The document management and scanning software PaperPort, an application for Microsoft Windows, continues to enjoy a substantial following in the financial service sector, so advisors are probably wondering whether PaperPort 12, the first full version update in over three years by parent company Nuance Communications Inc., has been worth the wait.

The key to the software's success in the past has been its intuitive interface. For those new to scanning and document management in a Windows environment, PaperPort has long offered perhaps the easiest way to scan, organize, search, assemble and share both documents and photos.

In its recent editions, including the latest one, Nuance has offered two retail versions of the software: PaperPort 12 and PaperPort Professional 12. There are two major differences between these editions: price and features. PaperPort 12 retails for $99.99, while the professional version retails for $199.99, with discounts of 15%-20% available from online retailers.

The standard version includes a fairly extensive subset of Professional's features, but it omits some key features, including the user's ability to encrypt PDF files and his ability to batch-create and name folders from a text file. Given the modest difference in process between the two versions, and given that the standard version lacks a number of features we deem essential to an advisory practice, we will limit our comments to the professional version except where specifically noted.

PaperPort Professional 12: An Overview
According to PaperPort product manager Jeffrey Segarra, the application is designed to help advisors deal with three challenges. First, to be more productive. By providing a tool to help advisors work smarter and faster, PaperPort can help maximize productivity. Second is the challenge to be more organized and efficient. According to Segarra, paper, which by its very nature is inefficient, can lead to disorganization. "U.S. managers spend an average of four weeks per year searching for or waiting for misfiled, mislabeled, untracked or lost paper," he says. Furthermore, that paper is not secure. "More than 70% of today's businesses would fail within three weeks if they suffered a catastrophic loss of paper-based records," he says. The third challenge the application tries to tackle is the client's desire to have a positive impact on the environment. The typical document in a business environment is copied nine to 11 times, and such great paper use creates waste and harms the environment.
PaperPort addresses all these challenges, says Segarra. As inexpensive, user-friendly document management software, it makes the efficiency of digital document management accessible to all knowledge workers so that documents will not be lost in the future. The software eliminates paper storage needs and allows its users to digitally organize documents in one place, which promotes efficiency and security. Scanned documents can be distributed digitally, reducing the need for paper copies, thereby promoting a greener environment.

But of course, PaperPort isn't the only scanning application. Vendors such as CEO Image Systems, Cabinet NG, DocuPace, Laserfiche, NetDocs, Redtail, Xerox, Worldox and other companies also produce software that improves efficiency, digitally organizes documents and promotes a greener environment. So what makes PaperPort Professional 12 worthy of consideration? I decided to test this latest version to find out.

PaperPort Professional 12
PaperPort Professional 12 has been redesigned from the bottom up to give it a more user-friendly interface. It now sports a tabbed ribbon interface, similar to the one found in Microsoft Office 2007. As was the case when Microsoft redesigned the Office interface, Nuance has taken the opportunity to group features logically by tab. So, for example, under the desktop tab you will find functions associated with working in the PaperPort desktop. This would include things like working with folders, arranging items in the desktop view, scanning and viewing the properties of an item on the desktop. Within each tab, icons are clearly labeled with text so the novice user knows exactly what each icon represents.

The convenient "Send To" bar at the bottom of the application remains unchanged. By simply dragging and dropping an item, such as a scanned document, onto this bar, the user immediately launches the document in a preferred application. You can drag a document image to MS Word, where optical character recognition (OCR) converts the image to text and places the document in Word for further edits. You can also drag a document or image onto MS Outlook, which creates an e-mail message with the file attached. Other typical "send to" options include the default printer, Adobe Acrobat, SharePoint, PDF Viewer Plus, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint and FormTyper.

PaperPort gives you multiple options for scanning documents and photos into the system. One option is to assign a scan profile to the scan button on your scanner. A scan profile is a group of scanner settings (black and white or color; resolution; paper size; simplex or duplex; etc.). Once you assign the profile, it becomes your default setting when you use the button. If you know that the current scanner settings are suitable for the current job, you can also use the "scan now" button within the application to initiate a scan. In other instances, you can click scan settings, select your preferences and hit the scan button.

One impressive new scanning function is the digital camera input. Smart phone users are going to love this feature. Let's say you meet with a client outside the office and they unexpectedly show you a document you need to have. You can take a photo of the document with an iPhone or some other type of smart phone and then upload the image to PaperPort when you return to the office. If you drag the item to a text editor, such as Microsoft Word on the "Send To" bar, PaperPort will automatically convert the picture of the document to text using PaperPort OCR. You will then have a copy of the document, which you can use and edit as needed. In my limited tests, this feature worked very well.

The new PDF Viewer Plus opens PDF files much faster than previous versions. It does not replace the ImageViewer, but supplements it. PDF Viewer Plus is fully compatible with Adobe Acrobat. In addition to being faster, it is also better at displaying PDF files. The viewer can optimize the rendering resolution for each element within the PDF file. This results in a better image on the screen, as well as a better print resolution should you need a paper copy.

PaperPort Professional 12 includes new PDF features. These include improved annotation tools, the ability to create custom electronic stamps and the ability to use transparent stamps. When working in the PDF Viewer Plus, you can send images within the PDF file to the ImageViewer. Once in the ImageViewer, the image can be enhanced using Scanner Enhancement Technology (SET). When you close the ImageViewer, the enhanced image automatically appears back within the PDF file.

PaperPort's FormTyper feature automatically converts scanned paper forms into electronic forms that can be filled in and saved as PDF files. The software automatically recognizes check boxes and allows the user to control form attributes. Using the PDF Create Assistant, users can create industry standard text-based PDF documents directly from any application by right-clicking on the Windows or PaperPort desktop. You can also "print to PDF" using the included PDF print driver.

Turning a standard scanned PDF document into a searchable one is now easy. You just right-click on a PDF file and select the "save as" command. Once you've performed this operation, the file becomes accessible to desktop search tools such as those offered by Microsoft and Google. Nuance claims that the accuracy of PaperPort's OCR has significantly improved over that of previous versions, and my tests seem to bear that out.

Since PaperPort's PDF capabilities now conform to industry standards, users can avail themselves of the security inherent in PDF files, including password protection and encryption. They can also now enforce policies to determine who views or edits a protected PDF file.

Folder management has been improved. The previous version of PaperPort limited the color coding on a folder to nine colors, but now users have 29 colors to choose from. Users can also now create and name a batch of files. For example, if an advisor is setting up client files in PaperPort for the first time, she can create a text list of client names, import the names to PaperPort, and then automatically create a folder associated with each client name.

Compatibility with Microsoft SharePoint has improved as well. PaperPort Professional 12 can communicate with Microsoft SharePoint Services 2003 and SharePoint Portal 2003. It is equally at ease with SharePoint Services 2007 and SharePoint Server 2007.

Finally, the help tools have improved. In addition to the traditional help section, PaperPort Professional 12 now includes a number of miniguides. These illustrated guides instruct users on how to perform a specific task in a matter of minutes. I found them to be effective.

What's Not To Like?
While there is much to like about this new and improved version of PaperPort, it is not without its faults. PaperPort supports TWAIN and WIA drivers (which allow the scanner to communicate with the software). But it still lacks support for ISIS drivers, which most experts consider superior to TWAIN and WIA because they offer superior image correction. But ISIS drivers add to the cost of the software package, so Nuance decided to omit them.

Most other document management products targeting advisors store files in their own self-contained database. PaperPort relies on the Windows file structure. The main advantage of relying on Windows is that it is already there, and most users are already familiar with it. Separate databases, however, offer better searches and can add a layer of security, as well as a full audit trail.
Indexing documents can be an awkward process in PaperPort, and the indexes lack uniformity. Every time you file a document, you have to manually enter keywords by typing them into a field. In a setting with multiple users, one person might classify a will as a will, but a colleague might classify it as an "estate planning document." This can lead to headaches when retrieving documents, whereas on a competing system, you could likely use a drop-down list of keywords, which not only speeds up the filing process, but enforces the uniform application of keywords to documents. (Though you can add folder notes as keywords in PaperPort if that option is selected, this functionality is limited to the notes on a particular folder.)

Nuance offers extensive online help, but live technical support can be hard to get. Though the company offers 90 days of free live support, users have reported long waits in the past. After the 90 days are up, it will cost you $19.95 per issue. Currently, you can only get live support for PaperPort versions 11 and 12. Users of products that specialize in servicing advisors generally report faster response times and more in-depth service, but the cost of support tends to be higher.

Recommendations
PaperPort 12 is a vast improvement over PaperPort 11. It is faster, it is more stable, and it includes a host of new or improved features. If you are a current PaperPort 11 user, I highly recommend that you upgrade to version 12.

But if you are not yet using either PaperPort or any other document management system, the choice is less clear. PaperPort is not the most sophisticated document management system on the market. Still, its ease of use, low cost and robust features make it an attractive option for smaller advisory firms with limited technology and training budgets. With PaperPort, you can install the software, read the brief user's guide and be up and running in no time. For the price, PaperPort provides a great deal of functionality.

PaperPort may also be appropriate for larger organizations that already have a storage infrastructure such as SharePoint in place but still need a quick and easy method of scanning and annotating documents.

For those who require preconfigured indices, full audit trails, a self-contained database, bar code handling and other sophisticated features, PaperPort is probably not the most appropriate choice. But if PaperPort would otherwise offer you the functionality you need, no other product can match its features and ease of use at this price.