Dependable scanners that “run like a tank” underpin information management solutions
When Keith Haynie, co-owner of Records Imaging Systems with his brother Kevin, says he is “just tickled” with the performance of his scanners from Kodak Alaris, he imbues the words with southern charm and sincerity. “We used another manufacturer’s scanners in-house and as part of solutions we sold, but found they just loosened up after a couple years,” Haynie says. By “loosened up,” he means they jammed more, needed maintenance or repair often, and image quality deteriorated. Obviously, productivity dropped while time, energy, and costs increased.
Today, when he says he is “just tickled” with his Kodak i4250 and i4850 Scanners, he means they are reliable and produce at full rated speeds day after day, need far less manual intervention, and allow his service bureau operation to produce more with fewer resources.
Records Imaging Solutions (RIS) opened for business in Little Rock, AR in 1969; a business started by the Haynie’s father. It began as a microfilm house, serving clients as an imaging service bureau. Clients included big hospitals to small clinics, state and local government agencies, trucking firms, educational institutions, and many others. Eventually, RIS saw the need to start offering scanning services, and they actually sold their first capture job before they owned any scanners.
From microfilm to scanning, evolving to answer market needs
As very resourceful individuals, the Haynies quickly bought a scanner and soon developed a significant scanning business for many of the same (and new) clients. They also began offering complete information management software solutions to customers, integrating Digitech System Software and OpenText Software. Many times, scanners were sold in as part of the system.
In my opinion, you could take any other manufacturer's scanner and put it into a solution and I don't think you'd see the same quality of results as with a scanner from Kodak Alaris. Keith Haynie, co-owner, Records Imaging Systems
Both in-house and at client sites, RIS saw problems crop up when using scanners from two well-known manufacturers. “With both brands, we’d see scanners that weren’t able to handle a broad mix of documents,” Haynie recalls. “Many scan settings required constant adjustment, we had to do a lot of presorting and prep, and certain document sizes and weights caused jamming and misfeeds.” RIS prides itself on being very picky about image quality; they review every image that leaves their service bureau operation. Random QC is not for them. So these issues were frustrating and time-consuming.
A first experience with scanners from Kodak Alaris proves enlightening and rewarding
To put an end to dissatisfaction, the Haynies explored other scanning options and took advantage of a free evaluation of a Kodak i4850 Scanner. Within a few days, they were sold. “We ordered an i4250 Scanner even before the trial period ended,” says Haynie.
What makes scanners from Kodak Alaris different and better? Here’s a summary of Haynie’s observations and real-life experience –
Multiple document sizes and thicknesses are not a problem
- “From the thinnest of thin to card stock.”
- RIS even feeds file folders with writing on them through, using the straight paper path option their Kodak i4000 Series Scanners offer
- Fragile and old, delicate documents are also scanned in the same way
- A3 flatbed accessory scanner for fragile or bound documents
Image quality that’s better than the original
- “We get old thermal fax paper where the background darkens over time and the text gets lighter and our scanners from Kodak Alaris improve the contrast remarkably.”
Color drop out excellence
- Yellow highlighter on a white page with black type, is dropped out perfectly, as are screened-back greyscale boxes with type over them
Almost no image settings need adjustment
- For 90% of what is scanned in-house, one group of pre-sets is ideal
- Makes OCR and barcode reading more accurate
- Less data correction and manual entry required
- Streamlines automated data delivery to application
Prep time slashed
- Significantly faster for prepping each box of documents for scanning RIS now uses an i4850 and i4250 for service bureau work, and takes three Kodak i3400 Scanners on the road for remote, off-site projects.
Scanners from Kodak Alaris make a great solution even better
“We’ve found, over time, that a client may love our information management solution but if the scanners included give them trouble, they tend to think less of the entire system, and that reflects on us,” Haynie says. “We’d simply rather have a scanner from Kodak Alaris in the field when we sell a system. They put us in a better light and match the quality that we deliver for customer services and in integrating Digitech and OpenText Software into our solutions.”
“In my opinion, you could take any other manufacturer’s scanner and put it into a solution and I don’t think you’d see the same quality results as with a scanner from Kodak Alaris,” Haynie states. “They simply save time, deliver the best images – even from challenging documents, and keep on performing day after day, no matter what the volume.”
Share
