti bitti little screen
There are a couple ways to go about setting this up. The first illustration below was my attempt to setup a scan from the admin interface via the web browser. It said successful but this is not what the clients wants. See Scan Share Folders for how the client prefers to have things set up.
Scan Share Folders Troubleshooting
Scan share folders are setup when the users want to instruct the MFP to scan to the NAS or file server. In this case, the command line is \\fileserver\OfficeResoures\Scans\UserName
From control panel, go to “scanners and cameras”, click properties and make sure it’s the Brother MFP with 5 tab options.
- Confirm network settings. Brother calls this “reset network interface” when the IP is incorrect. The most common problem is when the Brother switches from wired to wireless.
- Register your PC ( second illustration below) in “scanToButton” and hit ok
- Apply settings and go back to “Properties to “test scanner” Once successful, you are good to troubleshoot the next PC.
Additional Resources for Brother MFC-L8900
- MFC-L8900CDW Support Page
- Scan into Box.com
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Email Support
- Setup Scan from MFP to Network Option
- Installation software does not automatically set this feature up.
ProTip! skip past the first couple of minutes of this video if you know what you are doing and just need a little more network scanning configuration information.
Document Management System Support Summary
While every business is unique in their workflow, there are a lot of similarities in achieving office data organization. Hopefully, we helped get you one step closer to a paperless office.
