Nuance Enhances eCopy ShareScan and eCopy SDK

By Michael Alexander May 6, 2010

Nuance Communications (news, site) has added to the document automation capabilities of eCopy ShareScan, the company’s multifunction peripheral scanning system.

Also announced are enhancements to its eCopy SDK and developer program that it says will accelerate the development of document processing solutions using the eCopy ShareScan system.

ShareScan Gets Enhancements

eCopy ShareScan now includes a Document Conversion Extender, a document processing snap-in that enables customers to turn paper documents into fully-formatted Microsoft Word, Excel and RTF formats.

Nuance has boosted the OCR software accuracy levels in eCopy by about 50 percent over the previous release. The high level of accuracy in document conversion can save office workers 15 minutes per page compared to the manual re-typing of documents and spreadsheets, and insures searchable PDF archives are not lost due to OCR errors, the company says.

Nuance also has expanded the document automation capabilities of eCopy ShareScan with an eCopy Forms Processing Extender. This new document processing snap-in enables customers to use eCopy ShareScan to automatically route and process paper forms, including the ability to extract data and perform automated database look-ups.

Developers Get New APIs

The eCopy SDK now includes the API set of the OmniPage OCR, scanning and document conversion developer toolkit.

Registered members of the eCopy Connections Alliance Program — the eCopy developer program — now have access to the expanded eCopy SDK, including the OmniPage SDK, for developing solutions that are integrated and deployed within the eCopy ShareScan system.

OmniPage features image processing and 3D capture for book scanning, OCR and document conversion, forms processing, zonal OCR and export to over 100 formats — including eBooks and audio books.

Pricing and Availability

The eCopy Document Conversion Extender is included with eCopy ShareScan 4.3.5 and higher. The eCopy Forms Processing Extender is US$ 995 per connected MFP and will be available for eCopy ShareScan 4.35 or higher within 60 days.

The new eCopy SDK, including access to the OmniPage API extensions, is available to Nuance eCAP members, free to approved partners. A runtime deployment agreement with Nuance is required for solutions using the eCopy SDK and the OmniPage APIs. There is no charge to join the eCAP program.