Canon U.S.A. Honored with Multiple Awards from Buyers Laboratory, Inc.

(Lake Success, NY) - Continuing its tradition for technological innovation and high-quality imaging offerings, Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging and advanced office solutions, today announced the Company has been honored with five Fall 2009 "Pick" and Outstanding Achievement Awards by Buyers Laboratory, Inc. (BLI).

"As a Company, we pride ourselves on developing and offering our end-users the most innovative solutions, and we are honored to have received these prestigious accolades once again from Buyers Lab," said Sam Yoshida, vice president and general manager, Imaging Systems Group, Canon U.S.A. "These awards are a testament to Canon's dedication of providing a robust line up of high-quality, affordable imaging and document management solutions."

Spanning across a number of product lines, including the Company's new imageRUNNER ADVANCE multifunctional products (MFP), scanners and software, each award-winning product was recognized as "Outstanding" in its respective product category by BLI. Honors included:

• Canon imageRUNNER ADVANCE Series – BLI's Outstanding Achievement Award for Ease of Use & Outstanding Achievement in Scanning - The new imageRUNNER ADVANCE Series was developed to seamlessly bridge the distance between user and MFP to transform and advance one's business and digital communications. Incorporating sophisticated workflows and innovative technologies, the Canon imageRUNNER ADVANCE Series is designed to address the ever-growing needs of users, administrators and business decision makers to better manage and customize workflows, while accomplishing more tasks in less time and achieving higher levels of quality.
• Canon imageFORMULA DR-6050C – BLI's Pick for Outstanding Low-Volume Production Sheet-fed Scanner - Boasting scanning speeds of up to 70 pages-per-minute (ppm) and 140 images-per-minuteI (ipm), the image FORMULA DR-6050C is a fast, reliable and precise solution for several types of business environments. Designed with Canon's unique feeding mechanism, the DR-6050C production scanner features Ultrasonic Double Feed Detection, Rapid Recovery and Staple Detection to help ensure reliable document scanning, and three-line Contact Image Sensors (CIS) and dust-free shading mechanism allows for outstanding image quality.
• Canon imageRUNNER DR-9050C – BLI's Outstanding Achievement Award for Exceptional Value - A high-volume, high image-quality document management solution, the DR-9050C can scan at speeds up to 112 ppm/225 ipmI in color, grayscale and black and white. The DR-9050C captures images and text with clarity using three-line Contact Image Sensors at up to 600 dots-per-inch optical resolution, and incorporates a dust-free shading mechanism for exceptional image quality. Developed with Canon's unique feeding mechanism, the DR-9050C utilizes Ultrasonic Double Feed Detection, Rapid Recovery and Staple Detection to ensure reliable document scanning.
• Canon imageWARE Secure Audit Manager – BLI's Pick for Outstanding Document Security Solution - imageWARE Secure Audit Manager is a robust and efficient information security software solution for document distribution oversight. This solution carves a new concept in the information security industry. It is the first product to provide capture, archive, and audit capabilities of Canon device activities such as print, scan, fax, copy, and send jobs. imageWARE Secure Audit Manager captures job attribute information such as time, date, user, as well as text and image data. After this information is captured, it's stored in a centralized database where it can be readily searched using one of three search features: full text search, attribute search, and image search. With this solution, companies and organizations can reduce risks and liabilities associated with the leakage of important and confidential information.

Twice a year, BLI, a leading independent office equipment test lab, rewards those products that have provided the most outstanding performances in BLI's exhaustive lab tests with its "Pick" awards. Testing requirements cover reliability, image quality, ease-of-use, productivity, multitasking abilities, print drivers, administrative utilities and a variety of network connectivity requirements. Typical testing lasts approximately two months and includes extensive durability testing where each unit is run at the manufacturer's maximum recommended monthly volume. To learn why BLI selected these models to win its prestigious awards, read the press releases on the home page of BLI's web site at www.buyerslab.com.

About Buyers Laboratory
For 48 years, Buyers Lab (BLI) has been the leading independent office-equipment testing lab and business consumer advocate. In addition to publishing the industry's most comprehensive and accurate test reports on office document imaging devices, each representing months of exhaustive hands-on testing in BLI's U.S. and UK laboratories, the company has been the leading source of competitive intelligence for industry professionals on copiers, printers, fax machines, scanners, duplicators, wide-format devices and multifunctional products. The company's databases cover over 12,000 products globally and have a long-standing reputation for being the industry's most trustworthy and complete source for specifications and side-by-side comparisons, all of which are available as part of bliQ, BLI's web-based encyclopedic resource. Subscribers also have access to BLI's renowned Lab Test Reports, First Look Reports, Solutions Reports, Environmental Reports, news articles and a complete library of manufacturer's product literature, as well as valuable tools including a Product Configurator and Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Calculator.

Buyers Lab also provides business consumers with How-To-Guides, a Needs Assessment Wizard and Free Vendor Quotes via its Buyers Lab Advisor website, as well as independent purchasing advice and consulting from its Buyers Alliance procurement experts. Business consumers and manufacturers can also select from a vast array of confidential for-hire private testing services that include document imaging device beta and pre-launch testing, performance certification testing, consumables and print media testing, and software solutions testing.

About Canon U.S.A., Inc.
Canon U.S.A., Inc. is a leading provider of consumer, business-to-business, and industrial digital imaging solutions. Its parent company, Canon Inc. (NYSE:CAJ), a top patent holder of technology, ranked third overall in the U.S. in 2008†, with global revenues of US $45 billion, is listed as number four in the computer industry on Fortune Magazine's World's Most Admired Companies 2009 list, and is on the 2009 BusinessWeek list of "100 Best Global Brands." Canon is committed to the highest levels of customer satisfaction and loyalty, providing 100 percent U.S.-based consumer service and support for all products. At Canon, we care because caring is essential to living together in harmony. Founded upon a corporate philosophy of Kyosei – "all people, regardless of race, religion or culture, harmoniously living and working together into the future" – Canon U.S.A. supports a number of social, youth, educational and other programs, including environmental and recycling initiatives. Additional information about these programs can be found at www.usa.canon.com/kyosei. To keep apprised of the latest news from Canon U.S.A., sign up for the Company's RSS news feed by visiting www.usa.canon.com/rss.

About Davis Business Machines, Inc.
Davis Business Machines, Inc. (www.dbm.net) has been an innovative leader in providing strategic business solutions and services to organizations since 1963. Davis integrates and applies industry-leading expertise and innovative technology to help companies meet today's complex information lifecycle management demands and prepare them for tomorrow's challenges. Their mission is to provide total customer satisfaction by helping customers efficiently manage the document lifecycle through superior products, solutions and services. Today, Davis is among the most successful business solutions providers in the Lehigh Valley, with a satellite office in Pottstown, PA to better serve their Montgomery and Bucks County customers. Follow news, photos and video coming from Davis Business Machines by subscribing to our news feed by visiting http://www.dbm.net/articles?rss or on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/dbmnet.

Why Businesses Should Utilize an Electronic Document Management System

In today’s business world, the amount of paper a business manages can be endless. With each piece of paper, someone needs to file it, space must be used to store it, and on multiple occasions, someone needs to retrieve it. When you are talking about thousands and even millions of pages of paper, this can be a very time-consuming task, and therefore a very costly task. The costs mount up quickly, in the areas of wages for employees who are responsible for filing and retrieving documents, and the areas of storage space required to house the massive amounts of paper files.

It is also an on-going, never-ending task, requiring the time of countless employees. This is time that could be better used performing the tasks that they have their personal expertise in. The opportunity costs for using a paper filing system include wasted time, delayed customer response time, and wasted floor and storage space. In other words, the efficiency of a business is very much hampered by continuing to utilize a paper filing system.

The benefits of an Electronic Document Management System (EDMS) are countless. With an EDMS, you will be able to take all of paper files, put them through a scanner, and them throw them away, or if your too skeptical to toss them, you can store them in some off-site storage where you will hopefully never have to look at them again. All of your files will be stored electronically, accessible almost instantly by any computer within your office at anytime. You do not have to worry about misplaced files or somebody else already having a file at their desk.

The initial cost of converting to an EDMS is usually what keeps people from doing it. This cost consists of the time and money it takes to scan all of a company’s existing files into the system. To save time, a company can pay a scanning service bureau to scan all their files for them, and this will sometimes be the cheapest method as opposed to paying an employee, who is likely less efficient, to scan the files. Whatever the method chosen, the first year cost might be heavy, but these costs should be offset within the first couple of years.

Another route that a lot of companies take is not to scan all of their backfiles into the EDMS, but to start scanning files today as they come in, and leaving all previous files as they were. This allows the company to bypass a large part of the initial costs, while still enjoying the benefits of the electronic file storage. As time goes by and the companies appreciation for the system grows, they will slowly convert their older files into electronic images, allowing them spread this cost over many months or even years.

Once a company is completely paperless and utilizing an EDMS, their efficiency is greatly increased, their response time for customer support is drastically reduced, and their overall office clutter is eliminated. These improvements convert directly to more business and higher profits.

If that’s not enough to convince you, then this will. The company is no longer at risk to having their critical business information stolen, lost, or destroyed due to some unforeseen circumstances, such as Hurricane Katrina that destroyed thousands of business’s paper records. The EDMS can backup your files offsite so nothing will ever be lost, plus its security features will prevent unauthorized individuals from accessing the documents that they shouldn’t, a very difficult task with a paper filing system.

Document Management Systems Can Enrich The Bottom Line In A Down Economy

In these undecided economic times, countless companies are faced with the challenge of how to maximize returns on stretched budgets. It's a do-more-with-less strategy that requires business operations be optimized now to meet existing economic realities.

One area to consider for improving the bottom line is to look at how information is managed throughout the organization, particularly document management. This involves all the content, things like documents, invoices, etc.; all the actions, things like reviews, and approvals; and all the processes, these are the repeatable steps that drive the flow of information. Improving how information is managed, the content, actions, and processes, will improve efficiency, reduce risk, and lead to cost savings.

There is another benefit to consider with this as well, and it's a silver lining. With any change comes opportunity, and the right kind of change now can position an organization for even greater success long term.

There are least seven ways that improvements in how information is managed can influence the bottom line in terms of efficiency, risk and cost savings, and here they are:

1. Make information findable so people can find information, instantly, every day.
   Studies have shown that among those who are involved with the flow of information, about one-half spend two hours per day looking for what they need to do their jobs. This can translate to hundreds of thousands of dollars in unproductive cost per year. The aim is to cut down on the time it takes for people to find information, making them more efficient and able to complete their tasks much faster.
2. Automate business processes
   Manual processes, especially those that involve paper, have a real propensity to breakdown. As information is routed in steps, for example in review or approval cycles, it's often delayed, there are interruptions, and any number of user-influenced errors can occur. These practices are a real challenge to manage for accountability. At any point in the process, it's difficult to identify at which step the process is currently in. And looking back at completed processes, it's very difficult to identify who did what and when. Consequently, business processes tend to be slow, taking days or weeks to run their course. And it's this lack of speed, not mention the errors, that are the real burdens on efficiency. Automating processes using workflow eliminates the need for people to manage processes and allows people to focus their expertise on making decisions and adding knowledge. The flow of information is handled automatically, which not only establishes consistent processing of information, but also shortens cycle times, increases accountability, and leads to greater quality and accuracy of repeatable business process.
3. Improve collaboration
   A large number of companies still use shared file servers to store information, email to share it, and sometimes FTP to exchange files back and forth. But here's the problem: these methods are unstructured and disconnected. Managing information in this way lacks the necessary controls and collaborative tools to make the most efficient use of corporate knowledge. Files are easily duplicated or lost, information has to be re-created, and versioning is ad-hoc at best. Even worse, in some instances files are silo'd into line-of-business applications, for example a project management application that is only accessible to a few in the company. The answer to improving collaboration is creating a unified, enterprise, work environment where people and knowledge are connected company-wide. This allows all employees, no matter what area of the business they are in, to leverage the collective intelligence of an organization.
4. Capture a record of every change.
   Without a system to manage files as they change, it is virtually certain that information will be lost, it will be difficult to reassemble later on, and there will be confusion surrounding which are the correct versions of files. Documents are not static. They change over time. Automated version control offers a standardized way to capture and organize information in what would otherwise be a chaotic and uncontrolled process. People are more productive and the risk of information loss is greatly reduced. Plus, with version control, everyone immediately knows which is the current version, while previous versions are always retrievable. Another plus of version control is that it can reduce risk. Version control eliminates the potential for losing content in prior versions and importantly, it allows for visibility over content history, for example who approved a document and what did the content look like at that time.
5. Reduce the risk of email.
   Email may be fast, cheap, and convenient, but it's a mistake to believe that it's an informal mode of communication. Email is more and more falling under the scope of regulations such as eDiscovery. For this reason alone, it's important to view email as business records. But even beyond regulation, there are other aspects of how we use email today that make it more and more essential to consider when reducing risk factors. In many cases emails are used as a principle means of communication among employees, as well as with people outside the company, like customers or vendors. The content within emails, and files attached to them, are often times the most complete and thorough record of history over time. Your ability to quickly research and retrieve information from an email archive not only improves your chances of successfully complying with regulations and legal requirements, but it also helps with matters like researching and exchanging knowledge in hand-offs between people, say for example in times of employee transition.
6. Maintain compliance with regulations
   As with email records, some companies also face regulatory requirements that affect all types of information. Information itself can be a liability if it is incorrectly managed. Studies vary widely, but some have indicated that as much as 80% of documents reside on user's desktops, beyond the control and management of a structured document management system. Government regulations, quality standards, and legal requirements are an increasing challenge, and programs that manage for compliance by documenting policies and procedures, applying consistent business processes, and securing information are necessary to reduce exposure to risk. Where quality standards and compliance exist, such as ISO, FDA, and Sarbanes-Oxley, regulated content and processes must be managed using records management.
7. Eliminate paper storage costs and go Paperless.
   Long established storage of paper documents in filing cabinets, archive boxes, and off-site warehouses is a no-value solution. The expenditures of all that paper storage - the space and money spent on it - offers no return in value to the company. It's an unnecessary operational cost. Filing cabinets eat up valuable office space that could otherwise be used for meaningful and productive work areas; and money spent on off-site storage in warehouses could be invested in areas of business that actually have a positive return on the bottom line. When documents are stored electronically, however, there's an added value because information can be filed, searched and retrieved instantly. This is a big factor in terms of process efficiency. And there are other areas to consider as well: electronic document storage makes information more accessible, including even outside the office for employees who might be traveling, working at home, at satellite offices, or perhaps even vendors and customers. When documents are accessed, changed, or approved, everything is recorded in an audit log. Electronic document storage also makes it easier to plan for business continuity, so records can be restored quickly and the business can get immediately back up and running. And finally, electronic document storage is a greener, paperless approach that not only reduces storage and its associated costs, but also cuts down on the need for paper and printing.

Speed Up Customer Service with Document Management

The fast paced world of business requires you to move with it and keep up with the demands of customers who want everything immediately. This means that everything in your office must (if possible) be automated in order for your staff to act swiftly and efficiently.

One of the aspects of your business that you need to invest in to improve processes is document management. Manual ranking and filing of paper documents is time consuming and many business these days invest in electronic document management to help them efficiently manage their files and in turn act on customer demands speedily.

Electronic document management systems, such as those provided by Davis Business Machines (http://www.dbm.net), is not only about instantly retrieving information but it also allows you to text search the actual body of a document together with the title. And what’s even better about it is that it actually highlights the search terms you need so you can go directly to the information you want-therefore saving time spent searching for documents especially when your in a hurry.

This can tremendously help improve your company’s efficiency-everything will be at your fingertips with just a touch of a button. You can load all your customer records within seconds together with other correspondence, even references and emails about the client which have been sent internally.

The superb features of electronic document management speak for themselves. Customer information is instantly accessible so you can answer customer queries on the spot. And since you’ll have an audit trail of past transactions and communications at your fingertips with each particular customer, no risk of error can occur.

What’s even better is that you don’t even have to ask your customer to wait while you find the relevant information they need, or call them back; you are easily positioned as an efficient company that really values and takes all your customers seriously.

It goes without saying that speed of service is crucial if you want to stay ahead of the competition. Electronic document management can help you do this and more. And as everyone is aware of, keeping your existing customers is way cheaper than acquiring new ones. So investing in electronic document management will help your business save more money and in the long run acquire new customers courtesy of the satisfied ones.

December 2009 Edition of the Canon "Highlights" Newsletter

The December 2009 edition of the "Highlights" newsletter includes the following topics:

• Message
• Year in Review
• 2009 New Product Highlights
• 2009 Award and Recognition Highlights
• 2009 Event Highlights
• Canon Micro Sites

The newsletter may be found by clicking here.

Paper that works?

Did you know, on average companies have to hire an additional employee for every 12 filing cabinets simply to maintain organization. This is just the beginning of what it costs to manage paper documents in an increasingly digital world. Whether you are looking for a way to improve personal or professional productivity, capture and distribute paper-based information among workgroups, departments, and small businesses, or even blend multiple business applications from networked printers/copiers or scanners, Document Management Solutions can securely transform paper documents into business value.

Paperwork is paper that works… Document management solutions turn everyday tasks into routine processes that take less time, involve fewer steps, and allow employees to accomplish more. Enabling document management stops the inefficiency inherent in paper files and achieve greater productivity, better information management, and lower overhead expense - a benefit to any bottom line.

• Increasing operational efficiency.
• Making business applications more productive.
• Delivering financial advantage to the bottom line.

A document management solution accommodates any business environment. Ideally, the amount of storage required for paper documents would be reduced, make any document instantly retrievable, and securely bridge the paper and digital worlds.

Contact us today to take advantage of our document management expertise.

Let us take the hassle out of your computer systems

Computer Solutions

Our Solutions

PC Based Networks
Whether you have an existing PC network that needs a major overhaul, or if you are connecting your computers for the first time, we can help design, plan, and install the right solution that fits the current and future needs of your business.

System Assessment
We begin with gathering information about your existing computer systems and peripherals. We then provide you with an inventory, graphical diagram and written analysis that is used to help assess your current and future technology needs.

System Security
You’ve invested a great deal of money in technology. You don’t want anything to jeopardize the stability or reliability of that investment. We can help you implement a reliable tape backup system, battery backup, and anti-virus plan that will protect your investment, and keep you up and running.

Sales & Installation
We can recommend and provide you with new PC’s or upgrades to your existing systems. We also specialize in Microsoft Windows NT based file servers and peripherals. We provide on site setup, installation, testing and training services.

Maintenance & Repairs
Just like an automobile, you need to perform routine preventative maintenance, to keep your systems running smoothly. We can help with routine maintenance, software updates and patches. We also specialize in emergency troubleshooting and repairs to all kinds of computer systems and peripherals. We provide same day service on most emergency calls, and can normally fix your problem in one visit.

Outsourcing
If you’re a small business with no one on your staff with the skills (or time) to keep your systems running reliably, we can step in and provide the assistance you need. We’re only a phone call away.

Internet Connectivity
To keep up with today’s “connected” world, we can recommend a variety of solutions for connecting to the Internet, and communication via Internet e-mail. We can provide you with the products and services needed to create a simultaneous, shared connection to the internet by all (or selected) users on your network. We can also provide you with the ability to have email at all (or selected) workstations, shared contact databases, shared calendars and schedules. Need a website? We can do that too.

Contact us today!

Canon U.S.A. Introduces New imageFORMULA DR-2020U Universal Scanner For Business Environments Of All Sizes

(Lake Success, NY) - Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leading provider of advanced digital imaging and software solutions, today unveiled its new digital scanning solution for workgroup document imaging and general office applications – the new imageFORMULA DR-2020U – the latest model in the Company's award-winning DR-Scanner line.
The DR-2020U incorporates the reliable paper handling and high-quality imaging capabilities inherent in Canon's DR-Scanner line to provide robust functionality at an affordable price. Ideal for distributed scanning and general office workloads, the DR-2020U offers versatile three-way scanning – a 50-page Automatic Document Feeder (ADF) for batch scanning, a flatbed to accommodate unconventional-sized documents, and a dedicated business card feeder tray to handle batch business card scanning. The DR-2020U is capable of one-pass duplex scanning at up to 20 pages / 40 images per minute (ppm/imp) in black-and-white and up to 20 ppm/imp in color*. Combined with its user-friendly design and extensive bundled software, the DR-2020U is indispensable to nearly any office environment.
"Canon has a long-standing commitment to answering the digital imaging needs of all segments of the market. With the introduction of the DR-2020U, we are expanding upon our already robust array of digital imaging technologies," said Jim Rosetta, vice president and general manager, Imaging Systems Group, Canon U.S.A. "With its user-friendly design, outstanding workflow and increased imaging flexibility, the DR-2020U is a cost-effective addition to help boost office efficiency and productivity."
The DR-2020U features an intuitively designed, copier-like control panel allowing users to quickly navigate through job functions resulting in increased workflow efficiency. Users can easily begin scanning operations through three pre-defined Scan-To-Job buttons for Copy, File and E-mail functions, as well as five programmable Scan-To-Job buttons for assigning up to 50 different imaging tasks. The Scan-To-Job buttons enable multiple users within a workgroup to access frequently performed tasks at the touch of a button, providing for simpler use and greater office efficiency.
Further enhancing user productivity, the DR-2020U includes ISIS/TWAIN drivers, industry standard interfaces which seamlessly link applications and scanners for easy hardware integration with third-party Enterprise Content Management (ECM) software. The new scanner is also bundled with the latest document imaging software packages – including Canon CapturePerfect and CaptureOnTouch, Adobe Acrobat Standard, NewSoft Presto! BizCard, and Nuance PaperPort Standard and OmniPage SE – to deliver a complete end-to-end solution.
Recognizing the need to capture original documents with precision, the Canon DR-2020U features a 1200 dots-per-inch (dpi) optical resolution, and includes a multitude of advanced image processing capabilities such as Advanced Text Enhancement, Color Dropout, Deskew and Border Removal to help optimize electronic document creation.
In addition, the DR-2020U employs efficiency-boosting features such as Double Feed Detection, Auto Page Size Detection, and Skip Blank Page to reduce tedious preparation and presorting of documents prior to scanning, helping to streamline workflows.
To ease integration with customer infrastructures, the DR-2020U universal workgroup scanner has been tested and is compatible with solutions from the following software vendors**:

• Accusoft Pegasus
• Computhink, Inc.
• Datacap, Inc.
• Digitech Systems, Inc.
• DocuLex, Inc.
• Therefore Corporation

The new imageFORMULA DR-2020U universal scanner, which meets ENERGY STAR Program guidelines for energy efficiency and complies with the RoHS and WEEE directives for reduction of hazardous substances and waste products, is available immediately through Davis Business Machines and other authorized Canon resellers for a manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) of $695.
About Canon U.S.A., Inc.
Canon U.S.A., Inc. is a leading provider of consumer, business-to-business, and industrial digital imaging solutions. Its parent company, Canon Inc. (NYSE:CAJ), a top patent holder of technology, ranked third overall in the U.S. in 2008†, with global revenues of US $45 billion, is listed as number four in the computer industry on Fortune Magazine's World's Most Admired Companies 2009 list, and is on the 2009 BusinessWeek list of "100 Best Global Brands." Canon is committed to the highest levels of customer satisfaction and loyalty, providing 100 percent U.S.-based consumer service and support for all products. At Canon, we care because caring is essential to living together in harmony. Founded upon a corporate philosophy of Kyosei – "all people, regardless of race, religion or culture, harmoniously living and working together into the future" – Canon U.S.A. supports a number of social, youth, educational and other programs, including environmental and recycling initiatives. Additional information about these programs can be found at www.usa.canon.com/kyosei. To keep apprised of the latest news from Canon U.S.A., sign up for the Company's RSS news feed by visiting www.usa.canon.com/rss.
About Davis Business Machines, Inc.
Davis Business Machines, Inc. (www.dbm.net) has been an innovative leader in providing strategic business solutions and services to organizations since 1963. Davis integrates and applies industry-leading expertise and innovative technology to help companies meet today's complex information lifecycle management demands and prepare them for tomorrow's challenges. Their mission is to provide total customer satisfaction by helping customers efficiently manage the document lifecycle through superior products, solutions and services. Today, Davis is among the most successful business solutions providers in the Lehigh Valley, with a satellite office in Pottstown, PA to better serve their Montgomery and Bucks County customers. Follow news, photos and video coming from Davis Business Machines by subscribing to our news feed by visiting http://www.dbm.net/articles?rss or on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/dbmnet.
# # #
† Based on weekly patent counts issued by United States Patent and Trademark Office
All referenced product names, and other marks, are trademarks of their respective owners.
* Examples based on typical settings, rated in pages/images per minute with letter-sized documents at 200dpi, portrait-feeding direction via ADF. Actual processing speeds may vary based on PC performance and application.
** Please check www.usa.canon.com regularly for updates on software vendors who have tested the imageFORMULA DR-2020U universal workgroup scanner.

The New Document Management and The Help Desk

November 2009 Edition of the Canon "Highlights" Newsletter

The November 2009 edition of the "Highlights" newsletter includes the following topics:

• Message
• You Can Call Me Al … Bringing Attention to the Environment
• IFS Sets Green Goals
• Environment
• Commitment to Environmental Responsibility
• Environmentally Conscious Products with the Next Generation In Mind
• Canon Forest Program for Factory Certified Models
• Environmentally Conscious Design of the New imagePROGRAF iPF755/750 and iPF655/650
• New Product Information
• COPYblue
• uniFLOW Output Manager (OM) v4.0.5
• Agfa :Apogee Prepress Integration
• Did You Know?
• Let Your Business RUN Microsite Update
• Events
• Canon Sponsored InfoTrends Webinar
• 2010 PODI AppForum Conference
• RSNA
• Look What’s coming – DICOM Launch
• Inside Canon U.S.A., Inc.
• Interview with Jennifer Kolchinsky, Sr. Specialist, Services Business Planning

The newsletter may be found by clicking here.

Countering The Content Conundrum

Have you ever spent hours poring over a document to ensure accuracy and inclusion of all edits made to earlier versions? Have you — or has your company — ever suffered consequences from taking content written for an internal audience and using it for sales or marketing — without thoroughly vetting it for external use?

No matter the department — HR, sales, marketing, legal, administration, etc. — many of you find that kind of content pain to be an unavoidable fact of work life, standard operating procedure. Unaware of a better way to create and manage content, you suck it up. Well, you can stop sucking because there is a better way, and that way is structured content — documents that have been chunked into meaningful component parts and tagged in a systematic fashion.

While it remains one of the best-kept enterprise secrets, structured content has long proven its value in technical communications where it mitigates risks, reduces costs, and increases revenues. Better still, the road to mature, standards-based structured content has been paved by organizations such as IBM and OASIS and standards such as DITA. Now, it’s time for other enterprise functions to realize the same benefits associated with structured content.

In brief, structured content brings organization and automation to content. Structured content lets content creators efficiently create, collaborate, manage and reuse high volumes of information, which can be repurposed into the languages and formats your customers demand. The result? Organizations accelerate the cost-effective delivery of accurate information products — whether those products are for internal or external consumption, e.g., sales RFPs, marketing brochures, HR forms, legal contracts or any other department’s content.

So, what does structured content look like in the enterprise? It depends where you look.

In research & development, you can use structured content to create and manage engineering documents, technical publications, and strategy and planning documents. Here, structured content can help increase revenues by improving the ability of key employees, partners and vendors to share and discover documents, resulting in faster time to market for new products. Meanwhile, costs can be reduced through content repurposing and reuse, which eliminates the duplication and re-creation of existing content. And structured content can mitigate R&D risk, for instance, helping companies avoid noncompliance, and improve customer satisfaction by ensuring the consistent use of authoritative content in product documentation.

In manufacturing, contracts, manufacturing operations, standard operating procedures and regulated documents all benefit from structured content. Revenue growth can come from streamlined creation of contracts and agreements, ultimately accelerating time to revenue. Cost reductions may be seen in reduced rework, recall and aftermarket service costs otherwise caused by inaccurate information in manufacturing documents. Risk can be mitigated by reducing the risk of inaccurate or inconsistent contracts, and by reducing the risk of human error associated with reviewing one-of-a-kind, complex legal documents.

In sales and marketing, structured content can be applied to sales and marketing collateral as well as contact center documents. The revenue opportunities in the sales and marketing department include developing a reusable library of proven RFPs and content to improve win rates. That reusable library also helps to reduce the costs of goods sold by reducing the time and costs associated with developing proposals and business correspondence. Predefined, reusable content components with approved language and standard terms and conditions mitigate risks by ensuring the accuracy of contracts and legally binding agreements.

In service and support, you can use structured content for maintenance and repair, technical support and training documents. To increase revenues, you could increase aftermarket sales through maintenance and repair operations supported with structured content. Cost reductions may be realized through content reuse, which reduces editorial and publishing costs. Structured content helps mitigate the risk of noncompliance and potentially catastrophic equipment failure by ensuring personnel have consistent, up-to-date maintenance and repair information.

In corporate administration, structured content can benefit legal and regulatory, human resources, and finance and operations documents. Revenue growth can come from improving the ability to discover patents and IP documentation for ongoing growth and protection of revenue streams. Cost savings may be realized by reducing redundant editorial and publishing costs, which lowers the cost of publishing and maintaining standard documents. Finally, structured content can help reduce the risks of errors during the review process and through regulatory filings, demonstrating that you have compliance policies in place.

Clearly, these are just a few of many examples in which structured content can benefit the organization. The important takeaway is that you don’t have to live with your current content conundrums. You can relieve the pain and realize significant advantages by embracing structured content, in whatever department you happen to work.

Orginally authored by Dr. Bruce Sharpe, JustSystems

Solving the Provider Credentialing Paper Jam

Healthcare organizations are pressured to improve productivity and reduce costs, while meeting high quality standards and protecting patient confidentiality.

There are multiple workflows within multiple functional groups involved in patient care or physician credentialing that are ripe with inefficiencies. This article focuses on improving the workflow efficiencies in provider credentialing.

What is provider credentialing?
Hospitals are required to keep accurate records to verify that their physicians and other health care providers are adequately trained, certified and/or licensed. For example, all physicians and allied health practitioners must provide evidence of:

• Medical malpractice insurance
• DEA certification (controlled substance)
• State licensure
• Other certifications as required, such as:
• ACLS - Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support
• PALS - Pediatric Advanced Life Support
• PA - Physician Assistant Certification
• NLS - Newborn Life Support
• TLS - certification for trauma practice

Credentialing Paper Jams
Each healthcare organization now deals with a lengthy application process in order to understand the entire background of the healthcare provider professional. The collection and verification of the provider’s credentialing data is a very time-consuming, paper intensive, and deadline sensitive process.

Keeping critical credentialing information in paper form can result in inefficiencies, which can be costly in:

• Lost time manually auditing backup records stored in binders and remote storage, finding misplaced documents, and filing paper documents
• Documentation errors
• Lack of documentation security
• The need to hire Temporary personnel to meet process deadlines
• Physician denial to practice if records have expired

Click here to begin taking advantage of our document management expertise!

What is Document Management?

We've created a new useful lens on Squidoo!

Check it out at http://www.squidoo.com/davisdocumentmanagement

Digital Document Storage Reduces Costs

The average office worker spends up to half of their workday searching for simple information! No wonder it’s hard to increase production. A digital document storage system will not only increase worker productivity, but also reduce company costs.

Lost documents create ripples of inefficiency throughout any organization. Although small and medium sized organizations are often hit harder than large corporations, the effect is devastating across the board. In paper-based environments, digital document storage is a great alternative. These systems provide an easy-to-use, secure document storage alternative to ultimately boost productivity and reduce operating expenses.

Digital Document Imaging

The process of converting paper documents into electronic files serves as the catalyst for today’s innovative electronic document storage systems. These systems allow documents to be captured at their source and enable organizations to reduce manual operational errors which frequently result in lost or misplaced documents.

In general, today’s electronic storage systems are less expensive, more secure, easier to use and more reliable than traditional methods. Many companies can also choose to integrate scanning, storage and paper-to-digital technology into existing processes at any time for a more gradual and cost-effective transition.

Davis Business Machines can assist your organization today! Click here to begin taking advantage of our consultation expertise.

Are you scanning your electronic documents?

I know of a lot of people that have a need to create a document as an image. They first print the document then put the document into their scanner so they have an image. I don’t get it.

There are plenty of tools that can be used to create an image of your documents. You could use Adobe Acrobat, eCopy PaperWorks and a myriad of other tools. You could even use the Microsoft Document Image Writer that comes free with your computer. All you have to do is go to file and select print. Select the Microsoft Document Image Writer as your printer and then choose to save the file as an image that can be converted into a tiff image.

Depending on what you are trying to accomplish, one choice may be better than another. If you need help, let us know what you want to accomplish and we can give you a solution. You may already have all the technology you need to get it done and all we'll have to do is teach you how to do it.

8 Document Management Practices that are Cost Effective and Eco Friendly

As leading economic indicators continue to signal a global economic slowdown, companies are looking for effective steps to take – such as lowering costs and streamlining operations – in order to weather the storm and achieve a competitive edge in the eventual recovery. At the same time, recent industry research shows that businesses also want to be more environmentally responsible.

There are several document management practices that can help companies reach both their environmental and cost-reduction goals. From the sustainability perspective, these practices can significantly reduce the use of paper, thereby saving trees, gas in shipping the paper, physical space to store it, and halting the eventual destruction of many files that end up in a landfill. According to the Environmental Paper Network, “If, for example, the United States cut its office paper use by roughly 10 percent, or 540,000 tons, greenhouse gases would fall by 1.6 million tons. This is the equivalent of taking 280,000 cars off the road for a year.”

Here are eight guidelines highlighting document management practices in the office that can benefit the environment and reduce costs:

1. The workgroup alternative

To the extent possible, replacing personal desktop printers with workgroup MFPs (multifunction peripherals that combine print/copy/scan/fax functionality in one machine) shared by departments can have a strong positive impact. One financial services company replaced 1,100 copiers and printers and 1,000 fax machines with 400 MFPs. The initiative eliminated 1,700 machines that no longer consume resources based on their manufacture, transportation, operation, maintenance, and eventual disposal.

2. Adopt scanning practices

Instead of copying and storing physical documents, organizations can scan and store electronically. Employees can retain digital copies that they can distribute electronically, and at the same time avoid accumulating files filled with paper.

As a conservative estimate, scanning can reduce paper consumption by one to three percent. In a recent industry survey, senior executives involved in document management indicated that document scanning has a high impact across the greatest range of business goals that include reducing costs, increasing competitive advantage, enhancing regulatory compliance, and improving customer service.

3. Default to duplex

Most multi-page documents don’t require the text to be printed on one side of the page. Newspapers, magazines and books use both sides (duplex printing). With effective fleet management it is possible to change office practices and make duplex printing of multi-page documents the norm. This can potentially decrease paper use by up to 50 percent.

4. Eliminate printing banner pages

A banner page is the extra page that prints before an employee’s file prints with username and machine name information. Gartner’s research estimates that organizations can reduce their consumables cost by up to 20 percent by eliminating banner pages from office print jobs. Banner pages can represent up to a quarter of pages printed for some typical office print jobs. A 1,000 person organization could cut up 1.6 million pages and save $33,500 per year by eliminating banner page printing (“Cost Cutting Initiatives for Office Printing,” Sharon McNee and Ken Weilerstein, Feb. 2008.)

5. Bulk up

Buying paper and toner in bulk can reduce transportation, packaging, and storage resources. Buying in bulk also often results in cost savings.

6. Leverage “smart” technologies

Enterprises can use MFP “smart” technologies such as Personal Mail Box, Fax-from-Desktop, Scan-to-Email/File Folder, and Document Routing in order to decrease paper and chemicals used in printing. This can reduce paper usage by up to three percent.

7. Implement user authentication

With as many as one in 10 documents sent to the printer and uncollected or sent again before collection to correct user errors, enterprises could reduce ad hoc print costs by up to 10 percent by implementing a PIN authentication system.

8. Put more text on each page

Paper usage can be reduced by changing a few default settings that will result in more text on each page. For example, in MS Word, you can go to “File,” then to “Page Setup” and set the margins to accommodate more text. Compared to the normal settings, this could use up to 14 percent less paper. Additionally, when printing, you can reduce font size to 10 point to decrease the amount of paper required.

Davis Business Machines can assist your organization today! Click here to begin taking advantage of our consultation expertise

Originally authored by Ken Neal, a Certified Enterprise Content Management Practitioner.

BLI Certifies the Canon Color imageRUNNER C1022i

Offering a strong overall performance and a robust feature set, the Canon Color imageRUNNER C1022i proved to be highly reliable in BLI’s rigorous two-month evaluation. Employing four drums to output at 22 ppm in black and color, the Canon Color imageRUNNER C1022i, which was tested with the standard UFR II-LT print controller, offers excellent ease of use and very good multitasking capabilities and copy productivity. Along with standard copy and network print functionality, the device includes Canon’s excellent Universal Send scan functionality, which includes multiple protocol sending and searchable PDF capabilities not found on most rival devices. In addition, this versatile model incorporates scan and print duplexing as standard. BLI highly recommends the Canon Color imageRUNNER C1022i for users with monthly volumes of up to 5,000 impressions.

Read the entire report here.

Controlling Document Overload

When you have one or more groups in an enterprise, utilizing a document management system will provide storage, easy access and control of large information caches.

As workgroups grow larger, the data in the system continues to grow with it. In document management systems, different sets of data are stored in different styles and fonts. Document management solution companies work on systems so anyone within a workgroup can access information.

Good document management software is judged by the accuracy, simplicity and availability of the information access methods. Most systems have a login that will not allow people without proper authentication to view the data. If the data is stolen, the system should be able to restore the lost document without losing format or information.

Document management systems keep data retrieval fast and simple through two approaches:

1. Knowledge based retrieval.
2. Key wording.

Knowledge based retrieval collects all the information and creates structured groups based on words, phrases, functions, or any other particular subject. Key wording retrieval identifies the content through specific keywords. These systems are great for growing companies to make organization of data simple and easy to search through.

October 2009 Edition of the Canon "Highlights" Newsletter

The October 2009 edition of the "Highlights" newsletter includes the following topics:

• Message
• Advancing Business - Workflow Is The Key
• New Product Information
• imageRUNNER ADVANCE Series
• imageRUNNER ADVANCE C9075 PRO/C9065 PRO
• imageRUNNER ADVANCE C7065/C7055
• imageRUNNER ADVANCE C5051/C5045/C5035/C5030
• imageRUNNER ADVANCE Essentials
• imageRUNNER ADVANCE Desktop
• imageRUNNER ADVANCE Tracker
• Workflow Composer
• imageWARE Document Server
• Canon Managed Document Services
• Events
• Canon Integrated Solutions Showcase
• Did You Know?
• Canon imagePROGRAF iPF Printers Come with Accounting Manager
• Essential Business Builder Suite of Tools
• There is a newly designed imageWARE.com Site?
• Case Study
• Canon Professional Service's Case Study - Canofile Conversion to imageWARE
• Sales Tips
• Inside Canon U.S.A., Inc.
• Interview with Hiro Imamura, Sr. Director, Enterprise Systems

The newsletter may be found by clicking here.

Put Color back into Productivity and Reduce Costs

New color multifunction systems allow businesses to create color documents quickly and cost-effectively. These systems print, copy and scan in brilliant color, equipping you with the tools to create, duplicate, and store your creations.

Make sure you’re staying ahead of the curve by investing in a color-enabled MFP. Enjoy the same function and added benefit of professional color for about the same investment as a black-and-white system. Compared to ink jet or laser printers, a color-enabled MFP allows you to print, copy, and scan in full color at faster speeds for a fraction of the cost. Digital copiers also produce high-resolution copies with more clarity and detail than analog copiers.

Color ink jet printers are actually the most expensive color output devices to operate. As high profit items, ink jet cartridges are now the focus of most office supply stores’ advertising. Similarly, color laser printers are inexpensive to purchase but also have a high cost of operation.

Multifunction systems operate on low cost-per-page agreements that include supplies, preventative maintenance, and on-site service. The net result is lower output costs.

Considering the facts, will you put color back into productivity?

Canon U.S.A. Announces Availability of the latest COPYblue MEAP Kiosk Solution

(Lake Success, NY) - Providing storefront and hospitality businesses with an opportunity to generate additional revenue from copying, scanning and faxing, Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in advanced digital imaging and software solutions, and GBCblue, a recognized leader in guest computing technology and support services, today announced the availability of the new COPYblue MEAP Version 2.1 solution for select Canon imageRUNNER multifunctional products (MFPs).

The new COPYblue MEAP application transforms a Canon imageRUNNER MFP into a self-service kiosk for walk-up copy, fax and scanning by acting as an interface to access a back-end transaction server managed by GBCblue. MEAP (Multifunctional Embedded Application Platform) is Canon's proprietary embedded platform that allows for the creation of custom applications that simplify the interaction between users and Canon products.

"By developing this MEAP application to be used in conjunction with our imageRUNNER MFPs, we are able to further expand the usability and functionality of our devices while also helping to provide a valuable service to all types of public environments," said Sam Yoshida, vice president and general manager, Imaging Systems Group, Canon U.S.A. "Canon has always been committed to simplifying and improving the end-user experience while helping to streamline business practices and this new MEAP application developed with GBCblue is a testament to that dedication.

"Developed for public environments such as convention centers, libraries, hotels and airports, among others, the COPYblue system provides business center services to clients without the need for a dedicated on-site staff. An easy-to-use application, the user is prompted through the imageRUNNER touch screen panel with simple, step-by-step instructions to complete their desired functionality. Accepting all major credit cards as well as prepaid cards, users can simply walk up and swipe their card to make copies and send faxes or e-mails. Receipt printing is also available at the end of the session, providing the customer with a detailed breakdown of their transaction(s).

"Hotel and hospitality customers appreciate the speed, quality and reliability of Canon imageRUNNER devices, and GBCblue is very excited to be working with Canon to provide the COPYblue kiosk system on these great machines," said Ken York, vice president of Operations at GBCblue. "Leveraging the MEAP platform, Canon's developers designed an appealing user interface on the imageRUNNER device that makes it simple for hotel guests and business travelers to make copies and send faxes/e-mail.

"By implementing the COPYblue system into their environments, customers are able to provide their guests and clients a convenient and easy method to make copies and send faxes/e-mail, while also creating an additional revenue stream.

Omni Hotels, a prominent luxury hotel chain, has deployed this system throughout most of its properties, providing hotel guests with unattended, around-the-clock access to such fundamental business services as printing, faxing, copying and scanning, which can all be accomplished with the simple swipe of a credit card. "A great deal of business travelers are focused on showcasing the company, pushing forward initiatives, and producing results. As a destination of business leaders, Omni Hotels employs corporate-grade business center solutions to ensure our guests have the resources they need to be successful while out of the office. The COPYblue solution enables Omni Hotels to offer guests an entirely new class of service that is uniquely suited to the needs of our corporate guests," said Kerry Kennedy, vice president E-Commerce of Omni Hotels.

Further enhancing the ease-of-use for those environments that utilize a Canon imageRUNNER MFP with the new COPYblue MEAP Version 2.1, GBCblue monitors both the application and the device itself through an off-site, back-end server, enabling them to proactively discover and resolve potential issues, both hardware and software related, while also processing all transactions and providing the device administrator with detailed reports.

COPYblue MEAP Version 2.1 solution is available immediately through Davis Business Machines. Canon U.S.A. will leverage its Professional Services organization for implementing the software and facilitating the registration of the software with GBCblue's back end transaction processing server. For additional information, please contact Davis Business Machines or visit www.gbcblue.com.

# # #

About Canon U.S.A., Inc.
Canon U.S.A., Inc. is a leading provider of consumer, business-to-business, and industrial digital imaging solutions. Its parent company, Canon Inc. (NYSE:CAJ), a top patent holder of technology, ranked third overall in the U.S. in 2008†, with global revenues of US $45 billion, is listed as number four in the computer industry on Fortune Magazine's World's Most Admired Companies 2009 list, and is on the 2008 BusinessWeek list of "Top 100 Brands." Canon is committed to the highest levels of customer satisfaction and loyalty, providing 100 percent U.S.-based consumer service and support for all products. At Canon, we care because caring is essential to living together in harmony. Founded upon a corporate philosophy of Kyosei – "all people, regardless of race, religion or culture, harmoniously living and working together into the future" – Canon U.S.A. supports a number of social, youth, educational and other programs, including environmental and recycling initiatives. Additional information about these programs can be found at www.usa.canon.com/kyosei. To keep apprised of the latest news from Canon U.S.A., sign up for the Company's RSS news feed by visiting www.usa.canon.com/rss.

About GBCblue
GBCblue, based in Vancouver, WA, offers the most comprehensive business center solutions on the market, featuring fully managed software, hardware and revenue solutions designed with both the hotel and the hotel's guests in mind. GBCblue(tm) understands the importance of being a leader in quality assurance and customer satisfaction in the hospitality industry. To this end, the company has established strong business relationships with other industry-defining companies such as DELL, Canon, and Microsoft, which consistently deliver the highest quality products and services to their end users. For more information, visit the company's Web site, www.gbcblue.com, or call 1-888 GBC-BLUE

About Davis Business Machines, Inc.
Davis Business Machines, Inc. (www.dbm.net) has been an innovative leader in providing strategic business solutions and services to organizations since 1963. Davis integrates and applies industry-leading expertise and innovative technology to help companies meet today's complex information lifecycle management demands and prepare them for tomorrow's challenges. Their mission is to provide total customer satisfaction by helping customers efficiently manage the document lifecycle through superior products, solutions and services. Today, Davis is among the most successful business solutions providers in the Lehigh Valley, with a satellite office in Pottstown, PA to better serve their Montgomery and Bucks County customers.

There’s a reason why everyone else is doing it

Some people may ask why most businesses are beginning to implement an electronic document management system when hard copy documents have driven businesses for years?

These electronic systems provide searchable access to scanned information, create a disaster recovery plan and ensure government regulatory compliance. All these things enable better business decisions and smoother customer service interactions.

Many businesses are under the incorrect assumption that paper documents are somehow free. The fact is that the cost of managing paper documents may be more expensive than digital management alternatives.

The Cost of Paper Filing
Consider an average three-drawer filing cabinet. You have the cost of the actual cabinet, the cost of the folders, the cost of the paper prints and copies, and the cost of renting a space to keep the cabinet. Then you have to take in consideration the time it takes to copy, categorize and file documents in paper folders. Every time you need information you’ll have to physically search for the documents that could easily have been misfiled or misplaced.

Documents can be stolen; fires, floods or other natural disasters can wipe out your entire business.

Fortunately, there is a better way.
Electronic Document Management technologies allow you to create a secure and searchable archive of your business information. One 100 GB disk can store over 2,000,000 pages of information and replace over 100 filing cabinets. Documents can be shared over networks so even if one computer is lost, the information isn’t.

What seems to be the better option to you?