ImageRight 5.2 Improvements

I'm looking forward to spending a couple days in Las Vegas next month at the Vertafore Connection Tour so I can chat with other people who are using ImageRight. We'll be looking to upgrade to version 5.2 soon and here are some of the new and improved features. You can find these and more in the version 5 release notes.

• The ImageRight Application Server is certified for Windows Server 2008 R2 (64-bit).
• The ImageRight Desktop is certified for Windows 7 (32 and 64-bit).
• Installer was improved to make the selection of native vs. integrated (AD) security more user friendly.
• Created a Microsoft Outlook plug-in that will allow users to work ImageRight tasks directly from Outlook. (additional licenses required)
• The user interface for Business Process Reporting has been redesigned for a better experience. Includes reports for managers to see volume of images being added by users.
• The enteprise scanner application now has keyboard shortcuts and Windows access keys for many of the menus.
• ImageRight Desktop can now run inside IE 7 or higher, by utitizing Click Once technology. (This will probably be great for remote access scenarios!)
• Export utility allows for bulk exports based on file search or flat file parser. (There used to be a bulk exporter in version 3.5, but it was not ported to version 4.0. I'm looking forward to having it back in version 5.2.)
• Device Merge Utility provides the ability to merge images from an existing storage device to one or more other storage devices.
• The burning service can now support blu-ray discs.
• Retention Management functions have been added, to allow sites to set retention and cut off dates throughout the system. (additional licensing required)

Many of these features are just what I've been wishing for. I hope its all worth the wait!

SharePoint and Document Management

A couple of weeks ago, I attended a free seminar that featured a document management solution that integrated with SharePoint. As a new SharePoint administrator for a company that already has a content management system in place, I was curious has to how they compared.

KnowledgeLake has several product components that can be used to capture, image and manage enterprise content from various sources. The seminar demonstrated several of the products running on top of SharePoint 2010.

• Imaging - View, annotate and index images from a web browser using a SilverLight based document viewer; scan batches of documents; centralize the configuration of indexing, database validation and lookups; scan and index documents without ever leaving the SharePoint interface.
• Capture - Scan documents in batches; use OCR technology to extract document meta-data; use “key from image” technology to easily apply document meta-data; save documents to SharePoint from anywhere you have a web (HTTP) connection.
• Connect - enables users to save content on an ad-hoc basis - such as Office documents, PDF files and e-mail messages; provides integration to virtually any line of business application; monitors the files you retrieve from SharePoint and updates SharePoint as you save changes to your documents.
• Workflow - attach a business process to documents in Microsoft SharePoint, including routing of documents for approval, reviews and/or the document's lifecycle. Workflows can be user-initiated or automated based on the actions of the scanning and capture software.

Since we started looking at managing our documents electronically through our enterprise, I’ve been an advocate for using technology to help streamline processes, make important documents easier to find and better protect data that might not otherwise be recoverable in the event of a fire or flood.

While I won’t be looking to replace our current document management system, ImageRight, I was please to see that there are other products available that have a similar feature set, while taking advantage of a portal that a company might already be utilizing.

Certification - Where to Get Training?

Enjoyed a great PacITPros meeting this week and had several members ask me about certification, specifically how to prepare for exams for relatively low cost. Of course, effective studying means you need to know your best way of absorbing information - some people read, some like hands-on, some like the lecture setup. Personally, I'm a "reader", but here is a list of resources that should have a little something for everyone.

Microsoft Learning Snacks - Short Silverlight presentations on a variety of products and technologies.

Online Training - browse the training catalog for free or low-cost online courses. Also check out the e-reference library, which requires a subscription, but there is a 10-day free trial.

TechNet Virtual Labs - Want to play with software but don't have any machines? These 90 minute labs might just be the thing.

Microsoft Springboard - Geared to provide whitepapers, videos, forums and other resources for Windows client operating systems. The forums have over a 90% answer rate! Also, don't miss out on the free Proof-of-Concept Kit for deploying Windows 7 and Office 2010. Complete with virtual machines, you can practice deploying Windows 7 and using several of the deployment tools.

TechNet Library - technical documentation for IT pros for all the Microsoft products and technologies. It can be dry, but it might just be the explanation you are looking for.

Good luck on your next exam!

Installation "Bug" with System Center Essentials 2010

Finally found a little time to install System Center Essentials at work. We are pushing the limit of supported servers for monitoring (50 servers, 500 clients), but I think it'll meet our needs and allow us to replace a few other applications and manual processes once I figure it all out. The first challenge was getting it installed, as my first go-round failed.

A little searching turned up a pretty common issue. I was going with the default settings for this single server installation, including opting to send collection information to Microsoft. At the bottom of the screen titled "Help improve System Center Essentials" was an "opt-in" check box to "Use Microsoft Update to receive updates to this and other Microsoft products". It sounded good to me.

Turns out, by checking that box I had doomed my installation to failure. Don't check it. (Now that I think about it, I'm not sure what that option does that's different than the included WSUS service which seems to monitor and update the server just fine.) Anyway, there's some kind of bug in there and by "opting in" you are also opting out of a successful installation.

The Long Road to Shoretel 10.1

Last week, I upgraded the phone system in the office to Shoretel 10.1. This may not seem like that admirable of a feat, but it has been a long time coming as we’ve been using Shoretel 6.1 for the last several years. Outside of one small version increase to resolve a couple bugs, it’s been the same software on the same server for well over 4 years. Not that I haven’t been trying to upgrade regularly, because I have. I consider it a testament to how great Shoretel has been to us – it just works and works well. It was hard to justify playing with something that did its job everyday.

And that’s what happened. Every year that passed was another year that the to-do list item of “Upgrade Shoretel” was passed over for more pressing projects. But finally, the looming date of Windows 2000 “end-of-life” was hanging out there. Combine that with ribbing I would get from my VAR whenever I called and had to admit I was still several versions behind and I finally stopping putting off the upgrade.

I have to admit, I didn’t do THAT much of the work. Our VAR handled the majority of the driving for the main upgrade, which had several moving parts though was pretty straight forward. We replaced our conference bridge hardware as well, so I copied the appropriate settings from our existing bridge and had that ready to go once the phone system was completed.

We copied the existing 6.1 database to the new server, which left the original server untouched in case we had to rollback. Then on the new server, we watched the default installations of versions 7.5, 8.1 and then finally 10.1 get layered on top. Once the server software was where we needed it to be, we updated the firmware on the switches and the IP phones.

So what are some of the new things in Shoretel 10.1?

1) The Desktop Call Manager works on Windows 7 – The release notes won’t admit to this and only lists support through 64-bit Vista, but Windows 7 works no problem. The server software is supported on 2003 SP2, 2003 R2 and 2008 SP2. (No 2008 R2 support at this time.)

2) Malicious Call Tracing - Provides organizations with the ability to report a malicious call and record the source of the incoming call, assuming the service provider of your external connections support MCID. This isn't something our office would seem to need at this time, but it could be important in other lines of work.

3) Mobile Call Manager - Additional support for devices, including the BlackBerry Curve 89xx and the Tour 96xx. This is something I'd like to look into configuring for our BlackBerry devices, so I'll have to research more about how to go about implementing this feature.

Also, we upgraded to the latest version of Converged Conferencing, so I'm hoping the integrated instant message features and the more robust conferencing features will be something users will take advantage of. The Call Manager will also allow users to personalize call handling for specific callers, if you are using the "professional" or higher version of the desktop software.

So, yes, looks like there is some benefits to staying up to date. Glad I've finally caught up!