In early February, Canon unveiled the third generation of its Canon imageRUNNER ADVANCE line, with the release of the Canon imageRUNNER ADVANCE 8500 series and 6500 series. Also rolled into the announcement was the latest version of its BLI-award-winning document imaging solution, uniFLOW 5.4. According to the company, these announcements highlight Canon’s commitment to providing customers with a holistic business solution.
Canon imageRUNNER ADVANCE 8500 and 6500 Series
“The third generation of Canon imageRUNNER ADVANCE was developed on six value pillars: workflow efficiency, cost management, security, device and fleet management, quality, and reliability and sustainability,” said Dan Misilewich, Canon’s enterprise senior product specialist.
These new series of monochrome MFPs are geared towards high-volume environments. The 8500 series, which targets environments such as in-plants and CRDs, consists of the Canon imageRUNNER ADVANCE 8505i, 8595i and 8585i. The 6500 series targets high-volume office environments and consists of the Canon imageRUNNER ADVANCE 6575i, 6565i and 6555i. Canon states these models are particularly well-suited to a variety of vertical markets, including education, legal and manufacturing.
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According to the company, the Canon imageRUNNER ADVANCE 8500 and 6500 series’ most notable features include:
● A brighter, sleeker design
● An updated user interface with a 10.1" screen and intuitive, smartphone-style navigation
● Canon My ADVANCE, which, after authentication, allows users to create their own personalized display settings
● Staple-free stapling and staple-on-demand finishers
● Motion sensors that can detect approaching users and wakes the device up from sleep mode, meaning users won’t have to spend time waiting around for jobs
● Standard Universal Login Manager for security and cost control, Remote Operator Kit, HDD encryption and wireless connectivity
● More streamlined firmware upgrades via a common source code
uniFLOW Version 5.4
According to Canon, its crusade to deliver a consistent user experience through a holistic solution is coming to fruition with the latest iteration of uniFLOW. Although there doesn’t appear to be any extreme changes to the platform’s top level offerings, some of the solution’s functionality has been expanded to help organizations meet their growing business needs—largely in the scanning arena. The latest version of uniFLOW features a new scan wizard and supports additional scan destinations such as OneDrive, Microsoft SharePoint 2013 and SharePoint Online, and Canon’s own information management system, Therefore (both the on-premises and online editions). Users can navigate through folders—and even sub-folders—for precision document routing. Version 5.4 also welcomes secure workflow-enabled scanning from Canon imageFORMULA ScanFront Network Scanners.
“The real story behind the latest update is the continuity and consistency of the user experience across different devices,” noted Steve Pearl, manager of product marketing, solution software, at Canon U.S.A.’s Enterprise Solution Division. For instance, users can access all uniFLOW advanced scanning features and personal scan workflows without any variance in the experience, regardless of it being from a ScanFront or Canon imageRUNNER ADVANCE device.
The platform’s expansion of supported devices doesn’t stop at scanning, either. Now, the solution will also support secure printing and management features for Oce ColorWave and Oce PlotWave large-format printers. This includes an embedded secure applet for these devices. Likewise, the solution integrates with Oce’s PRISMAdirect—a popular print room management platform—in the form of data management and reporting features. Users can submit jobs through uniFLOW to PRISMAdirect-supported devices, and receive reporting and accounting data in return. The entrance into the large-format arena provides production- and CRD-clients with a robust print management and workflow platform, and opens more doors for potential new business for uniFLOW dealers.
Canon’s technological convergence isn’t reserved for hardware only. Version 5.4 will welcome the Canon-owned I.R.I.S. OCR engine. Now, users can deskew and despeckle captured documents and convert them to Microsoft Word and Excel form. The new engine will also bring Asian language support to uniFLOW, a benefit for international organizations.
Responding to the increasingly mobile workforce and the influx of workers moving between offices, uniFLOW 5.4 features guest mobile printing. Administrators can issue temporary access and set permissions for guests to access devices for printing and scanning. This feature is also beneficial for temporarily replacing misplaced or forgotten badges used for authentication. Ultimately, it helps administrators ensure security without hampering productivity.
Other new features include deep sleep mode, where administrators can automate when devices enter sleep mode, and reduce their power consumption to 1 watt per device. This feature will help organizations lower operating costs while also satisfying “green” initiatives.
Customers can purchase uniFLOW V5.4 through Canon Authorized Dealers and Canon Solutions America. The company notes that existing uniFLOW customers under a current Maintenance & Support contract are eligible to upgrade to version 5.4 free of charge.
