Organization | Cloud Document Management Blog

Archive for the ‘Organization’ Category

Thursday, July 5th, 2012

We’ve been talking a ton about tablets, and are huge believers in how the tablet device is changing how people search files and share files. We’ve blogged a ton about the iPad and small businesses and how the iPad is making inroads into corporations. Google has also recently announced a new Android tablet called the Nexus 7 – a clear indication that Android, as a platform, is taking the tablet seriously.

The use of the OfficeDrop iPad app is taking off like crazy, and Today we are announcing that we now have an Android tablet optimized version of the OfficeDrop Android Scanner App!

That is right, the popular OfficeDrop Android app now is designed to run on the new Android tablets – both 7 inch and 10 inch tablets.

“Small businesses still use paper for up to 70% of day-to-day business tasks,” said OfficeDrop CEO & Cloud Computing Expert, Prasad Thammineni. “This update will make it possible for these users to quickly upload paper to the cloud with just a few taps. Our small business customers appreciate the speed and efficiency that OfficeDrop helps them achieve, and now even Android tablet users will be able to realize the benefits of the paperless office.”

How The New OfficeDrop Tablet Android App Works

Scan with your device’s camera.
Upload your scan into your OfficeDrop cloud storage account and it becomes a PDF ready to be searched, shared or organized.
The PDF is automatically saved onto your Windows PC if you upload it into a folder that you’ve synced using OfficeDrop’s Windows Sync Client (available for free on officedrop.com).
Then search for text in the scan from your Android device or from the web!

We want to highlight how easy it is to scan now on a tablet using OfficeDrop’s apps. Additionally, we’ve updated the OfficeDrop iPad app to make it easier to scan. We’ll highlight these changes in a future blog post, but basically we heard your feedback that holding the device to take a multipage PDF scan is pretty hard – so we’ve optimized the layout and user interface for scanning on the tablet.

Below is the press release we put out announcing our updated mobile apps/tablet app.

OfficeDrop Releases First Android Tablet App; Significantly Updates iOS, Android Apps

Cloud Scanning and Storage Apps Feature Multi-Page Scans, Faster Search and File Sharing to Make Going Paperless Easier Than Ever

July 5, 2012 — Cambridge, MA — Google Tablet? OfficeDrop saw it coming. Today, OfficeDrop announces major updates to its iOS and Android cloud scanning and storage apps, beginning with its first Android tablet app! OfficeDrop’s newest mobile apps turn any iOS or Android tablet and phone into a scanner, giving users the ability to scan multiple pages as one document simply by snapping a few photos. With just a few taps, users can instantly turn these photos into searchable PDFs, upload them to the cloud, and share them with others. A super-simple, improved user interface and faster search and sharing functions make the mobile workflow quicker and easier than ever before.

For example, a small business could use OfficeDrop’s mobile apps to manage their paper on the go. When an employee is on a business trip, she can snap photos of a multi-page contract with her phone, upload the entire PDF as a single document to the cloud and collaborate on it with her coworkers in minutes.
(more…)

Posted in android, cloud computing, Digital Office, Document Management, Document Scanners, iPad, iphone, Marketing, mobile, OCR Scanning, OfficeDrop, Online Cloud Storage, Organization, Paperless, Paperless Champions, Product, Product Announcements, Product Features, Product Updates, scanning software, Small Business | 3 Comments »

Dramatically Improved File Search

Thursday, June 28th, 2012

OfficeDrop’s file search just got a lot better. In fact, we think we’ve got the most advanced cloud search engine for your documents, scans and digital files.

With the most recent OfficeDrop update (which PC World covered), you can now search and find files stored in your OfficeDrop account like never before!

File Search Video

Below is a video we’ve put together showing the benefits of OfficeDrop’s improved file search, plus some tips on how to get the most out of the search engine.

What You Can Search For in Your Files

Here are some of the new ways you can search within your documents and cloud stored files:

Traditionally you could search for the text within scanned documents and files with text. Now you can combine this type of a search with:

You can search for word phrases by using double quotes. The search below will turn up search results that have the phrase “purchase order” in it:

“purchase order”

You can require a word or words to be in the search results by using the plus sign. The search below will produce search results that include both the word “billing” and “January”

+billing +January

Filename – searches for text in a file name. The search below will find all files that have the word “invoice” in the file name:

filename: invoice

Type – searches within a category of file types such as “audio,” “image,” “zip” and more. The search below will find all audio files that have the phrase “Rolling Stones” in the file name.

type: audio “Rolling Stones”

(more…)

Posted in Benefits, cloud computing, Document Management, OCR Scanning, OfficeDrop, Organization, Paperless, Product, Product Announcements, Product Updates | 1 Comment »

Introducing Improved Search and Windows Desktop Sync

Wednesday, June 20th, 2012

We are very excited to announce the launch of our Windows Desktop File Sync tool, which allows you to connect ANY folder to OfficeDrop’s cloud storage. All changes made in the folder will be reflected in your OfficeDrop account, and all files will available for access via the OfficeDrop iPhone app, Android scanner app, and iPad app. You can also scan using your phone and have the files automatically show up on your PC’s desktop!

Windows Sync Any Folder Video

See the Windows file sync in action in the following video.

Improved File Search

OfficeDrop also now has dramatically improved search via our web application. Now your cloud search just got more powerful! Search for file names, file types and the text within any document with text. Since you can also upload any file type into OfficeDrop, including files that do not have text, this file search will help you find files by searching for the files names. Learn more about using OfficeDrop’s improved search here.

Sync2Link^tm File Sharing

You can share a file right from your Windows desktop in 3 easy steps using our Sync2Link File Sharing:

Sync a folder to the cloud using OfficeDrop’s Windows File Sync Client
Get a Share Link by Right click any file in the folder and select OfficeDrop >> Get Share Link
The link is automatically pasted into your clipboard, so you can put it into an email, Twitter, Skype or any other way you want to share it!

Learn more in the Sync2Link File Sharing video below.

Below if the press release announcing the updates. We hope you like the improvements!

OfficeDrop Dramatically Improves Desktop Sync and Search for Windows

Scouring the Cloud for Your Files is Simple with OfficeDrop

CAMBRIDGE, MA — JUNE 20, 2012 – Today, OfficeDrop announced a major upgrade for its Windows apps and online cloud storage platform, which now makes syncing files and searching the cloud as easy as it should be. Users can now instantly sync any folder with a simple right-click, as well as use OfficeDrop’s powerful search engine to find files by filename, words contained in the file, and upload date, among other data. This includes scanning to synced folders from mobile devices, which instantly places documents on a Windows PC.

“We want Windows users to know that there are app makers like OfficeDrop out there who are still building solutions for them,” said Prasad Thammineni, Co-Founder and CEO of OfficeDrop. “We know that 91% of small businesses operate on Windows, so this update will make our customers’ lives easier, right away. OfficeDrop has always been built specifically for the small business user, and this is no exception. Just wait until you see what we have planned for Windows 8!”

OfficeDrop believes that search results shouldn’t be ugly or hard to sort through, either. Their unique interface lets users search documents better than if they had the original paper, using thumbnail or thumbnail plus text result views that highlight the search term in the file, depending on their preference. This is more than just an aesthetic upgrade. Research shows that people remember their paper documents visually, so OfficeDrop lets them search that way, too.

And, what good is the cloud if it’s not easily shared? With OfficeDrop, users create a unique URL from any synced file. This makes it sharable with anyone, anywhere with internet access. We call it Sync2Link(tm) File Sharing. Simply right-click a synced file, choose “share as a link,” and use the URL to spread that file and spread on Twitter, Facebook, through email, however you like! Those with the link can view or download the file as they please. For security, users can revoke access, or remove links, as desirable.

As an added bonus, OfficeDrop has increased the size of its free cloud storage plans to 5 GB for new free users who sign up before the end of June!

OfficeDrop is a complete cloud solution for businesses, from digitizing documents for the cloud to storage accounts that are sharable with teams. To learn how OfficeDrop makes digital life simple with its scan-and-capture apps and services, visit www.officedrop.com.

Posted in android, Benefits, cloud computing, Customer Satisfaction, Digital Office, Document Management, Entrepreneurship, Home Office, iPad, iphone, mobile, OfficeDrop, Online Cloud Storage, Organization, Paperless, Pricing, Product, Product Features, Small Business | No Comments »

OfficeDrop Customer, Fred’s Appliance, in GigaOm

Tuesday, May 29th, 2012

An OfficeDrop customer, Fred’s Appliance (an appliance repair company in Cleveland), was featured in GigaOm. Adam Butcher, Fred’s Appliance owner, was interviewed by the magazine for a piece on how his company uses cloud based tools to be more efficient. You can read it here.

Cloud technology has helped the company grow its userbase without having to hire additional backend management. Additionally, his techs now spend less time in the office and more time out helping customers.

Fred’s Appliance on OfficeDrop

The following is a quote from the GigaOm piece, where Adam talks about how OfficeDrop fits into the picture.

“OfficeDrop was one of our last legs in becoming truly paperless. Anybody that we’re doing business with, we’re paperless with them if possible, but not all companies are at that level yet, so they are mailing us items that are important. Instead of sticking them in a file cabinet, we scan them and upload them right to OfficeDrop’s cloud,” Butcher says.”

Adam also has some great advice for companies looking to add cloud technology to their business:

“So what tips does Butcher have for small businesses in more traditional industries who are looking to go paperless and virtual like Fred’s? In short, minimize hardware. “Initially we made a very large investment in server space. We actually purchased a rack and servers – very costly. Now we lease cloud space, so we work 100 percent off the cloud-based server and that is one of the best moves that we have ever made,” Butcher says. “Granted the drawback is if you’re having internet interruptions then you’re going to be down, but I feel we have less exposure because all we have to do is drive home and we can work from home.””

Special thanks to Adam and Fred’s Appliance for speaking to GigaOm about OfficeDrop and the cloud!

Posted in Benefits, cloud computing, Customer Satisfaction, Digital Office, Document Management, OfficeDrop, Online Cloud Storage, Organization, Paperless, Paperless Champions, Press coverage, scanning software, Small Business | No Comments »

RightSignature Integration – Digitally Sign OfficeDrop Documents

Friday, May 25th, 2012

We are excited to announce the newest OfficeDrop integration partner – RightSignature. Now you can send your OfficeDrop files out for electronic, legally binding, signature using RightSignature!

RightSignature is an electronic signature software application - it’s the easiest, fastest way to get documents signed online. Send contracts, forms, proposals – any document you need signed – for legally-binding e-signature in minutes. Your recipients fill out and sign documents online in any web browser, or even on a mobile device. No printing, no faxing, no hassle.

OfficeDrop RightSignature Integration

The OfficeDrop add-on for RightSignature enables you to send your OfficeDrop files for e-signature from inside RightSignature. Simply log into RightSignature, select the OfficeDrop document you would like to get signed, type in the name and email address of each signer, and click send.

If you don’t have a RightSignature account you can get one here.

See the Digital Signature Integration in Action

The following video will help understand how the integration works!

You can learn more about the digital signature integration here, or read below to see how you can start signing documents electronically using the OfficeDrop Right Signature integration! And you’ll need a RightSignature account to digitally sign your files.

Digital Signature Features

Easy online document signing
Contracts, NDA’s, forms, you name it
Send OfficeDrop files for e-signature

How it Works:

Log into RightSignature, click the OfficeDrop button.
Select the document to send.
Type in the name and email address of all signers.
Click Send.

How to Set it up.

Login to RightSignature.
Click the “Account” button, then the “Integrations” tab.
Click on the OfficeDrop integration, then click Activate.
You will be redirected to OfficeDrop to authorize access.

Posted in Benefits, cloud computing, Customer Satisfaction, Digital Office, Document Management, OfficeDrop, Organization, Paperless, Product, Product Features, Small Business | No Comments »

Eliminating Paper Reduces Customer Response Times by 300 Percent

Friday, February 10th, 2012

A new study shows that offices that reduce their use of paper can dramatically increase their ability to respond to customer needs. The study, done by AIIM, finds that “canning and capture can seriously improve customer response times — typically between 2 and 3 times faster, but in many cases 5 and 10 times faster.”

That’s a big deal!

The study also talks about how more and more companies are equipping remote workers with tablets and portable scanning devices to facilitate document scanning. This totally makes sense.

Here is an image from the study, which you can access from the link above. Basically, a large number of companies are scanning documents for archive purposes, but there are a large number of businesses that go beyond the occasional scanning and use digitization for indexing or making documents smarter or easier to find.

At OfficeDrop, we think that cloud capture can really make you more responsive to your client’s needs. In fact, we use our own online cloud storage to store important documents that we access all the time – everything from invoice to legal documents that we chat with our investors about, etc.

Posted in cloud computing, Digital Office, Market Research, OCR Scanning, Organization, Paperless, Paperless Champions | No Comments »

Happy New Years – OfficeDrop’s ScanDrop an App to Kickstart 2012

Monday, January 2nd, 2012

Tuaw, the “unofficial Apple blog,” has included OfficeDrop’s ScanDrop Mac scanner software as one of their “Apps to Kickstart your New Year’s Resolutions.”

The article says:

If you already have a scanner or multi-function printer but you’d like to move to cloud storage of your scans, give the $19.99 ScanDrop for the Mac a try. ScanDrop works with Evernote, Google Docs or OfficeDrop’s cloud service, but scanned files can also be saved on Dropbox or whatever other cloud service you utilize.

You can check out our review from March into a fuller look at the service. If you want to give it a try without dropping $20, the company offers the free ScanDrop Lite allowing scanning of up to 15 pages.

We couldn’t have said it better ourselves!

Get organized this year with OfficeDrop. It’s never been a better time to get your files into the cloud. You’ll feel much more relaxed once your important documents are saved in the cloud, and the anywhere, anytime access the cloud gives you will make you more productive this year!

Posted in cloud computing, Document Scanners, OCR Scanning, Organization, Paperless, Press coverage, scandrop, scanning software | No Comments »

Getting Files into OfficeDrop

Friday, December 30th, 2011

It’s easy to get files into OfficeDrop. We offer several ways you can quickly get your important documents into the OfficeDrop cloud filing system.

Here are the different apps you can use to get files into OfficeDrop:

OfficeDrop on Android
OfficeDrop on iPad
OfficeDrop on Windows Desktop (note: download starts immediately)
OfficeDrop’s Windows ScanDrop Scanner Software
OfficeDrop’s Mac ScanDrop Scanner Software

And, of course, you can always login to OfficeDrop via the web to upload and manage your documents.

We’ve recently created a video explaining some of the ways you can get your files into the system.

Posted in Benefits, cloud computing, Digital Office, Document Management, Document Scanners, Marketing, OCR Scanning, OfficeDrop, Organization, Paperless, Paperless Champions, Product, scanning software, Small Business | No Comments »

Document Phrase Search

Wednesday, December 14th, 2011

One of OfficeDrop’s most powerful tools is the document search engine that comes with each OfficeDrop account. You can find words, numbers and phrases within your files – fast!

OfficeDrop’s search is a little different than traditional document search that you may be familiar with, because OfficeDrop looks within your files for the search. This includes doing something other services don’t offer – optical character recognition “OCR”.

OCR and Document Search

OCR (optical character recognition) is the software we use to turn a simple scanned image of your paper into a fully text-searchable digital document. Once OCR is employed, applications can recognize individual characters and effectively “read” the document. OCR is the software that makes it possible to text-search your scanned documents.

Document Phrase Search with OfficeDrop

Many of our clients have thousands of files stored in the OfficeDrop system, so narrowing down the search quickly may seem daunting. Thankfully, with document phrase search, finding the right file quickly becomes a lot more manageable.

Here is how phrase search works. Use quotation marks around a series of words to narrow down your search to words that appear in that specific order. So, if you put “invoice number” in quotes in the search box, the OfficeDrop search would first return results with those words next to each other.

Phrase Search

That’s how easy it is! And phrase search works on your mobile devices as well, so you can use it on the go.

Posted in Benefits, Document Management, OCR Scanning, OfficeDrop, Organization, Paperless, Paperless Champions, Product, Product Features | No Comments »