New Kodak Alaris Solutions for Remote Document-Scanner Management and Reporting

While we’ve all heard of managed print services (MPS) for managing and monitoring printer and MFP fleets, Kodak Alaris today announced solutions for doing the same for document-scanner fleets.

The firm announced that it’s expanding its remote service offerings with three new monitoring-as-a-service tools that provide cloud-based device management and optimize document-scanner performance.

The new Kodak Alaris Managed Print Services (MPS) Capture Agent, Scanner Manager, and Scanner Finder Tool are said to enable Kodak Alaris  channel partners to provide added value by allowing document scanners from Kodak Alaris to be  integrated into device-monitoring solutions for smarter reporting and management. With the new solutions, Kodak Alaris says its partners will be able to optimize customers’ document-capture infrastructures as easily as they manage printer fleets. The company says these solutions will provide visibility into customers’ imaging costs, reduce the cost to provide service, and overall expand partners’ business opportunities.

MPS Capture Agent

With the MPS Capture Agent, developers can add Kodak Alaris document scanners to a fleet of  devices a business is monitoring without having to deploy an additional device-management tool. Kodak Alaris says the MPS Capture Agent easily integrates with MPS and PC-management solutions, is compliant with industry-standard security requirements, and provides MPS providers and  customers with visibility into key scanner operational data and status via existing dashboards.

MPS dealers can benefit by selling dedicated scanners in addition to MFPs to provide customers with higher-quality scans and faster throughput. Plus, they can charge per scan since scanner usage data will now be easily accessible. Kodak Alaris also says customers benefit from Kodak Alaris document scanners’ faster throughput, higher-quality scans, greater reliability, and access to the Kodak Alaris service team.

Scanner Manager

The new Scanner Manager is a smart-device management dashboard designed to optimize scanner operations and manage the lifecycle of devices. With it, a Kodak Alaris partner or a customer’s IT department can directly monitor and collect document scanners’ operational data, deliver usage reports (including “power on” hours, scan counts, consumables, and firmware or driver versions), and manage alerts for customers’ devices. Customers that have mission-critical equipment at multiple scanning locations or customers that have 20 or more scanners in a central facility can benefit from the ability to remotely access telemetry data rather than physically going to each location.

Kodak Alaris is offering three Scanner Manager plans available with a subscription-based pricing model:

• Customer Access: Administrators use the Scanner Manager tool to access a Health Check Dashboard. The dashboard monitors a fleet of scanners from Kodak Alaris and displays telemetry data. Customers can access and download cloud-based dashboard data anytime, from anywhere, to view real-time status and run reports for monitored scanners. Scanners can be added or removed as required.
• Usage Reporting: Kodak Alaris provides one or more recipients with a standard monthly report via email. The report contains the list of monitored scanners and provides insights derived from scanner-specific rules. When triggered, these rules generate alerts that combine information with insight to maximize scanner and system performance.
• Alert Management: Real-time alerts for proactive management of fleets such as multi-feed/jam reports, consumables reporting and more. Data-driven insight is said to identify potential productivity issues and generate proactive responses to prevent unscheduled downtime.

Scanner Finder Tool

Kodak Alaris has also expanded its Professional Services with the launch of the Scanner Finder Tool. This standalone application can be used as part of the discovery phase of a Capture System Assessment engagement with existing and new customers.

The Scanner Finder Tool enables automatic discovery of Kodak Alaris and multi-vendor scanners on customer networks and delivers an initial inventory of a customer’s USB document-scanner base in minutes. It can be delivered as a chargeable Professional Service or as a complimentary service to customers purchasing the Scanner Manager tool.

For more information, visit Kodak Alaris here.