Archive for the ‘Document Management’ Category

Document Sharing

Tuesday, September 21st, 2010

OfficeDrop let’s you publicly share and embed documents on your web pages. As Sunir at FreshBooks recently pointed out, sharing documents via your website is becoming a critical application for a lot of businesses who use the web to distribute marketing PDFs, case studies, owners manuals, etc. Here are a few examples of how you can publicly share documents via the web with OfficeDrop

Sharing a Folder of Documents

With OfficeDrop, you can embed a link to a folder of documents stored in the OfficeDrop system. Once shared, people clicking on the link will see this:

Share Folders of Documents Online

Share Folders of Documents Online

And the link your website visitors click on can pretty much look like anything! Here is our example: shared folder link example.

What to learn more about sharing documents via links with OfficeDrop? Read about publicly sharing documents and folders with OfficeDrop. Of course, you can also share individual files via links with OfficeDrop.

Publicly Share Document via Embed

Need to post a document on a website, and want to make it visible to everyone who visits your page? Paste a little OfficeDrop code on the web page and here is what you get:

Learn more about embedding PDFs on your website here.

OfficeDrop: All About the Cloud

Friday, September 3rd, 2010

At OfficeDrop, we’ve noticed more and more visitors coming to our site who’ve searched for the word “cloud.” But since the cloud has so many meanings to so many people, we’d thought we’d explain how we see small businesses taking advantage of the power of cloud computing to get more out of their paper and digital documents. Our understanding of how businesses use the cloud is rapidly evolving as we grow!

Connecting Cloud Services

Connecting Cloud Services

Connecting Cloud Services

More and more, we are seeing the benefits of the cloud in terms of connecting data to other services. Paper no longer has to be stuck in a silo’ed document management service, but can instead be accessed and shared with other software via a cloud filing cabinet. Data can be pushed from one place into another to take advantage of unique technologies – like Evernote’s amazing mobile clients or FreshBooks’ unique invoicing software. (OfficeDrop has recently released an API to allow other software developers to build off of our document scanning service and digital filing system/digital office.) Cloud content management makes this all possible.

Why Cloud Computing Is Great for Small Businesses

Cloud computing is great for small businesses for a number of reasons. As we mentioned in our blog post, “An Introduction to Cloud Computing for Small Business Owners:”

“Cloud computing is a platform for accessing and utilizing your businesses IT via the internet. This means nearly all of your IT resources – your servers, data storage, software/ programs – are hosted on the internet. It used to be that all of your computing would have to be done by your own servers, hardwired to your business. Now that the internet is around, your servers don’t have to be hardwired, and you don’t even need to have your own. Instead, you can rent server space from anywhere in the country from people like Amazon, who have already paid the overhead. Utilizing this system with SaaS, which does the same thing with software, one could theoretically run an entire business from various cyber cafés (if those still exist) without purchasing any of their own personal hardware or software at all.”

We Are Still Learning About the Cloud – From Our Customers!

OfficeDrop continues to learn more and more about how small business owners want to interact with the cloud (and their data!) When we first founded the company 3 years ago (wow, that’s a long time) we thought that web browsers would be the favorite way for users to access their data. But we were wrong. With the success of our downloadable apps, we’ve noticed something pretty amazing: Business owners like to use applications to visit the cloud, not browsers.

Beyond the Cloud Filing Cabinet and OfficeDrop’s Cloud App Strategy

As our cloud scanning software app, ScanDrop, continues to take off and since our iPad “paper to go” app was in the top 10 business ipad applications in itunes, we’ve realized that apps are a great way to interact with the cloud.

OfficeDrop Free App Downloads

OfficeDrop Free App Downloads

And by “realized” we mean that our customers made it clear that they like apps!

Our CEO, Prasad, has been busy training some of our web developers in desktop programming, and our CTO, Vik, has dusted off his Objective-C skills for our Mac versions.

We will have a new way to interact with our cloud digital filing service from the desktop soon for Windows users. And Mac users will soon be able to scan to the cloud just like their PC friends.

We are also busy working on creating workflow specific desktop/cloud solutions for paper intensive industries, starting with accountants and bookkeepers. We just did the first demonstration of our new bookkeeping software, which was very well received, and hope to enroll beta users toward the end of the month. This software will connect the popular QuickBooks software with paper in a number of powerful ways: from the scanner, desktop and cloud. Let us know if you are interested in trying this service!

We are having a ton of fun here at OfficeDrop, helping business owners harness the power of cloud computing. Of course, we haven’t forgotten the importance of actually speaking with customers. Give us a call at 888-674-6493 if you ever want to chat about getting your paper and filing cabinets into the cloud!

Going Paperless – Options

Thursday, September 2nd, 2010

These days, there are a number of different way to go paperless. Of course, OfficeDrop is one of them, but in this video, Josh Zerkel, a Professional Organizer in San Francisco and founder of Custom Living Solutions, outlines the different options you have when going paperless.

Josh outlines the different types of scanner available, the power of OCR, online backup, text-search, different online applications and mail-in scanning services.

Video – The Options You Have When Going Paperless

Are You Paperless? (MakeUseOf Poll)

Thursday, July 15th, 2010

Web how-to blog, MakeUseOf.com, recently polled their readers with the question “Are you paperless?” Obviously our ears perked up to this since the results could tell us the general reception of the concept on which our company is based.

The results came back (pictured below) and we were actually pretty excited about the outcome.

Are you paperless? Results

Why should I be paperless? I don’t care. 8% (23 votes)
Yes 100% paperless. I get all my bills online.23% (65 votes)
I am trying. I have gotten more than half of my bills to stop sending snail mail. 50% (138 votes)
I think I might try to go paperless in the near future. 14% (38 votes)
What do you mean by paperless? 5% (13 votes)

Total Votes: 277

As you can see, the majority answer is that people are working towards a paperless environment which, for us, is a best case scenario.

It shows that people are open to the idea of going paperless, but they are hesitant to get started. OfficeDrop helps with this by providing an easy way to start reducing paper in your office. Since we do all of the scanning for you, our mail-in submission system replaces hours spent scanning with a quick trip to the post office.

Congrats to those who have eliminated paper altogether, and as for those of you that are trying to get there, keep fighting the good fight. Going paperless yields a mountain of benefits, and isn’t nearly as hard as you might think. If you’ve hit a wall trying to get paperless, we encourage you to try our document scanning services which is sure to simplify your conversion process, and get you managing digital documents online in no time.

OfficeDrop on AppSumo: 6 Months for 15 Bucks

Thursday, July 8th, 2010

Have you been wishing for a great deal on document scanning and document management? If so, consider your wish granted thanks to AppSumo.

AppSumo is best known for bundling a big pile of awesome web apps, throwing a mawashi on them, and selling it all at heavily discounted prices.

Get Serious OfficeDrop Discounts on AppSumo

Now OfficeDrop is in the ring, and for a limited time you will be able to get 6 months of document scanning goodness for just $15 dollars. For just $15 you can get six months of our document scanning and document management value plan which includes one pre-paid envelope per month (for 6 months), and unrestricted digital storage access.

Also keep in mind that this is what AppSumo calls a snowball deal, which means the more people buy, the lower the price for everyone!

The offer isn’t going to last long, so take advantage of this giant AppSumo discount and start crushing your document problems today. Also please note that this offer is only for new OfficeDrop customers.

OfficeDrop for iPad – Paper To Go

Wednesday, July 7th, 2010

Have you ever spent your workday hunched over a messy filing cabinet, hunting desperately for a piece of information you aren’t even sure exists? Imagine that same workday  spent sitting in a comfy office chair, text-searching and then paging through all your documents from the effortless Multi-Touch display of the iPad.

OfficeDrop Logo Now in App Store image

Doesn’t that sound nice? It’s only a download away with OfficeDrop’s new iPad application. Yep, OfficeDrop is making document management easier than ever before with our new iPad app, OfficeDrop – Paper To Go (*see screenshots below). Do everything you can do on OfficeDrop from the rich graphic display of the iPad. With just a few touches of the screen you can:

  • View any of your documents and turn pages with one touch
  • Pull up the keyboard and search all of your documents by word or phrase
  • Apply labels and folders to ensure all of your documents stay organized
  • Share any document by providing secure links to clients, co-workers, and friends

Those are only some of the OfficeDrop features you can enjoy from the comfortable, portable iPad, and with your OfficeDrop account, you’re backed with our document scanning service to ensure your new paper documents also become iPad-accessible.

Our new iPad app is ready and waiting on the iTunes store so you’re just a quick download away from finding any document you want from any place you want (especially that comfy chair).

Download OfficeDrop for the iPad today

iPad Screenshot 1

iPad Screenshot 2

iPad Screenshot 3

3 Reasons Google Docs is Great for Small Businesses

Wednesday, July 7th, 2010

Web-Based softwares and applications have been reshaping the way startup companies do business. They lower costs, improve productivity, and allow employees to work from any internet connection. For these reasons, it’s no wonder so many startups utilize Google applications in their day-to-day operations. Not only are most of them free, but Google apps like Gmail and Google Docs make sharing and organizing information a nearly effortless task.

That’s why we developed the ScanDrop scanning software and our link to Google Docs feature, allowing users to finally bring the information on their paper documents to the convenience of Google Docs.

If you’re not already using Google Docs for your business, it is worth a look. Here are 3 reasons Google Docs is a great choice for editing documents online.

1.       Collaboration Made Simple:

Easily the greatest advantage of Google Docs is the allowance of multiple employees to access and edit the same documents from any internet connection. Google Docs thus brings every concerned party to the same platform, and edit history keeps everyone on the same page.  Spreadsheets are particularly helpful, allowing a grid of dates and schedules that can be updated instantly. In addition, individual documents can be shared via email, and viewing and editing access can be limited, boosting accessibility while preserving your documents’ security.

2.       Save Space and Organize

One problem with digital documents is that they tend to reproduce at an alarming rate – especially when being edited by multiple parties. If many different edits are involved, you can easily find your desktop and email being crowded by multiple versions of the same document. With Google Docs, the same document can be edited in one space by multiple people, so you never need more than one file taking up room. If necessary, you can save multiple revisions and keep them on Google Docs, not your desktop.

3.       Cost Effectiveness

Obvious but important, Google Docs is a free application. You don’t get much more cost effective than that, especially with an application as functional as Google Documents. By operating in Google Docs, you will find yourself saving money by increasing productivity, and lowering the volume of paper that continuously has to be printed and marked up for editing.

Google Docs is a great collaborative tool, and one we use ourselves as an organized place for co-workers to convene on any digital documents. With our ScanDrop scanning software and link to Google Docs featue, the same can be done with scanned paper documents as well. If you don’t already use Google Docs, we highly recommend it to any business that deals with information online.

New Free Webinar Series: “Going Paperless” from OfficeDrop and Custom Living Solutions

Tuesday, June 29th, 2010

OfficeDrop is teaming up with organizational mastermind, Josh Zerkel, to bring you two free webinars to teach you how to go paperless and keep all of your documents organized. For seven years Josh’s company, Custom Living Solutions, has been helping people optimize their workspaces so that they can lower stress, be more effective, and minimize costs.

Register For Two Free Webinars Today

With this  single registration, you’re signed up to benefit from these two informative webinars:

  • Saving Time and Money with Your Paperless Office 7/15/2010

In this webinar we outline the many benefits of the paperless office and tell you how to get started.

  • Online and Offline Tools to Master Your Paperless Office 7/29/2010

In the second webinar, we let you know how to get the most out of your paperless office, how to maintain low paper volume, and offer helpful tools to make everything easier.

If you manage a small business or home office, don’t pass up on this opportunity to learn everything you need to know about reducing paper and staying organized. Registration only takes a moment, so we hope you take that moment and that you join us July 15th and 29th.

OfficeDrop and Google Docs: Linking and Sharing Tutorial Video

Wednesday, June 16th, 2010

You may have heard that OfficeDrop now links with Google Docs. You can see in our new snazzy video that it’s fast and easy to get text-searchable paper to Google Docs, or to link your digital files. Like what you see? Want to get step-by-step instruction how to do it? We’ve got you covered:

Learn Exactly How to Link Google Docs with our Tutorial Video

Now that you know how, you can sign on to OfficeDrop and start scanning paper to Google Docs as text-searchable PDFs.

Missed something? Sill confused?

For a full text explanation of the steps outlined in the video, click here.

OfficeDrop Links to Google Docs

Friday, June 11th, 2010

Do you use Google Docs? Wish you could get the paper in your office into Google Docs? Welcome to OfficeDrop scanning services – now linked with Google Docs.

Get Searchable PDFs to Google Docs

If you use OfficeDrop already, you know every document that goes into OfficeDrop becomes a text-searchable PDF file, and you are enjoying the benefits of using OfficeDrop’s mail-in scanning service. When you upload documents from OfficeDrop to Google Docs, they stay text-searchable – pretty handy since Google Docs can’t make documents text-searchable on it’s own. With OfficeDrop’s Google Docs link you can enjoy the versatility of Google Docs without sacrificing text search. It’s the easiest way to get paper into Google Docs as text-searchable PDFs. Follow this link to learn more and sign up: http://www.officedrop.com/google-docs-paper-management/, or visit our page in the Google Apps Marketplace.

Push OfficeDrop Folders to Google Docs

OfficeDrop just released a new application feature that lets you automatically push the contents in OfficeDrop folders to your Google Docs account. What that means is that all of the documents in a linked OfficeDrop folder are automatically uploaded to your Google Docs, and any documents you later put into that folder are automatically uploaded as well.

Send Individual Documents

No need to send an entire folder? No problem. The new Google Docs feature also lets you select individual documents to send to your Google Docs account. Just select the “More” dropdown menu from the snippet view and then you can “Send to Google Docs.” The OfficeDrop system will even let you pick which Google Docs folder you want the document sent to.

Here’s How to Do it:

Step One: Authorizing OfficeDrop for Google Docs

Before you can start linking OfficeDrop folders and sending documents to Google Docs, you must first enter your Google account information and authorize OfficeDrop for interaction with Google Docs.

  • From your OfficeDrop account home screen, click the “tools” link at the topmost navigation bar. Once you’ve done that, click “Add-ons,” located at the top left of your screen.
  • From the Add-ons page, locate the space reserved for Google Docs. In the space provided, enter your Google email account information and click “Authorize OfficeDrop.”
  • From there, you’ll get a Google accounts message. Choose your appropriate Google account and click “continue.”
  • From a second Google accounts window, click “Grant Access” and you will be brought back to the OfficeDrop Add-ons screen. A message should appear notifying you that your account was successfully linked to Google Docs.

Linking and Accessing Folders

Linking folders to Google Docs allows you to scan documents to OfficeDrop folders, and have them accessible from your Google Docs account. When a folder is linked, OfficeDrop documents are uploaded to Google Docs, but documents are never removed from the OfficeDrop system as a result of this link.

  • To link a folder to Google Docs, move to your OfficeDrop folders menu and access the folder’s context menu by clicking the small arrow directly to the left of that folder.
  • From the context menu, select “Link to Google Docs.”
  • A new menu will appear, allowing you to choose which Google Docs folder you want to link with. Select a Google Docs folder from the dropdown list and then click “Create.”
  • A confirmation message will inform you that the link was successful. Now that the OfficeDrop folder is linked to Google Docs, all of the documents in that OfficeDrop folder, along with any document moved or uploaded to that folder after linking, will be made available in the designated folder in your Google Docs account.

*Please Note: Though documents in OfficeDrop will be sent to Google Docs, the link does not work backwards and documents uploaded to linked Google Docs folders will not appear in OfficeDrop.

Sending Individual Documents to Google Docs

In addition to linking folders, you can also send specific documents to Google Docs one-by-one. As with folders, these documents are simply made accessible on Google Docs, and they are not removed from OfficeDrop.

  • Sending an individual OfficeDrop document to Google Docs can either be done from the snippet list view, or from the individual document view.
  • From the snippet view, click the “More” button (located bottom right of the document snippet), and from the dropdown menu select “Send to Google Docs.”
  • From the individual document view, the same “Send to Google Docs” button as a right-hand navigation link toward the bottom of the screen.
  • Once you have clicked “Send to Google Docs” from either view, you will be prompted to choose a Google Docs folder. Choose the Google Docs folder to send to and click “Send.”
  • Wait a moment, and then a message will alert you that the document has successfully been sent.

Known Issues

We have noticed some issues in the way Google Docs recognizes the scans pushed into Google Docs. We believe that this is because some PDFs are approaching the limits of how Google Docs is able to handle files. Issues we have experienced:

  • If you notice an error in Google Docs that says “Sorry, we are unable to retrieve the document for viewing” when you click on the document to preview it, do not be concerned – it in your Google Docs account. If you click on the document a few times Google the document will eventually appear as you’d expect.
  • Some scanned PDFs are too large in size for Google to do virus checks, and you will get a message when you attempt to download the file. If the file is a PDF created by OfficeDrop, do not be concerned – there is no virus.
  • Google Doc’s search index does not always completely index PDFs. You are able to download the PDF with all of text recognized; i.e. a program like Adobe Reader can find the word or text in the file but Google Docs search can not. OfficeDrop is pushing documents that have been OCR’ed and the text is in the document, it is just not being found by Google Doc’s search feature.

New Google Integration from OfficeDrop – ScanDrop Scanner Software

ScanDrop scanning software is OfficeDrop’s newest product and makes it easy to scan paper directly into Google Docs and other popular cloud services. Scan to Google Docsscan to Evernote, Scan to Dropbox, scan to OfficeDrop, soon scan to gmail, scan to local disk – all without opening a browser. ScanDrop offers powerful PDF tools like preview, rotate, page reorder, delete, crop and more. When scanning to the cloud, add metadata like tags, labels, notebooks, and folders/collections.

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