Captovation Announces Ability to Convert Electronic Documents and emails into Image Format.

MINNEAPOLIS -- New features within ecImport Server for eCapture help address widespread concerns of storing electronic files requiring long-term retention periods

Captovation, a leading provider of production-level document and distributed capture software for electronic content management systems, announced today major enhancements to the next version of the eCapture module ecImport Server. This upcoming version will give users the ability to import electronic documents and emails into Captovation's flagship eCapture system where they can be indexed and electronically archived into virtually any electronic content management system (ECMS).

PDF's, HTML files, Microsoft(R) Word documents as well as Microsoft(R) Excel spreadsheets are all considered electronic documents. Many companies not only want to electronically archive images derived from paper into their ECMS, but also non-paper based content. However, the proprietary formats of electronic documents and email are not considered adequate "long-term" storage options. Companies are concerned that future versions of the native applications that created the electronic document or email may not support past file formats, or that the application itself may no longer exist. By converting electronic documents and email into industry-accepted image formats, companies will guarantee future support and proper representation as well as minimize the risk of someone modifying or tampering with the original file.

Government compliance and retention periods for electronic files and email have also forced companies to think more seriously about how they handle their content. For example, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that all transactions within a publicly traded company be documented and archived for five years. Furthermore, this act specifies that companies must create transparent and auditable systems for recording transactions and business correspondence, which must be archived as well. Converting both electronic and paper content to images allows this important information to be electronically archived into an ECMS, which provides an efficient and secure method to manage, retain, and find this content.

ecImport Server contains a virtual print driver that facilitates the conversion process. Jobs are configured within ecImport Server to import the electronic files (e.g., Microsoft Word document, Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, etc.). First, ecImport Server will do a check on the file being imported. If it is a non-image file, the virtual print driver will print the electronic file using the native application. The native application is chosen by the electronic file's extension association. For example, if the file is a Microsoft Word document, the virtual print driver will launch Microsoft Word and instruct the program to print. Second, the virtual print driver intercepts the print output and converts it to an image. The virtual printing process ensures that rendered images properly represent the original file. This means that the image created will be nearly identical to the paper document that the native application produces when printing. ecImport Server offers importing support for black and white, grayscale and color images.

ecImport Server also includes an email provider to allow for email importing. The email provider can be configured to only import email attachments or both the email content and the attachments. If an email attachment is not already an image, ecImport Server will convert the attachment into image format through the virtual printing process described above. ecImport Server can import emails that were created with plain text as well as HTML.

Once the image is imported into eCapture, the user can index the image using ecIndex - eCapture's production-level indexing component. After indexing is complete, the images are committed (archived) into the company's ECMS. Currently, Captovation provides direct integrations for such systems as Hyland OnBase, Legato ApplicationXtender, Stellent Image Management, TOWER Software's TRIM Context, Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server, DocuWare, and IBM Content Manager. ecImport Server can also import images from fax servers or network appliances, microfiche conversions, and images captured using third-party software.

General availability for this newest version of ecImport Server is expected for Q3 of 2004.

About Captovation

Captovation, Inc. is a privately held company established in 1994, which specializes in the design and development of document, check and Internet-distributed capture products for the document management industry. Their software products and custom integration services provide paper- intensive organizations with the ability to streamline and tailor the document capture process to meet their needs. eCapture, the company's flagship product, is a suite of document capture modules for the Enterprise. The modules include: ecScan (production-level scanning), ecIndex (production-level indexing), ecNet (distributed, web-based capture), ecAutoFile Server (bar code recognition server), ecCommit Server (schedule batch commits), ecImport Server (automatically import document images into eCapture) and Captovation Check Capture (production-level check capture). eCapture is sold through eCapture certified resellers. For more information, visit the company's website at www.captovation.com.