For hybrid and home workers that need to scan a lot of documents quickly, efficiency and accurately, an established and popular option is Canon’s imageFORMULA DR-M160II desktop scanner – and for good reason.
With home and hybrid working here to stay for employees in a wide range of sectors, many businesses are now looking to upgrade their workers’ home offices so that they can work as effectively and efficiently as they can in the office.
An important part of this is the document scanner – increasingly, these are being used to scan and convert documents so they can be shared among employees and managers who could all be home working.
Given their importance, businesses need models to be reliable, fast and provide quality scanning solutions – on a par with what can be found in an office.
Canon’s established player in this market is its imageFORMULA DR-M160ii document scanner. This has been designed to boost productivity, thanks to its class-leading speeds, reliable media handling and strong robust design, making it an ideal choice for paper intensive scanning environments. The DR-M160ii boasts scanning speeds of 120ipm at 300dpi, providing quality at the speed that offices demand.
Large capacity
With a suggested daily duty cycle of up to 7,000 scans and incorporating heavy-duty feed rollers and a solid paper transport, the DR-M160II performs reliably through peak workloads with ease. The scanner’s durable construction and solid components safeguard against costly downtime and keep production levels high.
In addition, the DR-M160II has several features designed to help users to maintain the highest level of productivity. A separation retry function saves users time by automatically re-feeding any documents that have entered the scanner together. Its double feed release feature allows users to quickly ‘ignore and continue’ scanning in special cases where a double feed has been incorrectly detected, such as when scanning an envelope or a document with a sticky note.
Also, thanks to the large capacity 60-sheet document feeder and robust separation mechanism, mixed batched documents of different sizes and thickness can be reliably and quickly processed. The DR-M160II can scan a wide variety of document types – including thick and thin sheets, embossed cards and documents up to three metres long, which is useful in sectors where mixed media are common.
High quality image processing
But scanners are ultimately judged on their document scanning ability. The DR-M160II’s intelligent image processing ensures accurate and consistently quality image results with features such as advanced text enhancement, auto paper size and deskew correction. The deskew feature enables the scanner to detect and straighten documents that are fed at an angle and make corrections based on the angle of the text on the page.
Users can save further time by using a blank page separator sheet to conveniently separate batches of documents automatically – although this function can only be used in Windows only.
Space-saving design
The DR-M160II’s compact dimensions allow it to sit comfortably on desktops and counter-tops where, especially in home offices, space is often at a premium. It is also light, so it is easily portable, if required. That said, it could fit just as easily in branch offices and corporate environments where mission critical document information requires urgent and accurate processing into business workflow and content management systems.
It is also robustly made, and has few parts that protrude out and therefore be accidentally knocked or broken – something that has to be considered in a home office where there can be other people or pets coming in and out of the workspace.
Software solutions
The DR-M160II comes with easy-to-use software designed for seamless scanning and document management. CaptureOnTouch has an intuitive user interface that incorporates a Full Auto Mode function for simplified scanning operation; and it also supports scanning to multiple file formats (PDF, PDF-A, TIFF, JPEG, BMP and PowerPoint) and connectivity to SharePoint. CaptureOnTouch is ideal for more mission critical batch scanning, as it provides the ultimate in viewing capabilities and send methods – including direct to folder, email and SharePoint.
Also included are image processing software Kofax VRS (with AIPE) and Kofax Power PDF, which are designed to help users to quickly create, edit and convert PDF documents.
For resellers, the DR-M160II can also be bundled with Canon’s A4 Flatbed 101 scanner to scan bound materials more easily.
Editor’s View
The Canon DR-M160II desktop scanner is ideal for people who work at home. The scanner itself has a small footprint, so it can fit in seamlessly with desks large or small. It is also well-made and robust so can put up with regular use and the occasional knocks and bumps that can happen in a small home office.
Initial set up and installation is easy and intuitive – there is little to put together and the software to run it doesn’t take long to install. The set-up guide is clear and easy to follow, even for those who aren’t particularly tech-savvy.
When it comes to using the device, again it is simple. The user interface is clear, and the device scans documents quickly and accurately. Being able to scan double-sided also helps. In addition, the software quickly turns documents into searchable texts.
The pdf creation and edition software included with the scanner are also very useful for this.
For that require high volumes of scanning, the DR-M160ii is again ideal with its up to 7,000 sheets per day duty cycle.
So, for those who have a permanent home office set-up, the DR-M160ii is one of the better options on the market.
For resellers, the scanner can be sold as part of a home office bundle, or as a standalone sale for businesses looking to maximise the efficiency of homeworkers in paper-heavy sectors.
At-a-glance
• Speed: 60ppm (colour and B&W)
• Automatic document feeder takes up to 60 sheets
• Daily scanning volume from 7,000 to 10,000 scans/day
• Double-sided scanning
• Windows & Mac compatible
• Class-leading colour scanning speeds of up to 120ipm
• Supreme paper-handling reliability includes paper separation retry
• Supports scanning to multiple file formats
