Blueridge Unveils New Automation Tool for High-Volume Macintosh Scanning Environments

Flint Hill, VA - December 2, 1996 - In a move aimed at addressing the demands of high-volume, production-level scanning environments, Blueridge Technologies announced that their cross-platform OPTIX Document Management System now supports advanced Patch Card instruction technology. Patch Cards enable companies to increase the speed at which they process documents, while reducing the need for operator supervision.

In a typical scanning environment, a scan operator feeds a document, or a batch of documents, into the hopper of a scanner. The documents are then scanned, saved, and manually indexed by the operator. This process works well for low-volume scanning environments, or environments where a scan operator is available for continuous attendance. It becomes increasingly inefficient and time consuming in production-level environments.

Patch Cards enable companies to automate many of the operations performed by scan operators. Among other things, the cards can instruct OPTIX to store a document in a specific database, assign the document an incremental sequence number, assign a job name, or record the scan date of a document. Patch cards are also capable of adjusting scanner settings and performing image enhancement operations such as deskew, rotate and despeckle.

Patch Cards contain scanner and indexing instructions determined by the scan operator. The instructions appear in the form of a bar code. By selecting options from a pull-down menu, a scan operator can easily generate, view, and verify Patch Cards from within OPTIX. Once generated, Patch Cards are output to a laserprinter. The cards are then inserted at specific points in a scan batch where the operator desires new scanner or indexing settings to begin or end.

According to Craig Landrum, Chief Technical Officer for Blueridge, "When we chose to incorporate Patch Card technology with OPTIX, our programming team established a series of goals. At the top of that list was 'speed.' We wanted to insure that OPTIX could scan and process Patch Cards at a speed equivalent to the maximum rated speed of the scanner being used. And, we have achieved that goal."

Used in conjunction with production-level scanners like the the Fujitsu 3099 series, or the Photomatrix Vision Series 5000, OPTIX offers unsurpassed speed, automation, and reliability.

"High-performance scanner vendors like ourselves are always concerned that application software will burden our scanners and prevent their operation at rated speed," said Dell Glover, Vice-President of Sales and Marketing at Photomatrix Corporation. "Blueridge has eliminated that concern with their state-of-the-art integration of Patch Card technology and OPTIX."

According to Nathaniel Palmer, Senior Market Analyst for Delphi Consulting Group, "Document acquisition represents the largest bottleneck in most imaging systems. It is refreshing to a see a vendor who fully recognizes the importance of this facility."

Founded in 1988, Blueridge Technologies is one of the industry's oldest and most respected providers of electronic document management systems (EDMS). Long the leading industrial-strength document imaging and workflow system for Apple Macintosh computers, in 1994 OPTIX became the first electronic document management system to offer workflow, document imaging, document control, COLD (Computer Output to Laser Disk), and natural language text retrieval for both Windows and Macintosh workstations. Via the new OPTIX WEB interface, OPTIX also supports popular Web browsers, including Netscape Navigator, Internet Explorer from Microsoft, Mosaic, and all the client platforms these products support, including Windows, Macintosh, and UNIX workstations. An online demo of OPTIX WEB is available at http://www.optixweb.com. Blueridge Technologies is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Metters Industries.

OPTIX systems begin in the range of $40,000 and include server software, client software for both Macintosh and Windows, installation, training, and support.

OPTIX is available on GSA.