Visioneer Mobile Scanner Saves Trees, Time

Enter the Visioneer Strobe XP 300, a mobile duplex scanner that can help VARs bring scanning technology to both mobile professionals and vertical markets such as health care and finance.

The Strobe XP 300 is roughly the size of a three-hole punch and can sit on a desktop between the monitor and the keyboard, or can be tucked neatly into a briefcase for on-the-go scanning. The device uses auto-launch technology to begin scanning when a document is inserted. In duplex mode, the XP 300 can scan a document in six seconds. The scanner can be hooked to a computer using the Hi-Speed USB 2 interface and has a resolution of 600 x 1,000 dpi with 48-bit color.

The XP 300 is the next generation in the company&s Strobe line, following the XP 100 and XP 200. Bundled software includes ScanSoft PaperPort Pro 9 Office and ScanSoft OmniPage OCR, and the product can create searchable PDF files.

“I think the business user is going to want a scanner on their desk for ad hoc scanning,” said John Capurso, Visioneer&s vice president of marketing. “They don&t spend the day putting stacks of paper through a scanner. This is the person who comes back from a business trip and has lots of receipts, or the manager who comes across an interesting article and wants to share this with the team.”

The scanner could be useful in a hospital or doctor&s office where patient intake involves scanning insurance cards and photo identification, Capurso said. “Hospitals and clinics loved the idea of using it at an admitting station. The first thing they do with an ID card is photocopy it,” he said. “Many customers have been asking for it for so long. This is really a unique product. No one else can do duplex and USB-powered scanning.”

In fact, customer interest has pushed the product in a new direction.

Raj Patel, purchasing manager at Future Computing Solutions, a Yorba Linda, Calif.-based VAR, said he has been eyeing the government, education and health-care markets as possible customers for the mobile scanner.

Visioneer, Pleasanton, Calif., sells the Strobe XP 300 through VARs, retailers and online outlets, and offers discounts and volume incentive rebates to participants in its 20/20 Perfect Vision Program for VARs.

Capurso said the program, launched earlier this year, has more than 500 participants.

Program participants on the Elite level can receive up to 7 percent in volume incentive rebates, sales lead referrals, inside sales support, training and product support and discounts on demonstration units. Elite participants have a $12,500 purchase requirement per quarter and must provide reciprocal Web links. Participants on the Partner level do not receive volume incentive rebates, but are not required to participate in Web link marketing.

“Having a designated outside and inside sales support team at Visioneer enables us to quickly address customer needs, whether it is product features, comparison data or demo equipment,” Patel said.

Patel has one recommendation for Visioneer&s 20/20 Perfect Vision program: Visioneer could explore developing a tiered approach based on sales performance, which would benefit resellers that sell more volume, similar to programs at Cisco, 3Com and Hewlett-Packard.

“We have had very good success selling scanners in the last few months, so we&re going to continue doing that,” Patel said. “Visioneer is a great company to work with. They always help you win the business.”

Jim Pappas, CEO of ECS, Riverside, Calif., is also a Visioneer Elite partner. “We joined [the program] right away when we heard about it, and we&ve gotten great results. They&re probably one of the better channel providers out there that we have found,” he said.

Pappas has found the education and municipal government markets to have a strong interest in the small mobile scanner, and he plans to use the Strobe XP 300 during his own travels.

“I used to go to Comdex,” he said. “I used to hate it. Paper everywhere. Nobody wanted to e-mail it to me. That&s one of the big problems we had. We ended up taking more paper home than we brought. Now I can scan it if I want it.”