DYMO/CardScan — DYMO File Software

From the August 2008 Review of
Document Storage Programs

DYMO is a division of Newell Rubbermaid, a $6 billion company, and the vendor
is targeting the SOHO (small office home office) market through retail distribution.
Its primary focus has been on the distribution of label maker devices, and DYMO
File Software is designed to work with the vendor’s desktop label maker.

Usability — 3 Stars
DYMO File is a limited feature front-end interface to the Windows Explorer system
that helps to simplify the interface with Explorer. The interface provides three
tabs across the top of the screen: Reserve, Find and Status. The left side displays
the Explorer folder view in the same format as Explorer. Documents can be viewed
in the main window. The one distinguishing feature of DYMO File compared to
the other solutions in this review is that it supports the creation of a barcode
label that identifies the document so that when it is scanned it will automatically
place it into the proper directory folder. This barcode can be printed using
your DYMO LabelWriter printer or plain paper. The advantage of this method is
that it lets you organize your documents first and then scan them all together
in a single batch.

Document Organization — 3 Stars
Essentially, the only difference with DYMO File from Windows Explorer in terms
of file organization is that you can establish folder templates in advance so
that when you add a particular folder such as client, you can have it automatically
populate with a series of sub-folders, i.e., tax return, supporting documentation,
correspondence, etc.

Integration — 3 Stars
The only integration provided is with Windows Explorer in terms of allowing
you to drag and drop files into the DYMO File interface. Office integration
is handled via the File Save/Retrieve functionality of Windows because DYMO
File simply views the Explorer folder structure. The product has the ABBYY Reader
bundled in so that your scanned images and import files are processed through
OCR for full text search.

Annotation — 3 Stars
Since the system does not have a proprietary viewer, all annotation functionality
will be accommodated at the application level, i.e. Adobe Acrobat, Excel, etc.

Overall Value — 3 Stars
The most important thing to understand about DYMO is that it is designed primarily
as a tool to improve upon the Windows Explorer interface with minimal functionality.
It helps facilitate the scanning and OCR processes. Pricing starts at $199.99
for the DYMO File Office Edition, which allows you to scan up to 5,000 pages
per month. DYMO File Professional offers unlimited scanning for $399.99. Both
include technical support. Training and support includes a wizard to guide you
through the initial setup. Training videos can be launched online, as well.
The program is extremely easy to use so support should be a non-issue.

2008 Overall Rating: 3 Stars