Supporting the digitalisation process
Epson’s new compact desktop scanner range has been launched to help businesses on their digital transformation journey, and employees to make quality scans wherever they are working.
Digitalisation is a priority for many businesses as they seek to take advantage of the benefits of working in the cloud, especially fitting in with hybrid working arrangements.
A crucial part of digitalisation is ensuring that electronic versions of physical documents can be made and then shared. To this end, Epson has recently launched four new compact desktop scanners, the DS-C330, DS-C490, ES-C320W and ES-C380W. These scanners aim to support the digitalisation process and address new office challenges triggered by hybrid working – such as shared workspaces, smaller offices and reduced desk space.
“Scanning continues to be a significant priority for Epson’s ongoing development as an imaging technology leader,” says Kevin Dobson, product manager at Epson. “The new Compact Desktop Series enhances Epson’s ability to support digital transformation in an increasingly competitive digital economy and aligns with Epson’s corporate purpose of ‘creative, efficient, compact, and precise innovation to enrich lives and help to create a better world.’
“Scanning is not only the first point of entry for paper in the digitisation process, but Epson’s document capture capabilities allow businesses to digitise workflows across different departments to save time and money. Epson’s latest Compact Desktop Series is the perfect addition to any digitisation process where compact product design and ease of use are key factors.”
Reduced desk space demand
The new scanners significantly reduce demands on desk space and allow users the versatility to choose the most suitable media path, according to Epson. Using a simple lever feature, these scanners can easily transition from a U-turn media path to a straight media path delivering more flexible media handling to support a wider range of documents; from passports to long-form paper formats at speeds ranging from 30-40ppm depending on model.
Wireless scanning is possible on the ES-C320W and the ES-C380W, and the inclusion of Epson ScanWay with the ES-C380W means users can use the product as a stand-alone solution, progressing scan and selecting workflows from the product’s touchscreen panel, removing the need for a PC. Users can scan to popular cloud-based services including OneDrive, Sharepoint online and Microsoft Teams using Epson Connect.
All models include a range of image and text enhancement technologies including optical character recognition processing, features to protect documents and to simplify destination or workflow selection.
“This range is primarily aimed at front-of-house and reception desk environments within hospitality, pharmacies, post offices, banks, customs offices and car hire companies,” says Kevin. “These are sectors with competitive standards for digitalisation, and an active document workflow environment, making this range ideal due to its mixed-batch scanning capabilities that relieve the pressure from office MFPs, scanning a wide variety of different documents and optimising space.”
The scanners are also ideal for those in hybrid working arrangements, Kevin adds. “As the market’s most compact in-use scanner range, these devices offer the optimal solution for homes and agile offices with limited desk space that require dedicated scan functions for secure document digitisation.
“These products are Epson’s first U-turn media path scanners, and are more compact, more energy efficient, more versatile and more sustainable than any other document scanner launched by Epson.”
Kevin adds that the range is compatible with Epson’s proprietary Document Capture Pro software. “This enables it to detect the Machine Readable Zone (MRZ) of a passport or travel document, extract this data and create a file index. This provides those working in transport, hospitality and other relevant sectors faster processing of documents, greater data accuracy and quicker data entry than equivalent scanning solutions. It also enables mixed batch scanning that can switch between U-turn media path and straight-path scanning to accommodate different document thicknesses and formats, all within one uninterrupted scan job.
“Despite its compact design, this range shares numerous functions found in other product categories including glass dirt detection, an ultrasonic sensor (DS-C490 only), and robust scan speeds.”
The devices are also secure, Kevin adds. “None of the scanners in this range save information to on-board physical hard drives,” he says. “This ensures that no data is ever stored on the devices meaning it is not susceptible to any data breaches.”
Sustainability
As you might expect, the scanners have been manufactured with a focus on sustainability. Epson states that the company has committed to using up to 30% recycled plastic content within these products, which is an incremental step towards its strategic goal of being underground resource free by 2050.
“Every business resource should be scrutinised for its environmental credentials, and technology is just one component in this,” says Kevin. “Epson’s latest Compact Desktop Series is the most compact in-use scanner in its class, and as well as being made of 30% recycled materials, it has a competitively low energy consumption, taking Epson and its customers one step closer to adopting a circular economy.”
Get involved
The range was launched with a webinar, which was well attended by customers and resellers alike. Since then subsequent meetings with channel partners have verified Epson’s optimistic outlook for this range, Kevin says. “Epson is an indirect sales business, meaning we rely heavily on our channel partners to share our vision for improving business workflows using Epson technology.
“Businesses are always looking for smaller, faster, more sustainable, more high-spec solutions with customer-centric features. With the new Compact Desktop Series, we’ve hit the nail on the head in addressing these needs.
“It can be sold independently or as part of an integrated business solution, accompanying Epson’s heat-free business inkjet technology and other office solutions.”
To find out more about this range, resellers can reach Kevin at [email protected].
