Kodak Alaris has released three scanner remote monitoring and management service offerings:
- MPS Capture Agent: allows developers to add Kodak Alaris scanners to existing managed print services dashboards for visibility into scanner operational data
- Scanner Manager: a cloud-based solution geared to creating a dashboard for monitoring scanner operational data, deliver usage reports, and manage user alerts
- Scanner Finder Tool: delivers an inventory for a “capture system assessment” by discovering USB-connected scanners on a network; works with Kodak Alaris equipment and scanners from other vendors too
Managing print fleets comprised of printers and/or MFPs is a common service. Kodak Alaris believes the addition of scanners to remote monitoring is unique to them (Note: Please contact us if you know of a similar solution; bduhon@documentimagingreport.com). Now companies will be able to monitor their capture infrastructure similar to their printer fleets.
To explore this new offering, we interviewed Jeffrey Moore, Service Operations Manager, Alaris, a Kodak Alaris business.
The benefits of tracking equipment are obvious -- controlled costs, monitoring for usage for proactive maintenance, etc. MPS adds an additional security level with the ability to track usage down to the individual user level via verification at the device (card reader, biometrics, password). As of now, you can’t track who is manning a scanner.
Regarding the other benefits, Moore mentioned:
- Proactively address productivity impacting
situations driving increased productivity
- Proactively identify and address scanner issues that impact your productivity via real-time customizable alerts
- Consumable management
- Driver version management
- Management as a service – Kodak Alaris can manage your fleet on your behalf
- Lifecycle Management
- Usage data allows you to increase your knowledge of the environment
- Allow for balancing of workload
- Understand current scanning needs and future hardware demands
- Assessing and optimizing your scanners allows you to upgrade hardware and services.
- Increased customer intimacy
- Usage data for scanners from Kodak Alaris allows us and our Partners to offer Lifecycle Management and Capture Optimization
Q: Any Kodak Alaris scanner?
Moore: Any Kodak scanners that are connected via a USB port.
Q: Who is the idea market? Copier dealers/service market or in-house IT struggling to manage all the hardware?
Moore: The target market would be end users with mission critical or large quantities (30 or more) of Alaris scanners or organizations that wish to receive some form of managed service for their capture devices. Along with resellers that might have their own scan bureaus and/or a desire to help manage their customers' fleets.
Q: Does the Scanner Management connect to existing dashboards or is it an independent solution?
Moore: Scanner Manager is an independent solution in and of itself. Scanner Manager consists of a cloud application (Dashboard) and a collector (KA Collector) that is deployed to each host PC to which an Alaris scanner is attached. Scanner Management does not connect to an MPS solution
Q: Can the Scanner Finder tool find any USB-connected scanner, Kodak or otherwise?
Moore: The Scanner Finder Tool will find all Kodak Alaris scanners that are connected via a USB port and powered on. We haven’t tested every model from other manufacturers. However, we have tested specific models from other manufacturers and we have been successful in reporting back on them.
Q: Is this a one-time scan or would it detect someone bringing in an "illegal" scanner after the initial scan and using it for personal use?
Moore: While the collector would pull the logs from the new scanner and forward it to the dashboard, we would not have associated the new scanner to the account so the customer would not be able to see it. For more information:
http://bit.ly/KodakAlarisRemoteSolutions
Document Imaging Report (DIR), is the premier management and marketing newsletter on opportunities and trends in converting paper processes to electronic format—a key piece in a digital transformation strategy. DIR is an 8-page newsletter produced semi-monthly that helps you stay on top of critical developments in just minutes – saving you hours of reading and research every month. It is written for vendors, end users, and the distribution channel for the ECM and document capture industries. Since 2020, it has been owned by Infosource, a leading analyst company covering the office automation market.