Canon Photocopiers Future-Proofed

Monday, 16 May 2011 08:00

Photocopier News - General News

Last year we updated Canon Copiers’ readers on Canon’s plans to release a new application, CloudConnect, for imageRUNNER Advance photocopiers. Canon CloudConnect would enable users to scan into and print from leading cloud-based applications such a Google Docs, Microsoft Share Point and Microsoft Office 365. Well, several months on and we’re delighted to announce that Canon have now formally released CloudConnect in the UK and published all the details of how this fantastic MEAP App can benefit imageRUNNER Advance photocopiers users. But it’s not just cloud technology which places Canon at the technological forefront; the company has also now added mailbox functionality to the imageRUNNER Advance C2000 series devices, so users can store and retrieve material when it suits them. Here, we’ll bring you the full lo-down on both CloudConnect and MailboxLite.

Canon CloudConnect

For those readers new to the term, cloud computing is a technology which allows IT infrastructure and services to be accessed real-time over the internet and offers scalable and ‘instant-on’ capabilities for mobile workers and office workers alike. There are now a wide range of cloud-based services, most popular amongst them, Google Docs, which allows a user’s documents to be accessed anywhere with an internet connection and Microsoft Sharepoint which provides similar functionality.

Canon CloudConnect is not a cloud service itself but extends the Canon imageRUNNER Advance photocopiers platform to allow users to capitalise on the functionality of their devices from leading cloud computing services, such as Google Docs or Microsoft SharePoint. Put simply, Canon CloudConnect allows Canon imageRUNNER Advance photocopiers users to scan-to cloud-based services from their imageRUNNER Advance photocopiers and also to print to an imageRUNNER workgroup from a cloud-based service. Users can print-off documents at their iR Advance from any device with an internet connection, including iPhones, iPads, smart phones, PC’s, etc, etc and in situations or from devices where a remote intranet connection may not be possible. This added practicality means more seamless workflows and greater interconnectivity between the physical and virtual environments. Another great bonus of Canon CloudConnect is that other office peripherals such as printers and multifunctional printers (MFP’s) can be connected into imageRUNNER Advance cloud environments.

Canon CloudConnect is available for existing imageRUNNER Advance photocopiers owners from the Canon software download centre and is completely free. To enable printing from Google Docs, the Canon PS and Direct Print Kit imageRUNNER option is currently required.

Canon MailboxLite

MailboxLite is a new feature which Canon has added to the enormously successful imageRUNNER Advance C2000 series photocopiers. MailboxLite is a MEAP application which provides mailbox functionality for these devices and is available on both C2000 ‘I’ and ‘L’ models. Up to 100 mailboxes can be accessed on an imageRUNNER Advance C2000 photocopier, with the number of documents that can be stored dependent on the memory capacity of the device. On standard ‘i’ models, which have a memory capacity of 500MB, up to 3000 colour documents may be stored. On ‘L’ models which have 80MB of memory, there is room for around 500 pages of colour. Mailboxes are customizable by name, so there’s no need for any confusion and with PIN protection, all users can have peace-of-mind that their documents are secure. Storage usage indication is also supported by MailboxLite and the document name is clearly displayed on the user interface, along with the owner, date and the size of the file. Files may be selected and printed or deleted from the user mailbox.

MailboxLite is available to any Canon imageRUNNER Advance C2000 photocopiers users from the device as a MEAP application download. Users are also required to download and install the relevant printer driver. A Canon generic PCL6 driver is needed to send documents to MailboxLite which needs to be installed on the user PC or the relevant print server. For imageRUNNER Advance C2000 ‘L’ models the PCL Printer Kit AG1 is also be required. As using MailboxLite with the PCL driver does limit some of the regular imageRUNNER Advance C2000 functionality, users also have the option of using Port Monitor rather than the generic PCL driver.

Canon Copiers is delighted that Canon has launched these two new features to enhance the already multi-award winning Advance photocopiers. Canon CloudConnect is available for all imageRUNNER Advance users from the software download centre and MailboxLite for the imageRUNNER Advance C2000series photocopiers can be downloaded and installed from the devices like any other MEAP application. For further information or for any technical assistance or for any questions about imageRUNNER Advance C2000 photocopier leasing, please contact Canon Copiers.