Electronic Invoicing
Introduction
Electronic-invoicing (also known as e-invoicing, EIPP or electronic invoice presentment and payment) has captured the interest of prospective buyers at companies and institutions around the world because of its well documented reputation of achieving the lowest cost Accounts Payable (AP) transaction processing. There are many definitions and capabilities of e-invoicing, including the creation and receipt of an electronic invoice; the transformation of a paper invoice into an electronic invoice; the automated entry and validation of its data by a financial accounting (ERP) system; workflows to resolve purchase order discrepancies, manage non-purchase order invoices, payment approval and electronic payments.
Invoice receipt, capture, ERP system entry and validation have the most visible cost implications. Before considering the technologies to automate these areas, prospective buyers need to address the challenge of automating the end-to-end process to realize the complete set of benefits:
• Cost and error reduction
• Strengthening and automation of internal controls
• Maximum visibility into the process
• Optimizing AP’s management of cash
• Improved service delivery
• Efficient, self-service interaction for suppliers and internal
customers
To realize these benefits, buyers must develop an e-invoicing strategy that incorporates the needs and desired benefits, and addresses the inhibitors to adoption by the supplier base.
Ricoh Process Efficiency Index
1.0 Introduction to the Ricoh Process Efficiency Index
This independent study was conducted by Coleman Parkes Research and commissioned by Ricoh Europe PLC. It provides European CIOs with a fresh insight into business critical document processes. It identifies the areas for improvement and the economic return that those improvements could deliver, particularly in light of the challenges facing the future workplace, including changing demographics, an increased emphasis on sustainability, globalisation and new technology.
The Baby Boom generation is leaving the workforce by 2025 and taking valuable knowledge with them. At the same time the Millennial’s are joining with new ways of working and as mobile work accelerates, it increases the need for organisations to manage the way information is accessed remotely.
It is therefore, paramount that business critical information is captured and easily accessed to ensure European businesses can retain their knowledge and competitive edge. In fact the European Union is also committed to supporting businesses to manage information more effectively into the future with its Digital Agenda. It is seeking to identify the challenges that lie ahead for businesses in effectively managing critical information into the future. This study further unveils some of those challenges.
The Ricoh Process Efficiency Index is an evolution of the Ricoh Document Governance Index, which identified how European organisations controlled and managed documents with regards to cost, sustainability and security. Instead it looks deeper into organisations to understand the specific impacts of processing business critical documents.
Tune2Print Software to Optimise Digital Images Enclosed in PDF Files
This white paper explains how Océ Tune2Print works. This is a software tool to enhance the images in a PDF file automatically, without user interaction.
It enables users to deal with the often variable quality of digital images, which is the result of widespread use of digital photography and low-cost desktop scanners. It also eliminates the need for individual image correction and retouching using a software application, which is time-consuming and requires some expertise. This white paper is part of a set of white papers to explain the Océ technologies and applications.
Enhancing digital images in print files Traditionally, images were optimised by a professional lithographer. Looking at the individual images, the lithographer determined the adjustments that had to be made to the images to give the best possible print results.
With the introduction of digital photography and low-cost desktop scanners, digital images can be supplied by anyone. As a result, the images that are enclosed in print files are of varying quality. Sometimes they can be very good, but often they need to be ‘retouched’ to get an acceptable print. This can be done manually, using applications like Adobe Photoshop, but it requires a lot of time and the right expertise to do so.
Océ Tune2Print allows the images in a PDF file to be enhanced automatically, without the need for user interaction.
How does Tune2Print work?
A key aspect of the Océ Tune2print software is the automatic analysis of each image with respect to a number of parameters that relate to print quality. Based on this analysis, the parameters of the enhancement algorithms are set.
This means that the image-enhancement algorithms used by the software are not applied as a batch job, with fixed settings for all images. The process of first estimating a number of imagequality parameters, and then enhancing an image based on this analysis, is comparable to the way professional lithographers work: they fine-tune the enhancement algorithms for each individual image. As a result, the enhancements will rarely have a negative effect on print quality
White Paper Xerox® FreeFlow® Print Server with Adobe® PDF Print Engine
Executive Summary
The print industry is changing rapidly. Customers are developing increasingly complex documents and are consistently demanding shorter turnaround times and greater output consistency. Personalized marketing communications and higher volumes of shorter print runs increase the need for files to come into the print shop ready to print with minimal operator intervention. Both Xerox and Adobe are evolving our solutions to help our customers stay ahead of the crowd and address their emerging production requirements.
Xerox and Adobe have partnered to integrate the Adobe PDF Print Engine into the FreeFlow Digital Workflow Collection including the FreeFlow Print Server. This addresses the needs of today’s print professional by enabling a true end-to-end native Adobe PDF workflow. The FreeFlow Print Server with the new Adobe PDF Print Engine and JDF support drives workflow consistency and flexibility in a number of ways. First, it processes native PDF files without conversion to PostScript, maintaining design integrity without any compromise. It also ensures reliable, consistent printing while keeping the PDF documents themselves device-independent. Because the Adobe PDF Print Engine uses a common renderer for previewing and final output, printers and designers alike can count on reliable oft proofs.
Current Workflow Challenges
There are a number of challenges facing designers and printers today. At the top of the list is ensuring that the designer’s creative intent is easily and reliably produced on a printer. Jobs can include design elements such as transparencies, mixed color spaces and layers, Customer demands for fast turnaround times and an increased number of short run jobs add further complexity to managing the print production process. There is a need for designers as well as printers to have flexibility in their workflow, allowing jobs to be sent to any number of printers as well as make last minute changes to a print file without having to go back to the source application.
Third Party Printer Discovery in HP Web Jetadmin
Overview
HP Web Jetadmin has the ability to discover non-HP printers connected to the network via non-HP print server devices. By supporting third party printers, HP offers a network printer management solution that drives an additional step further toward the “one-stop-shopping” concept that LAN administrators desire. LAN administrators will now be able to discover and manage printers offered by all major printer vendors from a single software interface.
Discovery
During discovery of devices, HP Web Jetadmin uses SNMP queries to gather information from the printer and print server device. If HP Web Jetadmin concludes that the device is a peripheral such as a printer, plotter, multi-function device, etc., it will display it in the list of discovered devices. In order for HP Web Jetadmin to conclude that a device is a peripheral, the device must be able to answer a set of basic questions.
A MIB (Management Information Base) is a set of objects that defines the types of SNMP queries that can be asked of a device. For example, the Standard Printer MIB (RFC 1759) is a generic set of objects to which most peripherals should be able to provide answers when queried. The Standard Printer MIB consists of objects that describe functionality and capabilities of the printer such as page counts, media types, etc. Other common MIBs include MIB-II (RFC 1213) and the Host Resources MIB (RFC 1514).
Collateral-on-Demand: A Key Driver for Profit and Growth End-to-End Collateral-on-Demand Solutions—from HP Indigo
Collateral production takes on a new look
As a commercial printer, you know well what your customers are demanding for their collateral production. Today, they want shorter, more frequent print runs, the ability to change and update, as well as more customized and versioned pieces. Increasingly, they also demand that collateral be part of an integrated cross-media campaign that involves email, the web and direct mail.
Some market demands, though, will never change. More often than not, customers require the highest possible print quality, accurate color, crisp text, vivid images, and the best finishing options. They also want collateral produced yesterday... and at a competitive price, of course.
Every piece of marketing collateral plays an important communications role, whether it’s a brochure, flyer, business card, stationary proposal or white paper. As with any customer interaction, a company’s collateral informs customer perception.
In order to maintain that all-important brand identity which governs customer loyalty, companies invest heavily in their print collateral—in resources, time and money. In fact, for every dollar spent on printing, an additional five to eight dollars are typically spent on administrative costs, document preparation, creative development, reviews, warehousing and distribution.
Enterprise Capture: Enabling Customer Service Improvement, Cost Cutting, and Compliance for Financial Institutions
Less than a decade ago, the biggest concern of large financial institutions was whether their systems would be prepared for a changing date. The banks were more than ready for the year 2000. Little did anyone suspect the turbulence that lay ahead—most of it paper based.
The housing boom of the 1990’s brought a flood of new loans, mortgages and a wide range of new and creative banking products. Financial institutions broadened their services, offering brokerage accounts, NOW accounts, Roth IRAs, savings plans and lines of credit. The response was an ever increasing number of depositors. Correspondingly, paper volume increased.
Today the financial services market is experiencing unprecedented transformation. Restructuring, consolidation and volatility are driving significant structural changes in the investment and retail banking sectors. Banks are responding by actively looking for ways to improve liquidity, restore investor confidence, increase customer retention and better compete for deposits. They recognize the need to streamline business processes to better support their clients during account opening, loan origination, mortgage processing and portfolio management.
Banks must also comply with increasing government requirements for accountability and transparency. Regulatory compliance has become a critical and costly issue for financial institutions. In addition to regulations protecting depositor assets (such as CRD in Europe) and shareholder interests (such as SEC requirements in the US), financial institutions also must now concern themselves with a myriad of oversight and regulatory requirements that are document driven in nature. New regulations, growing and changing customer demand, refinancing, a new competitive landscape, and lack of investment capital require banks to radically improve their risk management, operational efficiency and customer service. That means they need to cope with an ever rising volume of paper and documents, but even more, with its effective and transparent processing.
Regulatory Compliance and MFP Security Solutions Key Issues and Considerations A Muratec Whitepaper 2010 ©
INTRODUCTION
In the early 1980s securing a computer, printer or fax machine meant placing it behind a locked door. That was before computers were on every desktop, and before the advent of multi-functional products (MFPs). The MFP consolidates functionality into a single, space-saving platform, enabled businesses to address varied document processing needs, specifically walk-up copy and fax operations and network scan, fax and print functions. From document creation through output and distribution, the MFP plays a pivotal role in today’s connected workplace.
Indeed, as a centralized document processing hub, the MFP has transformed the office landscape by speeding the generation and dissemination of information. In the pre-Internet era documents were carried by courier or express mail services. Now those same documents are easily converted into electronic files, via the MFP, and communicated locally or globally–in an instant. As technology has evolved, so too has the speed at which business moves.
This shift from paper-based to electronic business processes presents formidable challenges for IT security professionals, and others tasked with safeguarding information assets. With nearly instantaneous dissemination capabilities, business-critical documents can be routed to unauthorized individuals in seconds.
To remain competitive in today’s challenging economic climate, organizations–now more than ever– have to protect information assets from theft or loss. Information security is particularly critical for businesses subject to a labyrinth of federal regulations, such as HIPAA, SOX and GLBA. In this white paper, we will examine the issue of regulatory compliance as it relates to office technology, and thus provide guidance on security solutions that can help support enterprise-wide compliance initiatives.
Security and USB Ports on Lexmark Devices
Abstract
Virtually every personal computer sold today contains Universal Serial Bus, or USB, ports by which a wide array of devices can be attached. As with most technologies, the nature of USB support involves a measure of security exposure, since most anything that can be used can also be abused — theoretically if not practically.
Many Lexmark laser printers and multifunction printers (MFP) include support for USB devices, and it is appropriate to consider the potential security ramifications of that support. This white paper describes the security considerations related to USB ports on Lexmark devices, and explains the protections that have been put in place to address those security concerns.
Executive Overview
USB ports on personal computers provide a means to connect devices of various types and perform a variety of interactions. However, for security reasons the USB ports on Lexmark devices are far more limited in their capabilities.
The USB host ports on Lexmark’s devices provide the following:
• When a USB mass storage device (such as a thumb drive) is inserted, the printer finds and displays by name the image files and/or flash files that are stored on the device.
• The user can select jobs to print from the displayed jobs. If a flash file is selected, the printer firmware will be updated as long as firmware updates are allowed in the security settings.
• Additionally, a user can scan data directly to the USB thumbdrive if it is available in a supported scan format.
Brooktrout Technology and Real-Time Fax Over IP
Introduction
It is estimated that there are 112 million fax machines in use in the world today with more than 6 million new units sold each year. Despite the rise of email and the Internet, fax continues to be an important means for business communications. One of the main reasons that fax has seen continued growth is its simplicity. Fax machines are easy to use and hence a simple way to receive documents quickly, safely and securely.
Recently, however, as businesses migrate their voice traffic to an IP environment, there also exists a natural inclination to migrate their fax traffic to IP. This whitepaper will review the growing need for real-time fax over IP solutions, the issues associated with implementations of real-time fax over IP, and discusses Brooktrout's strategy for bringing a robust, reliable solution based on the T.38 protocol to market in 2004.
Faxing has traditionally been done in real-time over the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), via the T.30 fax protocol and several modem standards, as defined by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). The reasons for the popularity of real-time circuit-switched fax include the real-time receipt of a fax, immediate notification that the fax has been successfully sent, and that the receiver gets information on the sender's telephone number and the time the fax was received. These features have become essential parts of the fax experience and have set expectations that will continue to apply for advances in fax communication, including fax over IP.
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