The Panasonic KV-SS1100 network scanning solution is a peripheral that lets a business use USB-connected Panasonic scanners on a network, and scan to shared folders. You can configure scans on its 7-inch touch-screen LCD, use preset configurations, launch the scans from the screen, and save them to network or scan to email. This appliance doesn't come cheap, but it could be a boon for businesses that rely on scanning and want to streamline their workflow.
While network-connected printers, including multifunction printers (MFPs), are the norm, most single-function scanners are limited to USB connectivity. This may be fine for most small businesses, but larger companies and certain segments can benefit from being able to scan directly to a network.
Panasonic sees the KV-SS1100 as ideal for vertical markets such as healthcare, banking, insurance, and mortgage companies that handle a lot of paper and depend on fast and efficient workflow.
The KV-SS1100 is an off-white device that measures 1.5 by 9 by 5.7 inches. The top is mostly taken up with its touch screen (7 inch, 1,024 by 600 LCD) with only an On button and a Hardware button, with which one can launch scans and perform other functions. It has a dual-core Intel Atom N2600 CPU and 2GB of DDR3 memory. On one side are an Ethernet port, a monitor-out port, and 4 USB 2.0 ports. (Currently, the KV-SS1100 can only support one scanner via USB at a time.) It also supports scanning via WiFi, which Panasonic says is unique to the market for a network scanner.
The KV-SS1100 supports most of the functions available when scanning with a computer over a USB connection with Panasonic's Image Capture Plus utility, while adding scanning to network folders and FTP. Among the functions supported by the KV-SS1100 are secure scanning; hole/border/dog ear removal; blank page removal; simplex, duplex or flatbed scanning; automatic rotation, de-skew and cropping; double-feed and staple detection.
The KV-SS1100 can be used with any Panasonic scanner, except the KV-S3105C. It is not compatible with scanners from other manufacturers.
Setup
To set up the KV-SS1100, you plug in its power adapter, and connect an Ethernet cable from your network and the USB cable from your scanner to it. (I tested it with the Xerox KV-S5055C sheet-fed scanner.) When you first turn the KV-SS1100 on, you're asked to create and confirm an administrator password. I was puzzled at first, because even though there are two fields on the touch screen in which to do so, tapping on either one didn't call up a keypad at first—it took me several attempts for it to respond. I found the touch screen poorly responsive to the point that I soon gave up on typing with my fingers and used the blunt end of a pen as a makeshift stylus. Once I did that, I was able to type without problems.
The next screen is Network Settings. You can pick between Wired and Wireless. I used a wired network, and by selecting DHCP it automatically obtained the IP address. From the next screen, Share Management, you can add shared folders from your network. At first, it would not accept our test folder, saying the access was restricted; ultimately we had to manually enter an IP address plus the folder name in order to add it. You can configure it to scan to email as well as folders.
Configuring and Scanning
Once you've finished the setup, you can select either Scan to email or Scan to Folder. In configuring scan settings, you can tweak a wide range of attributes: file format (it supports uncompressed TIFF, JPEG TIFF, standard JPEG, PNG, and multipage PDF (without OCR); resolution; image type (black-and-white, grayscale, and color); paper size; duplex or simplex scanning; blank page removal; double-feed detection, and more. Then you add paper to the scanner's ADF, and you're ready to go. You can preview a scan (though you won't see much detail on its part of the screen). You need to enter the Admin password in order to configure scans, though not to launch them.
Operation worked smoothly enough, as I configured and launched a variety of scans, and sent them to their intended destination. The one operational complaint I have is that the scanner's touch screen barely responded to my fingers, to the point where I felt the need to use my makeshift stylus.
The KV-SS1100 lets you perform most of the functions over a network that you can with a USB-connected scanner using Panasonic's Image Capture Plus scan utility. Image Capture Plus supports a few additional image types. The most notable difference is that Image Capture Plus supports saving files to searchable PDF (as well as PDF/a and searchable PDF/a), while the KV-SS1100 does not. For many businesses, searchable PDF is the preferred format for document management. (You could still use the scanner to scan to searchable PDF, but only when USB connected to your computer.)
The Panasonic KV-SS1100 is a nifty device that lets you operate most USB-connected Panasonic scanners as network devices. It costs a lot of money—it's not in itself a scanner, and you could buy a network-enabled scanner such as the Brother ImageCenter ADS-2500W for the price you'd pay for it and still have money to spare. Still, it could be a good solution for businesses—especially ones that already own Panasonic scanners or are planning on getting one or more—that handle a lot of paper that are looking to boost their workflow efficiency, provided that they don't need to scan to searchable PDF.
No comments:
Post a Comment