uniFLOW Brochure

Control scanning, printing and
copying effectively with uniFLOW
Bring more control and added efficiency to
your scanning and print environment
Incorporating uniFLOW into your document processes will lead to real
improvements in the control and efficiency of multifunctional devices. This
powerful software is both modular and configurable, so it can be adapted to
fit the specific needs of different businesses: large corporations, small offices,
education establishments, local government, copy shops and print rooms.
What is uniFLOW?
uniFLOW is a software platform designed
to bring the full value of multi-functional
devices to the organisation.
The modular structure of uniFLOW and
the tight integration with Canon hardware
allows the system to be built depending on
the organisation’s exact requirements.
By controlling both the print and scanning
processes of the MFD, uniFLOW allows the
IT manager to administer one system with
one set of user accounts and one database.
The user has a seamless interaction with
the MFD, being able to access all features
without learning a new interface or having
to re-authenticate every time they want to
use a new function. This makes the system
exceptionally user-friendly and increases
the organisation’s productivity.
Scalable to any size
uniFLOW fits perfectly with any size
organisation. It is available in 10, 50, 150
and unlimited user versions to provide
scalability and flexibility regardless of your
business type.
Its web-based architecture allows the
software to be run over multiple buildings,
locations or sites with all the data stored in
a central SQL Server database.
Universal
Driver
My Print
Anywhere
r
Monitor
cost
savings
Graphical
reports
ce
an
Fin
uniFLOW
proposition
Scan paper to
email in
editable
format
ctor
Dire
Personal
document
capture
workflows
End
Us
e
Route jobs
to best device
Track all
output
costs
Whole fleet
management
Monitor
environmental
impact
Control
document
output
Custom
workflow
creation
IT M an ag er
Restrict access
to devices
Integrate with
back office
systems
Network
resilience
Modular Architecture
The core functionality of uniFLOW can
be extended with various additional
modules. Each module provides exciting
new features to the system that allow the
benefits of uniFLOW to be extended into
other parts of your business.
From providing secure printing features
to allowing users to capture documents
directly to Microsoft SharePoint, uniFLOW
really is an end-to-end office management
system.
For organisations with a print room
or professional printing requirements,
uniFLOW integrates with Helix Production
Workflow to provide job ticketing, internet
job submission, variable data printing and
print room management capabilities.
Complete control of your
MFP fleet regardless of your
business requirements.
Printer accounting and auditing
Universal Secure Printing
Enhanced device security
All printing and copying, together with the
associated costs can be tracked and stored.
The built in reporting system allows the
administrator or finance department to see
and control how much each printer and user
is costing the company.
Confidential jobs can be held centrally on a
print server and are only released when the
user authenticates at the device. The user
can go to any device in any location with
the knowledge that their job will be printed
securely.
By integrating tightly with the Canon MFD
hardware, uniFLOW can stop unauthorised
use of the devices. Where access is granted,
all usage of the device is recorded for later
reporting.
Summary Report
Both environmental and financial waste
are also eliminated as documents are
automatically deleted if they have not been
released after a specified time, rather than
gathering dust on the printer’s output tray.
Routing jobs to the cheapest device
Laser printers close to the users are
convenient but expensive to run. uniFLOW
can be configured to allow the user to print
small jobs on the laser printer but will ask
to move the job to the cheaper Canon MFD
(multi-functional device) or secure print
queue once it is over a certain size.
Jobs can have their finishing options
changed depending on certain rules, for
example emails are always printed in black
and white while large documents are always
double sided, decreasing costs and waste.
This information can be used as part of a
print audit to help decide future printer
purchases or to identify where cost savings
can be made.
Users can also be granted different access
rights to use various functions of the device
depending on their job role. For example,
certain users may only be allowed to copy
in black and white where others can copy in
colour.
For maximum security, an image record of
every copy, print, fax or scan performed
on the Canon device can be stored and
examined for keywords.
Managing document capture
Using paper and the information contained
on it remains a critical part of every user’s
daily work. uniFLOW allows users to scan
documents directly to their email accounts,
network folders or document management
systems in the form of highly compressed
image files. Scanned documents can be
processed to free the information contained,
allowing them to automatically pre-fill index
information or to be converted to a format,
such as Microsoft Word, allowing the user to
edit the document when back at their PC .
Secure Printing, Accounting and Job
Routing - The End User Experience
The functions provided by an office management system are only as
good as the experience provided to the user.
Print to the normal printer
Collect secure jobs from any printer
Scan to email in an editable format
Locally attached or small workgroup laser
printers are normally located much closer to
the user than the multi-functional device but,
unfortunately, they are also more expensive
to run. Users normally do not think about
which device is most suitable to print their
job - they just press the “print” button
regardless of whether a cheaper printer
could have been used. While this may be
acceptable for small jobs, where the costs are
low, larger jobs need more attention.
One disadvantage of using a MFD rather
than a local printer is that someone may
mistakenly pick up another user’s print job.
uniFLOW allows print jobs to be stored on a
server and only be released once the user is
standing next to the printer.
Once the user has authenticated at the
MFD, they can also scan paper documents
easily to email or the company document
management system.
uniFLOW allows the best of both worlds local printers can be used for printing small
jobs but larger jobs can be routed to a secure
print queue or directly to the MFD in order to
reduce printing costs.
The end user still just presses the “print”
button but once the job matches certain
conditions, they are prompted to route the
job to a more cost effective printer. The
conditions used to route the job can be
different for each printer and include criteria
such as the number of pages, the cost of
the job, whether it contains colour or the
application used to print the job.
Users can send jobs directly to the secure
print queue or they can be routed from
desktop printers. Users working outside
the company network can send jobs to the
secure print queue via the internet to be
collected when convenient.
As the user can choose any printer on the
network to release their job, regardless
of model or manufacturer, the uniFLOW
Universal Printer Driver ensures that the
output is exactly as the user expects.
Embedded Secure Queue
Interactive routing prompt
Once the user is ready to collect their secure
print jobs, they need to authenticate at the
printer using a proximity card, smart card,
magnetic swipe card, PIN number, fingerprint
or username and password. A list of jobs
waiting for the user is displayed on the MFD
panel where they can decide to change how
the job will be printed before releasing it.
The user may chose to override the
prompt to route the job to a more cost
effective printer if given permission by
the administrator. Print jobs can be
automatically routed to the most cost
effective device rather than giving the user
the choice.
Dynamic scan interface
Users who select to scan to email will have
a similar experience to sending an email
from their desktop (due to native integration
with Microsoft Exchange) as they can select
recipients from the global address lists and
the scanned document will be stored in
the users “sent items folder”. uniFLOW can
perform Optical Character Recognition (OCR)
on the document and convert the image to
an editable format, such as Microsoft Word,
as well as extracting text and barcodes to be
used as indexing information. The document
can be highly compressed to reduce the file
size and storage requirements.
The interaction with the scanning interface
is dynamic and personalised for each user.
Personal buttons and scan workflows will
follow the user providing a consistent
experience regardless of which device they
use.
2
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Complete device and document
security - The IT Manager’s view
uniFLOW provides the missing link in device and document
security, allowing complete control of the multifunctional
device environment.
Control how jobs are printed
Information provided by uniFLOW allows
the IT manager to define printing policies
on the network. As well as being able to
restrict larger jobs from being printed on
smaller laser printers, the IT manager can
force jobs to be printed in a certain manner.
For example, the IT manager may decide to
force all emails to be printed in black and
white or for the user to be prompted to
send the job double-sided once it is over a
certain size.
Prompt to change job
Integration with back-office
systems
Access to the device is controlled by
proximity card, smart card, magnetic swipe
card, fingerprint, PIN number or username
and password. uniFLOW can integrate with
the company’s existing user directory or
it can “self-learn” which card belongs to
which user, thereby removing the burden
from the IT department.
For the scanning environment, uniFLOW
includes native integration with Microsoft
Exchange, Microsoft SharePoint and
Therefore among others. Scanned
documents can be highly compressed,
reducing hard disk space requirements
on the server. Any required indexing
information can be captured from the user
or directly from the document itself using
barcodes or zone OCR.
The MFD itself can remember the login
details of users so they can still access some
functions, such as copying, even when the
network is down.
Custom Workflows
Different departments and users require
different functionality when it comes to
printing or scanning documents. For
example, the accounts department may
have a special requirement for scanning
invoices to a document management
system, while the sales department wants
to be able to convert paper orders into
Microsoft Excel format for processing.
Workflow editor
Complete document security
Restrict access to the MFP
There may be reasons why the IT manager
requires different users to have access to
different functionality on the same device.
With the tight integration of uniFLOW and
the Canon MFD, the IT manager can set
access policies to each device. For example,
guests to the organisation can be allowed
only to make black and white copies, while
normal staff can use all copying, scanning
and faxing functions. Alternatively, staff
can be allowed only to copy in colour on
the MFDs next to the managing director’s
office, while managers can copy in colour
on any device.
Secure printing stops potentially secure
documents from being left on the output
tray for anyone to see. But what if that
document should not have been printed in
the first place?
uniFLOW can capture every copy, print,
scan and fax that is made and process the
image data for key words before storing it
in a document management system.
Network resilience
uniFLOW is designed to minimise
disruption to the business when there are
network problems. Print and scan devices
can be configured to work with remote
print servers that do not require a link to
the main server to function.
Servers can also be clustered to provide
another layer of resilience.
uniFLOW includes a graphical workflow
editor that allows the administrator to
decide exactly what should happen when
users print or scan a document. These
workflows can be different for each printer
depending on the needs of the department
and personal workflows can follow users as
they move from device to device. A drag
and drop interface allows the administrator
to simply create the workflows needed for
each user and device.
Tracking costs and savings the Finance Department view
uniFLOW can track all costs, savings and the environmental impact
of printing, copying, faxing and scanning.
Track all output costs
uniFLOW helps the finance department
track and assess the organisation’s current
printing costs, allowing internal costs to be
charged back and current usage audited.
Local printers, network laser printers,
large format printers and multi-functional
devices can all be tracked. For Canon
MFDs, copy, fax and scan usage can also
be recorded along with any printing
activity. Regardless how large or small
the organisation, uniFLOW can handle it
all: from small companies with one device
to large global international organisations
with hundreds of different sites and
clustered servers.
Each printer can be assigned multiple price
structures, allowing the tracking of charges
to the user as well as the internal printing
costs. Budgets can be set to stop users
printing more than they are entitled to.
Managers’ authorisation can be required
before printing large or expensive jobs.
Multi-level cost codes can be assigned to
print and copy jobs, making sure the correct
budget is charged for the work.
Monitor cost savings
Tracking costs is only one part of the
financial aspect of uniFLOW. Any savings
made from having uniFLOW installed
are also recorded, allowing the finance
department to show the true return on
investment achieved. For example, savings
can be made by routing a job to a cheaper
printer or deleting a secure print job that
has not been collected.
Potential savings can also be calculated,
allowing the finance department to see
how much money is being wasted by users
not taking full advantage of the printing
infrastructure.
Graphical reports
The finance department can view all device
usage across the organisation and access
reports by user, device and groups or multilevel cost code.
Standard reports include all the information
required, such as which device is being
most utilised and who is spending the most.
Savings reports show all the savings and
potential savings that have been made over
the period.
Printing Intelligence reports can show the
current state of the printing environment
together with a trend analysis and
a detailed breakdown of all usage.
Environmental information, such as the
amount of trees that have been saved
through double sided printing are also
shown in the Printing Intelligence reports.
If the finance department needs additional
information, customised reports can be
simply added.
1
MFP
uniFLOW
Users
2
3
Laser
printer
1. User prints a job to the main
print server or a remote site.
2. Job is analysed, costs assigned
and savings calculated.
2
Admin
3. Job can be printed on any
device.
4
Remote
Print
Server
1
Users
3
MFP
4. Administrator can view reports
and graphs showing costs, cost
savings and environmental
impact for all jobs regardless of
where they were printed.
©2010 NT-ware Systemprogrammierung GmbH
uF_Full_EN_v5_2010_09