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Rollup of Product Updates [Winter 2022; v21.3 through v21.4]

Seth Petersen — Tue, 01 Mar 2022 19:11:39 +0000

As the ERP systems landscape continues to change and evolve, our mission of producing better, faster, and more effective tools to create and distribute your ERP-generated documents has never been more important.

One week at a time, 52 weeks a year, is how we continually improve the AventX software suite. It’s a never-ending process to bring you the features you need and love. It’s not always easy, but it is gratifying to see these features, enhancements, and new modules simplify processes and workflows for our customers.

We love learning about how you are using AventX in new and creative ways. Hearing your stories motivates us to continue to improve the product lines for each of our users.

With that in mind, we are excited to share the latest feature releases for the AventX product lines.

And keep an eye out over the next few months. We’ve been working in overdrive to bring some new solutions to the marketplace.

Printing Improvements

Oracle EBS Print Status Improvements

Last year, we launched a new printing module for AventX with Oracle EBS and Oracle eAM. You can read more about the release here:

This early version of the AventX for Oracle EBS Windows Print module labeled EBS print jobs through AventX as “Success” when the print job was sent to a Windows Printer queue.

This enhancement adds more granular print status to Oracle EBS in the AventX Delivery Status Form. Now, print jobs that execute successfully from AventX will post back to Oracle as “Printed,” while any failures will post back to Oracle as “Fatal” with helpful troubleshooting details.

This more granular status will help users and IT quickly troubleshoot issues. Additionally, AventX allows users to easily resubmit successful and failed print jobs through the Web UI.

Availability: AventX for Oracle EBS Windows Print Module, AventX for Oracle eAM Windows Print Module

Document Delivery Improvements

Send Documents via Email as an Attachment and to a Customer Portal

Users of AventX SFT (aka Secure Content Portal or AventX Mail SC) now have the option to attach files to the outbound email notification, in addition to the existing direct file download link.

This feature was added to support recipients that may require documents to be attached to received emails, often to trigger an automated workflow on the recipient’s end.

Though attached to the email, users can still access new or historic files via the portal, bringing the best of both worlds together—providing an easy-to-process attachment with the long-term, customer-accessible portal.

Availability: AventX SFT with AventX Core

Securely Encrypt Sent Faxes from SAP

AventX for SAP (Windows) now integrates with FAXCOM Suite to enable the use of FAXCOM Mailbox Server for data and storage. With FAXCOM Mailbox Server, organizations using AventX for SAP can encrypt faxes at rest for improved security. Additionally, users can quickly search for and locate sent/received faxes, enable better network user access to faxes, and store an almost unlimited number of faxes in primary or archive document repositories.

Availability: AventX for SAP (Windows) with FAXCOM Suite and FAXCOM Mailbox Server

SAP Email Enhancements to Improve Internal Workflows

In addition to PCL output, AventX for SAP (UNIX) can now intelligently parse PDF data to create an improved email delivery experience. This includes the ability to specify a unique email template and dynamically map the user’s Active Directory login, display name, and email address. In addition, parsing more data from PDF files improves how internal users can access both faxed and emailed documents in AventX WebManager to view or resend a document.

Availability: AventX for SAP (Unix) with AventX Core

Submit External Files via SFTP for Delivery

SFTP is a critical tool for organizations to deliver documents and data, both internally and externally, securely. Because of this, many STR Software customers have expressed a need to utilize SFTP to deliver information from programs or applications that cannot integrate with AventX.

To support these initiatives, the AventX Core Integration Module now allows organizations to FTP/SFTP files from remote hosts/tools to AventX for processing using a local file drop option. Having this option available in AventX eliminates the need for additional FTP utilities, simplifying your IT infrastructure.

Additionally, by funneling other outbound documents and files through AventX, users can easily manage and resend these deliveries from the AventX WebManager, creating a single source of truth for monitoring and resending critical business documents.

Availability: AventX Core (formerly AventX UNIX)

eFax Integration & Delivery Improvements

Fax data on received faxes can be challenging to read, especially on documents with smaller pitch and fonts. To help improve this, users of AventX with eFax can now enable High Resolution faxing and configure the ‘bolding’ of fonts. These two AventX settings give senders more control over the final received document, with the goal that your recipients can more quickly process the received fax.

Availability: AventX Core (formerly AventX UNIX) with eFax

The post Rollup of Product Updates [Winter 2022; v21.3 through v21.4] first appeared on STR Software.

Product Rebranding & Rollup of Product Updates [Summer 2021; v21.1 through v21.3]

Seth Petersen — Wed, 04 Aug 2021 12:52:49 +0000

It’s now August, and we’re slowly coming up for air from a very fast-paced and productive first seven months of the year. A first half of the year that saw a new product release (connecting Oracle EBS to SharePoint for attachment migration), significant improvements to Oracle EBS Printing, and a rebranding of several of our products and modules.

Product Naming

As we continue to improve our products and further integrate the major product lines, we decided to rebrand several of our product lines. The following products received name changes:

Old Product Name	NEW Product Name
AventX UNIX	AventX Core
DataVaya	AventX A2A
AventX Print Xpress	AventX for Oracle EBS Windows Print Module

File Management Improvements

New Product Module: Oracle File Attachment to SharePoint Migration

Our newest module for AventX A2A seamlessly integrates Oracle EBS with SharePoint to streamline document processing and archiving workflows. The module automatically migrates File Attachments from Oracle to SharePoint, then reinserts URL links to Oracle EBS as Web Page Attachments.

This module supports long-term archiving storage for compliance, reduces to database space used by File Attachments, and improves the end-user experience for managing and maintaining documents. Additionally, power users can use SharePoint’s workflow features to create automated document processes with the documents now in SharePoint.

Availability: AventX A2A for Oracle EBS, AventX A2A for Oracle eAM

Oracle EBS Printing Improvements

New Product Module: Print Oracle EBS Reports directly to Windows Printers

Currently, users of our “Local” print module (AventX Print Xpress) can print Oracle EBS report output to a locally defined printer or preview it on their screen. With the latest releases of AventX, this module gains some significant product improvements and a new name.

Meet AventX for Oracle EBS Windows Print…

This updated AventX module provides end-users the ability to submit print jobs directly to any Windows printer. Printing options include (NEW) submitting batches via Windows Print Server (completely bypassing CUPS), printing to locally defined printers (in the office or at home), and displaying/previewing the report output on their Windows or Mac.

The AventX Windows Print and Preview module now makes the job help desk and system administrators easier by streamlining the entire print process from Oracle EBS. Moreover, the product now includes a utility to help map Oracle EBS and Windows Printers, eliminating the need to manage printers in Linux/CUPS.

Availability: AventX for Oracle EBS, AventX for Oracle eAM

Document Delivery Improvements

Securely Deliver Documents via SMS

Users of AventX with Secure File Transfer can now deliver PDF files securely via SMS links to track delivery and views. This functionality utilizes Email-to-SMS technology to ensure your documents get delivered to your recipients quickly and in a manner that best suits their needs. So whether it’s shipping documents, invoices, or more, this streamlined method gives you another option for meeting your customers’ unique needs.

Availability: Secure File Transfer w/ all AventX Supported ERPs

Respect Hunt Group Fax Lines

Many customers have found fax deliverability issues—primarily delays—when sending large volumes of deliveries to the same number. When AventX identified a “same” number, it would hold the fax until the number was “free” again. However, as many high-volume fax users know, fax numbers can often be associated with “Hunt Groups,” a single published number that receives the inbound call (i.e., fax) and quickly routes it to an available phone or fax line. Customers can now identify these “Hunt Group” fax numbers in the AventX configuration. When these numbers are recognized as a Hunt Group, AventX can more quickly process the faxes, ensuring they are delivered promptly.

Availability: AventX Core (All Supported ERP’s) w/ on-premise FAXCOM Fax Severs

AventX for SAP Now Supports Multiple Email Recipients

AventX for SAP ERP users with our AventX Core product line now can associate multiple email addresses with a single fax number. Assigning numerous emails addresses to a single fax number ensures you can meet your suppliers’ and customers’ requests and helps to ensure that your document is received.

Availability: AventX for SAP ERP with AventX Core

Electronic Signature Improvements

Deliver via DocuSign to Multiple Recipients

Not all documents that need to be signed are created equal. Some require signatures from a single signer, such as a President or VP. Others, such as a terms and conditions file, likely need a simple acknowledgment by one of many potential recipients. AventX now works with DocuSign’s native “Signing Groups” functionality to allow any recipient to sign the file electronically. Whether the document is sent to two or two hundred, it’s considered complete once the first recipient signs it.

Availability: AventX for DocuSign w/ all AventX Supported ERP’s

Deliver Documents via DocuSign with Additional Remarks

AventX now offers the ability to pass additional content in the body of a DocuSign email transmission. Previously, AventX passed limited information about the sender, recipient, document, and document name in DocuSign’s email body. Now users of AventX can configure the system to include additional remarks or comments in the body of the email generated by DocuSign to provide helpful information to the recipient.

Availability: AventX for DocuSign w/ all AventX Supported ERPs

Work Order Printing/Management Improvements

New Work Order Filtering Options with AventX Mobile for eAM

The latest release of the AventX Mobile for Oracle eAM app adds additional filtering options to make it even easier to finds the work orders important to you. Earlier versions of the app allowed users to filter for work orders based on the Organization, Department, Resource, and the Asset itself. However, every maintenance department is unique! So now, in addition to these original options AventX Mobile for eAM introduces options to filter work orders based on views like those available in Oracle eAM self-service. The addition of filters based on “My Open Work,” “My Department Work,” and “Today’s Work” will allow AventX Mobile users to easily find the work orders central to their specific job.

Availability: AventX Mobile for Oracle eAM

File Extraction Support for ETQ

AventX can now extract files from ETQ, a third-party quality management system, for inclusion in work order packets. With this enhancement, customers storing critical file attachments in ETQ can dynamically retrieve files, convert them to PDF (if needed), and deliver them to recipients via email, fax, and networked printer.

Availability: AventX for JD Edwards

The post Product Rebranding & Rollup of Product Updates [Summer 2021; v21.1 through v21.3] first appeared on STR Software.

Why Your Organization Should Eliminate Fax Hardware

STR Software — Mon, 29 Aug 2016 13:24:07 +0000

Fax over IP (FoIP) is the process of sending and receiving faxes over your organization’s existing voice IP network instead of analog or digital telephone lines. It typically involves a migration of your physical fax server to a virtual machine. STR Software can provide the necessary software to run on your Windows operating system. Learn how eliminating hardware dependencies through virtualization can consolidate your network resources and reduce overhead costs for your IT department.

Why Businesses Choose Fax over IP (FoIP) – An Introduction

STR Software — Tue, 01 May 2012 12:53:55 +0000

Fax over IP (FoIP) is the latest technology on the market when it comes to sending and receiving faxes over the internet on a Voice over IP (VoIP) network. If you haven’t heard already, the premise behind FoIP is ability to implement centralized faxing for your entire organization while also significantly reducing hardware costs by going virtual; you become the hero! I think those FoIP developers are on to something good.

FoIP is best described as super highway for routing and sending faxes because your existing telephony network becomes the delivery channel for sending and receiving faxes. This is great because your telephony network is already there (or will be!)…why not use it more? Also, your new FoIP software is typically hosted on a virtual machine (aka VM) instead of a physical server. As an example, these VM’s are typically running Windows Server 2003 or 2008 R2 plus the FoIP software.

Here is a summary of benefits that your IT Department should expect:

Install your desktop faxing software on a VM vs. physical server
Simulate the fax board hardware using the new FoIP software; no fax boards required
Scalability is simplified; upgrading from 8 channels to 16 requires a software upgrade vs. installing another fax board
Virtual machines running FoIP have a smaller footprint in your datacenter
Virtualization introduces new disaster recovery options

Once installed, your new FoIP software hooks into your existing telephony system offering seamless integration for all your faxing needs. Supported phone systems include Cisco, Avaya, Nortel, Quitum, Dialogic VoIP networks, and digital media gateways (aka DMGs).

The following business pains are commonly solved with FoIP solutions:

1. Consolidate enterprise telephony and fax resources – save money

Eliminate analog phone lines that are being used with archaic fax machines, multi-function-printers (aka MFPs), and eliminate the need for multiple fax server vendors
25 MFPs @ $30 per month= $750 per month or $9,000 per year (i.e. excellent ROI)

2. Electronically fax from desktop applications – make life easier at work

Examples include faxing from email, a virtual printer via file > print, and a standalone application or web interface that is dedicated to all of your faxing needs

3. Route incoming faxes to one or many electronic destinations by routing faxes by the actual digits dials to printer servers, email servers (e.g. Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft Outlook), file servers (e.g. Microsoft SharePoint), application servers, database servers, and FTP servers.

Reduce long distance faxing expenses by leveraging your intranet’s capability to transmit the fax from the destination country (e.g. a fax to Germany is transmitted in Germany vs. over long distance); requires compatible IP telephony system

4. Extract data from faxes to start workflow processes – make IT resources work for you

For example, extract a Purchase Order # and route it to a destination like purchaseorders@company.com

5. Centralize management of all document transmissions from multiple sources

It is best to have one FoIP solution that can handle all of your faxing needs (see diagram below)

For more information:

The post Why Businesses Choose Fax over IP (FoIP) – An Introduction first appeared on STR Software.

Advanced Inbound Fax Routing – Three Real World Examples of Better Fax Practices

STR Software — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 14:35:41 +0000

Some of our customers are doing some really cool things with inbound fax routing technology. They are saving time by streamlining manual tasks like renaming files, storing files in specific network folders, storing files in SharePoint and delivering faxes to smart phones. I’d like to take the time to share a few examples with you here.

Example 1: Legal department sends faxes to email/smart phones as hyperlink and sets up electronic storage

The legal department at a school district had a not-so-centrally located department fax machine in the hallway – not really close to anyone’s desk. Rather than letting faxes accumulate on the fax machine, members of the department wanted to store the faxes on a file server. Also, they wanted everyone in the department to receive an email alert when an inbound fax is received. The mail server administrator was concerned about fax attachments taking up space on the e-mail server so they chose not to have the fax attached to the email message. Instead, they wanted a hyperlink to the fax in the email message. That way, users can click on the link and open the fax. With so many school holidays, members of the department can get the email alerts on their smart phones when they are out of the office and decide from there whether or not they want to take action to retrieve the fax. The requested functionality was achieved by simply setting up a rule in the configuration of the advanced fax routing software.

After the initial configuration, an additional need came to light: the legal department wanted failover for the file server. The file server being used to store faxes has plenty of storage, but it occasionally goes down for maintenance, etc. Department members wanted to be able to put the incoming fax in a secondary share in the event that the primary share is unavailable. I found a great new feature in the fax routing configuration rules called “Upon Failure”. This allows you to go to the next rule or the next action in the event of some sort of failure. I set up a rule to send faxes to a secondary file server if a failure should occur. You can even configure a timer that says how long to wait until the system should go to the next rule. This secondary rule only gets invoked if the primary storage space is unavailable. Once the primary is back online, the rule to go to the secondary share never gets invoked.

Example 2: Fast food chain requires cover pages be faxed back to them to complete the order cycle

For this business, the return of the cover pages signals that the Purchase Order was accepted. The corporate office for the fast food chain has one fax number that is used to process the confirmations. All cover pages need to be faxed back to this one number. The cover pages need to be filed on a network drive in the respective vendor folders. The cover page included the vendor’s company name and a barcode so we used Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology to find the company name of the vendor on the cover page and the subject – in this case the PO number. Through advanced fax routing rules, the system renamed the fax with the company name and subject, example: Vandelay Industries_PO # 1234. The cool thing is that if the directory doesn’t exist, the system creates it for you. This allowed this customer to build these directories on the fly.

Example 3: A pharma company automatically receives and sorts faxes from doctors based on information in the fax

In the final example, a pharmaceutical supplier required doctors to fax infusion forms to order certain medications. The supplier wanted to make it easy for the doctors to send the sheets by maintaining a single fax number, but also easy to sort and differentiate by the types of medication being ordered. Each form had an ID number in the bottom right corner of the page that identified the different medications being ordered. By implementing OCR and intelligent fax routing on the supplier end, the doctors’ offices could put a stack of different types of forms on the fax machine, key in a single fax number to the pharmaceutical company, and hit send. The title of the form is tied to the form ID number and an email is sent to a particular mailbox based on the form title, allowing the supplier to sort by medication name for example. The system even customizes the email subject and message body. It also inserts the fax into a CRM system, like Sharepoint. This allows customer service reps to process the infusion requests. As you may know, OCR is not perfect. If, for some reason, a form ID is not recognized, the fax goes into a default mailbox. The automated process above allows the company to maintain the single fax number they have published to their contacts for years. The doctors’ offices do not need to do anything differently. Rather, the process is automated and optimized at the receiving end which results in patients receiving the medication they need faster.

In conclusion, there are as many ways to customize your inbound fax routing processes as there are businesses that rely on fax communication. As in example one, these features can even bridge the gap from a fax-based to an email-based system. What I love about advanced fax routing is its flexibility and the efficiencies it generates for companies that rely on paper-based communication. Has your company deployed any of these advanced features?

George Sushkoff is an Application Engineer at STR Software. As a member of the team for over 10 years, he contributes expert-level knowledge in the field of automated document delivery.

The post Advanced Inbound Fax Routing – Three Real World Examples of Better Fax Practices first appeared on STR Software.

8 Features To Look For In an Automated Enterprise Fax and Email Solution

STR Software — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 10:25:00 +0000

This resource post touches on 8 features to look for in an automated enterprise fax and email from email messaging from multiple host environments to document capture and workflow.

Application Integration
Document delivery solutions that integrate directly into industry leading ERPs and back office applications translate into easy retrieval of document and user information directly from the application’s database. Advanced document management features, and integrated security are additional benefits.

Desktop Faxing Capability
Using Outlook, Notes, GroupWise, web browsers, and more, users are provided with inbound/outbound faxing capabilities with an unlimited number of fax rules configurable on the server.

Email Messaging
From multiple host environments, leverage your existing email application to centrally automate the delivery of business-critical documents.

Scalable, Secure Delivery Channels
Today’s fax servers come in a variety of forms making delivery channels a flexible, scalable option that can ebb and flow with your delivery needs: 1) With a premise-based server, users benefit from up to 96 simultaneous transmissions. 2) An integrated communication channel utilizing Fax Over Internet Protocol (FoIP) is also an option. Or, 3) internet fax
(ASP) provides 200,000+ fax lines with international points of presence for reduced phone rates.

Advanced Inbound Routing
Through data-capture methods of OCR, DNIS-DID, or Fax Line Mapping, all incoming documents can be intelligently routed to multiple inbound locations (including, but not limited to, user inbox, public folder, network directory, FTP server) thereby eliminating business’ dependency on fax machines.

Document Capture & Workflow
The advanced ability to capture paper-based and electronic form data to seamlessly translate and move pertinent information into databases and back office applications.

Rapid Implementation
Remote or on-site, implementation, with little end-user training required and no programming modifications.

Knowledgeable Support & Frequent Upgrades
Technical engineers provide human-based support backed by extensive product documentation. Frequent, free upgrades to all customers on active support.

For more information:

The post 8 Features To Look For In an Automated Enterprise Fax and Email Solution first appeared on STR Software.

5 benefits of Fax over IP (FoIP) Services and Software

STR Software — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 13:24:31 +0000

Fax over IP (FoIP) refers to the process of sending and receiving faxes over the internet on a Voice over IP (VoIP) network like Cisco, Avaya, Alcatel-Lucent, Quintum, and others.

Organizations realize substantial cost savings and productivity benefits when deploying a FoIP with existing equipment to route faxes over an IP network. Even if an enterprise does not have a VoIP network in place today, they can still implement FoIP and virtualize their fax servers through use of the Dialogic Brooktrout SR140 fax software and media gateway.

Benefits of Fax over IP (FoIP)

Eliminates hardware dependency through software virtualization
Takes advantage of existing IP infrastructure
Lowers total equipment, maintenance and operating costs due to network consolidation
Automatically delivers ERP documents with AventX Connector integration: Oracle, SAP, UNIX and Windows, BusinessPLUS and ONESolution
Reduces long distance costs and eliminates the need to maintain fax ports on your PBX system

FoIP works via T.38, where T.38 is a protocol that describes how to send a fax over a computer data network. As shown in the diagram above, T.38 requires a T.38-capable VoIP gateway as well as a T.38-capable fax device.

To implement a FAXCOM Server as a T.38-capable fax device, you use the Dialogic Brooktrout SR140 fax software, available in densities ranging from 2 to 60 channels and supporting up to 120 ports in a single server. Additional channels can be installed with new software license keys.

The Dialogic SR140 FoIP product is compliant to the T.38 and SIP industry standards, and we regularly test its T.38 FoIP solution with additional PBXs, Gateways, SIP Trunking interfaces, and other devices to confirm additional interoperabilities. To verify interoperability with your IP environment, contact STR Software for an analysis of your IP environment and configuration recommendations.

For more information:

The post 5 benefits of Fax over IP (FoIP) Services and Software first appeared on STR Software.

What To Look For In An Advanced Fax Routing Solution

STR Software — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 11:42:43 +0000

6 Key Components to Look for in an Advanced Fax Routing Solution

1. Route inbound faxes to any destination

Intelligent inbound fax routing provides a streamlined, centralized approach for your company’s receipt of faxes. Look for the capability to route incoming faxes to your employees’ desktops, file folder, or printers automatically. Automatic routing eliminates the need for individual fax machines and costly plain old telephone service (POTS) lines—saving your organization both time and money.

2. Delivery Server Hardware

A centralized delivery server is a key element in intelligent inbound routing. Look for delivery channels capable of sending and receiving anywhere from 10 to 40,000+ pages daily. Also, look for Windows and Linux supported configurations in either digital (T1/PRI/FOIP) or analog-based delivery servers to provide a streamlined environment for managing all of your incoming and outgoing faxes.

3. Route by Document Content | Optical Character Recognition (OCR)

A critical component of fax routing is the ability of your fax system to parse important information from the fax image. Look for the capability to use Optical Character Recognition (OCR), barcodes, or any other key identifier to intelligently route your documents to specific email inboxes, network printers, or files based upon pre-set rules.

4. Route by Dialed Number (DID/DNIS)

Look for digital and analog fax configurations for dynamic inbound routing based upon the digits dialed by the sending fax machine. By associating the last four (4) digits of the recipient’s fax number with the recipient’s preferred method of receiving faxes, the delivery server will intelligently route the inbound fax to the respective destination(s).

5. Route by Fax Line

If your dedicated fax line is connected to the centralized delivery server to handle high-volume inbound fax traffic look for the capability to direct this traffic to internal email inboxes, network printers and/or files.

6. Route by Caller ID

Look for inbound routing based upon the caller ID associated with the incoming fax. Using this method, fax traffic from specific vendors or customers can be configured for delivery to particular destinations (email inboxes, network printers, and/or files).

The post What To Look For In An Advanced Fax Routing Solution first appeared on STR Software.

7 Benefits To Look For In A Best-In-Class Fax Solution For UNIX & Windows

STR Software — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 11:23:25 +0000

A quick review of the features, functionalities and benefits of an automated email and fax solution for Windows or UNIX based environments.

Benefits of a best-in-class solution

No Modification to Source Code

The ability to interpret the output document and extract relevant delivery information from the document itself, or perform a lookup into a database or other external structure.

Multiple Application Interfaces

Simplifies automated emailing and faxing from various business applications using several ERP Connectors.

Intelligent Restart

If document transmission is interrupted, restart will occur at the point of initial failure with a retry cover page, securing that only one copy of the document exists.

Intelligent Workflow Logic

Interprets your output data with no modifications to source code. Locates each document within your print file, identifies the recipient, and defines the method of delivery to be email, fax, or print.

Multiple Document Formats

Supports document formats of PCL, PostScript, HTML, MS Office, TIFF, PDF, ASCII text, and more.

Complete Reporting

Generate reports at specific intervals or at any point using the automatic or on-demand configurable reporting capabilities.

Dynamic Grouping

Provides the ability to groupsend any document (text or formatted) and avoid dialing redundancy

Best in class features

Single Software Installation

Perform system administration and manage documents for all production and non-production environments from a single software installation.

Document Search Keys

Locate submitted documents using predefined and custom queries

Advanced Reporting

View summarized or detailed information for each document. Sort your resulting document list by Status, User ID, Phone Number/Email Address, Fax ID, and more.

Internet Accessibility

Track the delivery of documents via a web browser either at your desktop or remotely.

Document Transmission

Control, modify, re-send, cancel, or delete the transmission of single or multiple documents

Real-Time Monitoring

Monitor a document, a group of documents, or the system status in real-time

For more information:

The post 7 Benefits To Look For In A Best-In-Class Fax Solution For UNIX & Windows first appeared on STR Software.

Emailing Insertion Orders in Bursts from MPE

STR Software — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 21:07:03 +0000

The Company

For over five decades, Carmichael Lynch (CL) has been an eminent figure in the advertising realm, catering to illustrious brands such as A.G. Edwards, Harley Davidson, and Porsche. Their accolades include the prestigious O’Toole Award, Gold EFFIE Award, and Cannes Lion. One key to their success? Embracing innovation and swift B2B response through process automation.

The Challenge

The team at Carmichael Lynch was grappling with the inefficiencies of cumbersome multi-part forms. Preprinted forms proved costly and confining, with noisy, high-maintenance printers further complicating matters. The need for a shift from paper-based workflows to an electronic alternative was clear. CL sought a way to seamlessly transmit orders via fax and email from their DSI Datatrak database with minimal manual intervention.

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1,400 insertion orders per run

Carmichael Lynch now delivers as many as 1,400 pages per run for a single client using AventX.

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1,400 insertion orders per run

Carmichael Lynch now delivers as many as 1,400 pages per run for a single client using AventX.

The Solution

In April 1995, Carmichael Lynch introduced AventX MPE from STR Software into their system. Exceeding their expectations for automated document delivery, they made it a permanent addition just a month later.

With the addition of Tractor Supply Company as a client, CL began employing AventX to streamline insertion order submissions, particularly due to the client’s high volume of circulars. CL overcame manual document delivery bottlenecks, enjoying significant time and resource savings. AventX was used multiple times per month to deliver as many as 1,400 pages per run for a single client.

Later, CL’s technology department upgraded its solution by incorporating AventX Mail and a FAXCOM 3100 two-channel server. The upgrade enabled them to overcome Datatrak’s limitations and include email addresses as destinations. Plus, email delivery confirmations were sent without requiring any programming modifications.

Doug Kieser, System Programmer for CL, attests to the advantages of dynamically named POs and insertion orders, enhancing document identification. Furthermore, integrating the AventX Archive Module permanently stored PDF duplicates of all faxed or emailed dynamically-named orders on a file server, creating a robust audit trail.

Steve Diedrich, IT Director at Carmichael Lynch, emphasizes the transformative impact of AventX, stating, “STR Software opened our eyes with this solution. We started with one objective, but it soon became apparent that AventX offered so much more. An insertion order electronic document delivery solution is like gold for any agency or media buying firm with a high-volume media client. For us, that solution is AventX.”

The post Emailing Insertion Orders in Bursts from MPE first appeared on STR Software.