Features in ILINX Capture (Part I)

The feature set in ILINX Capture is vast and it can be a drag reviewing and interpreting feature lists in software documentation.  Those of you not familiar with ILINX Capture can visit the following website www.ilinxcapture.com, or feel free to leave a comment and we can provide additional information and/or a hands-on demonstration.  In short, ILINX Capture is a web based capture platform that excels in distributed capture and custom capture workflow environments.  It is scalable to work on a single workstation or it can be extended to an enterprise wide global standard for capture in your organization.

I wanted to use this post to touch on a couple of the features that I see being used more and more in ILINX Capture.  These features became part of the product based on customer feedback, industry direction, and internal vision for the product.  All of the following features can be added to any point in your process flow map, so it provides not only the functionality but also the flexibility to adapt to the business needs of current processes in place today.

1. 2D Barcode Support   – This feature adds the ability to read metadata, classify and separate documents, and provide quality control checks through the recognition of 2D barcodes.  Through a GUI the user has the ability to parse the barcode data and map it to fields, separate and identify the type of document, and validate that the number of pages in the document match what was captured through the scanning or electronic import process. 
2. Web Service Integration  – This feature provides ILINX Capture with the ability to integrate with any existing web service.  Most commonly, we see this used to perform database lookups or validations against existing line of business systems.  Another way this is being utilized is to interact with different organization processes, for example, you can create a support ticket in an organization’s support system every time a process exception occurs in their fully automated capture workflow.
3. Queue Thresholds & Triggers – Work queues in ILINX Capture are areas where human interaction is required to process data or documents through the workflow.  The thresholds and triggers provide the ability to monitor the batches or documents in a queue and execute a function when a threshold or trigger is met.  This is useful to monitor escalations or the processing of high priority documents.  For example, if a fax comes in to the system for an auto loan or stock trade, in most cases, this is a time sensitive process that needs to move rapidly through the workflow.  Between the notification features and the thresholds/triggers, ILINX Capture can ensure that 1) a user is notified that there is high priority work to process, 2) the documents are processed within a defined time frame, and 3) if the documents are not processed the system can notify a manager or route the documents to another user group.

These are just a few of the features that have been added to extend the functionality of this product.  Stay tuned to this blog for additional information on other features that help shape this product to provide value to its customer community. 

Ryan Keller

ImageSource, Inc.

Lab/Development Environments – RightFax Simulation & Testing

At our company we have a lab environment that we utilize to replicate a large number of our customer implementations.  This environment runs on Virtual Servers in order to keep the cost and maintenance down for our organization.  Here are a few of the many advantages for us to maintain this type of environment for our customers;

1. The ability to reproduce issues and in turn expedite resolution and impact to the customer
2. A proactive approach to determining the impact (positively or negatively) of new patches, builds, and versions of software
3. Through development procedures (testing, QA, QC) can take place without affecting customer environments
4. The ability to give our support technicians, engineers, and developers a thorough understanding of the solution implemented

One issue that does arise on occasion is the ability to reproduce an issue that is occurring in a customer environment where we don’t have the underlying hardware or software.  This can be due to a proprietary product the software is interfacing with or a solution that is not realistic for us to manage internally.  One such case is with OpenText RightFax (formerly Captaris RightFax).  We have customers with all types of configurations from analog and digital fax boards to fax over IP (FOIP), and it doesn’t make sense for us to maintain all types of solutions.

The good news is that RightFax provides an “out of the box” capability to setup a RightFax solution without requiring fax boards or phone lines.  The power of this functionality is that it allows you to send and receive faxes internally to your RightFax system in order to simulate the real world functionality of the software.  This capability is referred to as running RightFax in simulation mode.  The following information takes you through the steps to enable simulation mode on your RightFax v9.4 (older versions of the software also have simulation mode, but the configuration is slightly different) system:

1. Install RightFax and get it functional, with the exception of the Board Server
2. Launch the Enterprise Fax Manager (EFM)
3.  
4. Open the RightFax Server that you want to configure
5. Right click on the “RightFax DocTransport Module” and choose “Configure Service”
6. 
7. When the DocTransport Module opens, click the Add Transport add the bottom of the window  
8. In the Transport Select window, select Simulation Device and click the Select button
9.  
10. You will now notice that you have a Simulation entry in your DocTransport configuration
11. The Simulation entry can now be configured as if you are setting up a fax board (e.g. setup the Fax ID for routing)
12. Next, you will need to create a dialing rule.  In EFM right click “Dialing Rules” and choose “New” to bring up the Rule Edit configuration.
13. 
14. Simply accept the default pattern of “+” to apply the rule to all numbers.
15. Go to the Destination tab, choose “Receive into Fax Server”, and set the name to your RightFax Server.  Click OK to close the Rule Edit configuration screen.
16. Lastly, you need to save the dialing plan.  In EFM, click on the File Menu and choose “Save Dialing Plan”
17. You are now ready to send and receive faxes on your RightFax Server.  The faxes can be sent to any of your configured users utilizing their routing codes.

The ability to run RightFax in simulation mode is a great trick for setting up and testing a RightFax server in your development or lab environment.  If you have any questions on this functionality or other topics related to this post, please let me know.  Thank you.

Ryan Keller

ImageSource, Inc.

 

ILINX Capture Remote Management

In the years that we have been doing ILINX Capture implementations a common question usually comes up from the IT Administrators; “Do we have to log on to the server to access the administration and management features?”  The answer is: “No, the ILINX Capture Server Manager can be utilized by any remote computer with the proper access.”

The reason why this comes up is because there is a lot of functionality in the ILINX Capture Server Manager.  Not only from the technical administration perspective, but also from the business management side.  For example, you have the ability to monitor the system status, review audit logs, configure security, monitor batches/documents and queues, and much more.  All of this functionality can be individually enabled or disabled for specific users and groups depending on their needs.

The following steps show you how to install the Server Manager for remote access to the software’s administration features;

1.  Run the Software Install and choose “ILINX Server Manager” from the install package…

 

2.  Ensure that the workstation has port access to the ILINX Capture database open to Database.  For example, if you are using SQL Server for your database the default port is 1433.

3.  Provide the user/group with the proper administration access. 

a.  For a Line of Business Manager, it is common to just allow them access to monitor and manage the batches/documents in their queues

b.  For Tech Support, it is common to allow access to the Audit logs and System Monitoring features

This remote administration and management functionality has proven to be a valuable tool for this software over the years.  For more advanced remote admin/management tasks in ILINX Capture, feel free to leave a question in the comments and I will respond.  If enough similar questions are asked, I will drop another post on the more advanced tasks. 

Ryan Keller

ImageSource, Inc.

 

ILINX Product Suite

I am not usually out to promote specific products on this blog, but I have been getting really excited about the latest advancements in the ILINX Product Suite.  It is an area that I, among other experienced ECM technologists, have utilized our expertise in creating and refining solutions that can provide real world value for businesses implementing or utilizing ECM solutions.  Take a minute to read this quick post and judge for yourself the value that ILINX Products can provide for your organization.

You may be hearing the word ILINX used in Enterprise Content Management circles more and more these days.  From the humble beginnings of a simple release script connecting a document capture system to an ECM repository the ILINX Product Suite has grown into a set of powerful, easy to use products that provide quick ROI.  There are multiple levels to the ILINX Product Suite ranging from a full blown web client based document capture system (ILINX Capture) or an ECM Repository (ILINX Content Store) to variety of middleware products that can provide time savings and productivity boosting results like ILINX Integrate.

If you are not familiar with all that the Product Suite has to offer, check out the ILINX website for the details and product demos.

-Ryan Keller

The Unkown Security Risk In Your Office

The topic I wanted to touch on this week has to do with the security of documents in your organization.  Specifically, the security risks posed by printers, copiers, and multifunction devices in your office.   I have travelled around the country implementing document capture solutions, like ILINX Capture, that leverage the use of typical office multifunction devices and it amazes me how many companies do not know of this security risk.

How it started…

As technology advanced and data storage became more cost effective the internal workings of printers and multifunction devices changed.  The processing of documents for printing, scanning, and copying was offloaded from the computer or print server to the actual printer/copier device.  To handle the onboard processing for these devices, manufacturers began adding hard drives to printers, copiers, and multifunction devices.

What’s the risk…

In most cases, the hard drives in the printer, copier, and multifunction devices store a copy of every document that is printed, scanned, or copied.  This can be no big deal as long as the device is located in your office, but when the device is retired the documents on the hard drives are usually not wiped off and they go with the device.  Now you have a hard drive floating around with any number of confidential documents creating a huge security risk and possibly compliance violations.  The devices usually are packaged up and shipped overseas for a fraction of the original purchase price.  This is a scary thought because anyone could have access to your documents now.

The following is a recent news report that CBS News did on this very subject:     http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6412572n

What can you do…

• If you are leasing these devices, understand the contract between your company and the vendor/manufacturer.  Many times it is detailed in the agreement that the customer is responsible for the documents on the hard drive.  If it is up to your company to dispose of the records, take responsibility and ensure that this is done prior disposing of the device.
• Many manufacturers offer disk security and cleanup features for these devices.  It will most likely cost extra money, but the few dollars may be nothing compared to outfall of losing sensitive and confidential information.  One thing to keep in mind is that not all manufacturers will bring this topic up at purchase time.  Their number one objective may be to keep the price down and close the sale.
• Help spread the word of this risk.  Again, it amazes me how many organizations have no clue about this risk and with the publicity it will be getting in the near future we should see some progress in this area.

Please feel free to leave comments and let us know about your experiences and knowledge related to these devices and the risk they pose.  Thank you.

Ryan S. Keller

ImageSource, Inc.