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Summary
Altec integrated the SwiftView viewer into its Doc-linkŪ product in the 1990s
and also uses the SwiftView PageExtractor to help process PCL files. Altec also uses the viewer to provide
configuration support within configuration screens.
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The Company
Altec provides accounting-centric document imaging and workflow management software
solutions, from customizable paper based documents to enterprise wide electronic document management solutions.
Established in 1985 as a subsidiary of Platinum Software Corporation (now Epicor Software), Altec was taken private in 1994
in a management buyout. The acquisition of document imaging company Brook Hollow in 2000 allowed Altec to expand into
IDM (Integrated Document Management) with doc-link, a suite of products that enables companies to migrate to paperless
transaction processing. Today, Altec solutions help 16,000 customer companies around the world eliminate paper and
enhance work processes to deliver information more efficiently.
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The Challenge
Altec's document management system considered PCL the best means for capturing and data mining its documents, but needed a
PCL viewer to allow customers who regularly referenced documents from the archive to view and reprint. "Because of the
wide customer base of PCL printers, we chose PCL technology as the method of capture," explains Mark Wood, Director of
Software Development, MCSD, at Altec. The company needed a user-friendly viewer that also met their stringent demands
for easily integrated, quality technology.
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About Altec's Doc-link
| Doc-link is an integrated document management (IDM) system that when interfaced with a customer's
business systems effectively eliminates paper, enhances communications, and increases productivity in paper processing operations.
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The Solution
"We chose SwiftView after carefully reviewing various technologies for print capture," says Wood. "SwiftView has the most
complete and reliable functionality for dealing with PCL files at an application programming interface level. Coupled with
the best commitment to continued product support and enhancement, SwiftView was our clear choice over the other PCL tool vendors."
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The SwiftView viewer was introduced into Altec's document management software in the late 1990s with doc-link version 1.2 as
part of the Enterprise Report Management (ERM) capture software to provide support for data mining PCL documents. Altec
continues to use SwiftView in its doc-link 2.0 product line. Altec also uses the SwiftView Page Extractor to help process
PCL files and has expanded use of the SwiftView viewer within configuration screens to provide configuration support.
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Altec was an early adopter of the SwiftPublish technology for authoring PCL documents from Windows applications.
"Documents are primarily authored through SwiftPublish because of the PCL descrambling technology," says Wood, adding,
"we also capture documents directly from the print spooler." Descrambling ensures that text in the PCL file can
be searchable, indexed and extracted.
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Results
Wood says that SwiftView saves Altec a great deal of development time, improving their productivity. "We rely on
SwiftView products to provide development expertise in manipulating PCL files, so that we can concentrate on our core
competency of document management." In particular, Wood says the core engine behind the API lets Altec manipulate SwiftView's features so that to customers
it "feels like part of our toolkit."
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| "It's fairly ubiquitous in our product. It renders quickly, does PCL file manipulation, and is so
easy for customers to use." Because of the API, Altec can customize the look and feel of SwiftView so that customers
only see the viewing features that they need. SwiftView provides fast, accurate rendering, the ability to select
page ranges for reprinting, searchable text, and enhanced support for the simplicity of using the printstream.
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