Tag: #FILEPOD

Implementing Digital Office for SMBs with Workplace Hub (THE HUB) and filePod (THE POD)

Today SMBs can get all of their IT services delivered via on-premise ‘IT-in-a-box’ edge appliance that’s complemented with transparent private and public cloud-based infrastructure and applications and micro-edge mobile access devices. #DigitalOffice implementation for #SMB using bluFON’s #filePod and Konica Minolta’s #WorkplaceHub #ITinaBox technologies

by NinoVidovic Ph.D.

The Hub and the Pod infrastructure components of IT-in-a-box solution

Summary

Traditionally, IT infrastructure services have been provided via on-site hardware. More recently, an alternative has emerged for very small SMBs: moving these services into the cloud.

Right now, something new is emerging: a hybrid alternative for larger SMBs. It’s an approach which has been made possible by highly integrated, virtualized, intelligent edge systems such as clearBOX by ClearOS  and HPE and Konica Minolta’s Workplace Hub.

Furthermore, the demand of today’s increasingly global business requires employees to be able to access all the services and all the company data anytime, anywhere, on any device and in online as well as offline situations. As a result, there is a requirement for a new, more agile, more secure, and more user-friendly mobile digital office.

This new mobile digital office solution is enabled by a powerful next generation of smart mobile devices such as filePodTM. This paper looks at the Mobile Digital Office implementation for SMBs using bluFON’s filePod and Konica Minolta’s Workplace Hub  “IT-in-a-Box” technologies.

Hybrid cloud with edge and micro-edge appliances as “IT-in-a-Box” digital enterprise solution for SMBs

Today medium to large SMBs can get all of their IT services delivered via on-premise ‘IT-in-a-box’ edge appliance that’s complemented with transparent private and public cloud-based infrastructure and applications and mobile access devices.

Picture 1: Hybrid IT infrastructure for SMB : cloud, office and on-the-go

All the IT management functions are centralized into a multi-tenant cloud-hosted management service. This solution requires far less IT expertise to set up and manage SMB’s IT services, which leaves companies to concentrate on their day-to-day operation and business.

Picture 2: IT management functions centralized into a multi-tenant cloud hosted management service

Such a hybrid cloud with intelligent edge appliances offer SMBs the same IT business experience as a fully managed local IT service but delivered via the internet from secure data centers. It’s a far more straightforward alternative to owning and managing on-premise IT infrastructure, and has significant advantages:

  • Cost savings: services can cost 30% to 50% less
  • Improve productivity: it’s faster to get employees up and running with new services
  • Low equipment investment: use existing computers, maybe buy some smart mobile devices
  • Easy setup: a simple transition from on-premise IT infrastructure
  • Hassle-free: cloud providers offer fully managed IT systems
  • Reliable: many cloud providers already provide more than 99% availability
  • Predictable: a wide range of Service Level Agreements for support and management
  • Future-proof: no long commitments are needed, and the cloud provider upgrades the technology
  • Remote access: users can connect to a business IT system from anywhere over the internet
  • Business continuity: provides a disaster recovery solution

Also, with micro-edge appliances, IT now can extend full control over company data. These micro-edge appliances are fully managed from a central location with a reduced cost:

  • Identity – authentication, and access thru remote password changes and account lock
  • Content – enforcing device and selective file encryption, as well as whole volume or selectively files can be remotely deleted
  • Location – the device could be tracked, locked, or data use can be restricted based on geofencing policies
  • Privacy – no need to install any management/control/tracking software on employee personal devices (i.e., issues related to privacy vs. control is resolved)
  • Cost – cost per managed device is reduced since IT is now managing only a single device per employee of the same type (vs. managing multiple devices of a different type)

The Hub: “IT-in-a-Box” SMB Office Solution

Workplace Hub (WPH) is an” IT-in-a-Box” solution by Konica Minolta. WPH is a hybrid system designed to offer SMBs a comprehensive IT Service provided by an on-premise virtualized system – delivered by new hardware and software (Picture 3).

Picture 3: On-premise virtualized infrastructure with cloud back-end

Workplace Hub platform combines infrastructure and applications into a single on-premise device, supported by hybrid cloud services, including file sync and share and backup (Picture 4).

The Admin Dashboard is providing a complete overview of users, assets, applications, server and storage and enabling tasks such as reviewing resource usage, managing user rights or infrastructure status, changing site support or adding and removing applications.

The User Dashboard simplifies the way to access all key information
from one place to improve productivity, collaboration
and communication providing management of applications via the MarketPlace or by linking to third-party providers.

Picture 4: Hardware, software and delivered via managed IT services

The POD: A Mobile Digital Workplace

FilePodTM  (THE POD  or  Mobile Digital Workplace) is a way to secure all your files and to enable you to access company files anywhere whether you are online or offline.  Given your nomadic life, whether you are traveling for work or pleasure, you need to work wherever you are.  So filePodTM is the world’s first automatically and autonomously synchronizing personal file storage device,  small, and lightweight. It’s number one priority – provide a secure file management system in a pocket-sized design.  With a single login, and instant access right when you needed it and to all your digital files.  One home.  One unified view across all your cloud accounts which you can now access interchangeably without having to synchronize it to your device again.  Avoid logging in over and over again.    

And, very importantly, filePodTM works offline.  You needed to access files even when you could not get a wifi signal. So, work on your laptop or tablet, then save the latest version of your files directly into filePodTM, and once it’s online again, it automatically syncs everything again.

Today, this portable personal file storage works with iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, and Linux.  It’s encrypted and password-protected for added security.  For anyone who wants the security of cloud storage, filePodTM will tame the chaos and brings order to your files.

Picture 5: FilePod synchronizes all your cloud storage and makes it available on all your screens

Workplace Hub Setup

The new Mobile Digital SMB Office system consists of highly integrated, virtualized all-in-one edge appliance such as Workplace Hub by Konica Minolta, regular desktops computers, printing devices and IoT devices such as web cameras, keyless door entry systems, motions sensors and mobile devices such as laptops, tablets, and filePods. See picture of the SMB office (Picture 6).

In this particular setup. Workplace Hub is configured to provide the following services:

  • User identity management service
  • Local file sync and share service
  • Router operating as an internet gateway with Sophos XG Firewall providing router, firewall and VPN services
  • Office wireless local network
  • Virtual run-time IaaS for containerized and virtualized applications

Logical diagram shown in Picture 6.

Picture 6:  The Workplace Hub, IT-in-a-Box Intelligent Edge by Konica Minolta  in SMB office

Workplace Hub User Identity Management Service

Workplace Hub provides basic user management. Users information can be loaded from an LDAP compliant user base:

  • Workplace Hub user storage using Samba 4 (default option)
  • Microsoft Active Directory (on-premise user base)
  • Microsoft Azure Active Directory (cloud user base)

Workplace Hub stores user information only when using the default user management option (Samba).

When using Active Directory, either on-premise or in Microsoft Azure, Workplace Hub does NOT store user information. Instead, the system reads and writes user information directly into Active Directory.

Konica Minolta IT services would configure which user base the SMB customer prefers to use. The configuration is done in Basic System Settings.

The User management application allows administrators to edit values stored in custom attributes in their Active Directory. When configuring integration with Active Directory, administrators can set labels for selected Active Directory custom fields. These labels and corresponding editing interface will appear when editing users in User management.

Administrators can create, update, and delete users in their Active Directory through the User Management application.

Workplace Hub File Sync and Sharing Services

The File sharing application allows users to store files on the Workplace Hub server and share them with other users. Supported file storages:

  • internal Workplace Hub storage
  • Microsoft OneDrive storage

By default, the system uses the internal storage. If integration with Office 365 is configured, users have the option to choose between the internal storage and OneDrive storage.

Workplace Hub VPN services

Workplace Hub has embedded Sophos XG Firewall and VPN services.  WPH VPN Service is configured by an IT Administrator using  the XG Web Admin (please refer to the article Sophos XG Firewall: How to configure SSL VPN remote access).

THE POD – filePod is Mobile ON-THE-GO Workplace

Employee’s “on-the-go” (OTG) workplace setup is simple, elegant and effective (See Picture 7)

Picture 7: Mobile OTG “office” setup

It consists of filePodTM,  laptop, tablet, and smartphone. Detailed connectivity diagram is shown in Picture 8.

Picture 8: On-the-go network

Setting up your filePod for the First Time

Before using the FilePodTM, you must insert an SD card. You can use any micro SD card. FilePodTM supports high-capacity SDXC cards up to 2TB.  There is no limit on individual file sizes. Connect the FilePodTM with your personal computer using the supplied USB cable.

NOTE: If you are using your FilePodTM for the first time before you continue with the setup process, let the FilePodTM stay connected for 30 seconds so that the battery gets an initial charge.

In your browser, access the FilePodTM’s internal website using the following URL:https://myfilePodTM.io:8080/

Watch the Getting Started video on the main page.

Picture 9: FilePod web UI is simple and intuitive

Click on the drop-down menu to select your WiFi router to connect to the internet.

Your basic setup is now complete. For details on how to configure more features check out the “How to section” and videos on the FilePodTM website (https://www.filepod.io.)

FilePod – Configuring User

Register your account on the FilePodTM by entering your workplace hub email and a password.  Now log in using your new user id and password credentials.

Once you are logged in, follow a simple procedure to configure your time and time-zone settings and update our user profile.

FilePod – Configuring Storage accounts

Using same web UI, you will configure all of your storage accounts that you want to synchronize with your FilePodTM.

The content of both MS OneDrive account and WPH Storage Server account are synchronized whenever there is a change in your account’s WPH Storage partition or the corresponding account directory on the FilePodTM’s SD card. You don’t have to worry about configuring the directory structure of these accounts since FilePodTM collects directory structure from both MS OneDrive and WPH Storage Server accounts.

Adding Microsoft OneDrive account

Press “+” symbol in cloud accounts and select MS OneDrive storage service. filePod connects to MS OneDrive web service. Type in your account credentials and login to your MS OneDrive account to add that account to filePod.

After you completed authentication, your MS OneDrive account will appear under Cloud Accounts showing that your FilePodTM is linked to your MS OneDrive storage

Click on the OneDrive account tab to view the directory structure for your account. You can now select which directories you want to synchronize, specific directories or all the content.

Picture 10: Adding Microsoft OneDrive cloud storage account on filePod

 Now that you have added your MS OneDrive account to your filePod decide what you want to synchronize. Select the MS OneDrive account from the list. filePod displays content of your MS OneDrive account in the corresponding MS OneDrive account tab. Select all or only directories in your MS OneDrive account  you wish to be synchronized by filePod

After making a selection and saving the setting FilePodTM would now automatically keep your selection synchronized between filePod and the corresponding MS OneDrive account directory on the FilePodTM’s SD card. You can always change your selection, but you need to click on Save Settings every time your selection is modified.

Picture 11: Selecting content to synchronize

FilePod OneDrive 2-way-sync app will keep content of your filePod and the corresponding account synchronized.

Adding Workplace Hub WebDAV account

It is the same procedure for adding your WPH Storage Server account as adding Microsoft OneDrive cloud storage account. We will Use WebDAV 2-way-sync app. WebDAV (Web-based distributed authoring and versioning) allows mapping the internal storage of Workplace Hub to filePod. This enables users to manipulate files stored in Workplace Hub without logging in to the web interface. 

Press “+” symbol in cloud accounts and select WebDAV app icon. filePod opens WebDAV login webpage. Type the URL of the workplace hub WebDAV endpoint: https://wph.local/services/ file-sharing-service/WebDAV/files/HOME, where wph.local is the hostname of your Workplace Hub device.

filePod connects to WPH WebDAV web service. Type in your account credentials and login to your WPH WebDAV account to add that account to filePod

Picture 12: Adding WPH storage account on filePod

Now that you have added your WPH WebDAV account to your filePod decide what you want to synchronize. Select the WPH WebDAV account from the list. filePod displays content of your WPH WebDAV account in the corresponding WPH WebDAV account tab. Select all or only directories in your  WPH WebDAV account  you wish to be synchronized by filePod

After making a selection and saving the setting FilePodTM would now automatically keep your selection synchronized between filePod and the corresponding WPH WebDAV account directory on the FilePodTM’s SD card. You can always change your selection, but you need to click on Save Settings every time your selection is modified.

Picture 13: Selecting content to synchronize

FilePod WebDAV 2-way-sync app will keep the content of your filePod and the corresponding WPH WebDAV account synchronized.

FilePod – Configuring Virtual Private Network (VPN)

A virtual private network, or VPN, is an encrypted connection over the Internet from a device to a network. The encrypted connection helps ensure that sensitive data is safely transmitted. It prevents unauthorized people from eavesdropping on the traffic and allows the user to conduct work remotely.

FilePodTM supports OpenVPN technology. First, download and install the OpenVPN Client plugin application from filePodTM’s private Appstore. Once you installed the OpenVPN Client app, you’ll need a profile and a password to use the VPN client.  

WPH generates the profile and password. From the browser, sign in to the user portal using the Sophos XG Firewall’s public IP address and the user portal HTTPS port. In this example, the user portal is accessible at https://183.83.216.23&gt;:<8443>

Note: The user portal HTTPS port configured in the Sophos XG Firewall can be found in Administration > Admin Settings > Admin console and end-user interaction > User portal HTTPS port

Now that SSL VPN client/configuration profile file is generated you can save it in any of your cloud storage accounts e.g., WPH WebDAV or MS OneDrive (those you have already added to your filePod).

Back in filePod’s web user interface, open the OpenVPN  Client app’s settings in /Settings/OpenVPN. Then click ‘OVPN Profile’ button and in the ‘Import Profile’ page, go to cloud storage account where you previously saved your unique .ovpn file from WPH VPN app. Find and select the .ovpn file and then click the ‘IMPORT’ button.

Click on the option to connect and a virtual IP will be leased to the filePod with the status Connected.

How all of this works

In addition to having local access to all of your cloud storage files on Microsoft OneDrive, it is easy to configure your filePod to automatically connect to your WebDAV server on your WPH system at office and synchronize the content of your WPH files with filePod.

Previously IT admin has configured WebDAV server on your WPH system as well as VPN service for access to your office network.  The logical network of your mobile digital workplace in action from a remote location is shown in Picture 12.

Now that everything is nicely configured on Workplace Hub and for on-the-go use, you can start using filePodTM as any other ordinary USB attached device.  To your laptop, tablet, or smartphone, it looks like an attached USB/WiFi drive. At the same time, it is also secure “tunnel” into the Internet.  So, no more worrying about snooping and prying “cyber eyes” – you are safely connected to all Internet services. And the best thing of all there is nothing to do on your laptop, tablet or smartphone, no additional software to download and install, no new applications to configure – use your devices as if you are in your home network. The filePodTM is doing all the hard work.

Using filePodTM as Secure Access to Internet and Office  Network

Connecting your filePodTM to your VPN Server via VPN tunnel has several advantages.

First, Surfing the web is just as if you are at the office when you are not

  • filePodTM and WPH VPN Server allow you to easily set up an encrypted connection from anywhere in the world to your home.  Although you are outside on public network, your security protection is just as if you are at home.
  • You can access the internet as secure as you are at office. 
  • If you are at a place that controls internet access, you can use this to get around that.
  • You don’t need to open additional ports on your router when you are outside and want to view your office camera or file system.

Second, you now have unrestricted access to your SMB private network from anywhere.

  • In addition to being safely connect back to your office, it also allows you easily access all your network-enabled office devices, such as IoT devices, NAS file system (e.g. WPH storage server), etc.

The VPN connection is a transport service provided by security certificates; it is much more difficult to be attacked than an HTTP service provided by your camera.  It also encrypts all traffic between you and your home network, whatever sites you are surfing or files you are accessing are kept in private, won’t be snooped by anyone in-between.

Using filePodTM as Ordinary Local Attached USB Drive

There are two ways how to access files on filePOD’s SD card. One way is using standard USB Mass Storage Mode, and another way is to use a built-in WebDAV server.   In this article, we will show the use of WebDAV server. Please note that when using WebDAV approach, you can be accessing the SD card from your host computer using native file manager applications (e.g., macOS Finder or Microsoft Windows Explorer) while filePOD 2-way-sync applications (e.g., MS OneDrive and WebDAV 2-way-sync apps) can be accessing the SD card simultaneously.

To use WebDAV client on your laptop to access files on the FilePOD’s SD card, you don’t need any third-party software. Popular desktop operating systems like Windows, Mac, and Linux can all do this out-of-the-box.

There are two ways how to access files on filePodTM ‘s SD card. One way is using standard USB Mass Storage Mode, and another way is to use filePod’s built-in WebDAV server.   The difference is that, when using WebDAV approach, you can be accessing the SD card from your laptop using native file manager applications (e.g., macOS Finder or Microsoft Windows Explorer) while filePodTM 2-way-sync applications (e.g., MS OneDrive and WebDAV 2-way-sync apps) can be accessing the SD card simultaneously.

As an example, using WebDAV to access files on the filePodTM ‘s SD card user don’t need any third-party software,  MacOS can all do this out-of-the-box with Finder file manager. Mac OS X has built-in WebDAV support. On your Mac OS X computer, start the Finder application.  Open the Finder, click the Go menu, and select Connect to Server to see the Connect to Server dialog and type a WebDAV   server address to connect to the filePodTM built in WebDAV server. For example, you’d enter https://myfilepod.io:3000 (See Picture 15). 

Picture 15: Mounting filePod as attached storage using filePod’s WebDAV server function

Accessing Workplace Hub Disk and Microsoft OneDrive

Now that your computer has “connected” filePodTM, you’ll then be able to browse its contents and download, upload, copy, paste, delete, edit and save files directly from the Finder window into your’ filePodTM’s SD card. (Picture 16).

Picture 16: All files on filePod’s SD card are now locally accessible from connected laptop

Conclusion

Setting up your mobile digital office can be a fun and simple thing to do.  All of the components are plug-and-play, and after connecting the power, network and USB cable and initial simple set-up and configuration would just work.

To your desktop, laptop, tablet, or smartphone filePodTM looks like an attached USB drive and secure “tunnel” into the Internet, all at the same time.  It is like “Swiss army knife” of computing.

No more worrying about snooping and prying “cyber eyes” and there is nothing to do extra on your laptop, tablet or smartphone, no additional software to download and install, no new applications to configure – use your devices as if you are at home connected to your home network. All the hard work is being done by the filePodTM.

REFERENCES:

https://www.filepod.io/

https://workplacehub.konicaminolta.com/en_us/

Workplace Hub | Konica Minolta Global R&D. https://research.konicaminolta.com/workplace-hub/

Sophos XG Firewall: How to configure SSL VPN for android devices using OpenVPN Connect – https://community.sophos.com/kb/en-us/134175

Paperless Office Workspace with filePOD™ and Adobe Document Cloud

The goal to achieve the paperless office has been around for some time now.

by Nino Vidovic

FilePod and Adobe Acrobat DC tools – simple, yet powerful solution for your paperless office

Summary

For years now, companies have been aiming to achieve the coveted “paperless office”. In such an office, you can easily store documents, e.g., reports, faxes, invoices, letters, etc. digitally on a local disk and in cloud storage, eliminating the need for cumbersome paper documents and their associated bulky storage.

Once you begin implementing a paperless office, you can improve your speed, security, accuracy, and ease of document search and retrieval. As an additional bonus, you ultimately eliminate the need for additional physical storage space for your physical files.

The idea that paper could be removed entirely from the everyday work-life is still somewhat illusory. Nevertheless, the concept continues to draw the attention of technology companies, and productivity minded people. It is debatable if the entirely digital workflow is achievable. However, technologies already exist to enable a seamless and efficient digital workflow. Those could offer considerable cost-saving and efficiency increases to the most business of any size: SOHO, SMB to very large enterprises.

The good news is, there are affordable technologies available today, such as filePod™ personal pocket-cloud storage device, Adobe Acrobat DC desktop applications, and Adobe Acrobat Reader and Adobe Scan mobile apps.

Here we will illustrate one way you can implement your own paperless personal digital workspace.

What is FilePod™ for Adobe Document Cloud

What is filePod™?

FilePod is your programmable, miniature, mobile, personal pocket-cloud storage device. It also works as an own WebDAV server and can connect to many devices such as desktops, laptops, tablets, smartphones, and many other networked devices such as Multi-Functional Printers (MFP).

FilePod synchronizes all your content across many cloud storage services and systems and makes it locally accessible from any of your personal devices

Furthermore, FilePod™ securely connects to numerous cloud storage services, both public (i.e., Dropbox, Box, Google Drive, and MS OneDrive) and private (i.e., SharePoint, NextCloud) and any other WebDAV compliant storage via SSL or private VPN connection.

FilePod™is smart on its own but can become even more intelligent by downloading additional applications from its private Appstore. FilePod™ supports different categories of applications such as file sync and share, security, and VPN client apps.

What is Adobe Acrobat Document Cloud?

Millions of organizations around the world are relying on Acrobat Document Cloud (DC) to create and edit smart PDFs, convert PDFs to other formats (e.g., Microsoft Office), and do so much more. When you are on the go, and you need to collaborate with your co-workers, technology, or business partners in other locations, Acrobat DC can make it happen.

Adobe Document Cloud brings an all-digital document experience to any size business

Whether you are individual consultant, SOHO, SMB, or a large enterprise, it is a good chance you have collaborators spread across the remote locations as well as across multiple screens. Adobe Acrobat DC, Adobe Sign, and other apps assure that projects and businesses can execute in a distributed and multi-device world.

Adobe has numerous applications for processing PDF document

Whether in the office or on the go, collaboration with colleagues and clients is easy. Acrobat DC enables viewing, reviewing, signing of your PDF documents and helps you track and manage digital document workflows.

Acrobat Reader mobile app has all the tools you need to view, annotate, sign, and share PDFs on the go. With Acrobat Pro DC, you can create, export, organize, and combine as well as edit PDFs on tablets and smartphones.

Going Paperless with filePod and Adobe Acrobat Document Cloud

Meet the User

Janney has been searching for a better way to manage digital documents workflow and get rid of the physical papers in her workspace. She wants to scan her bills, travel receipts, contracts, NDAs and other important documents, to clean her desk. Ideally, she would like to scan all her papers with a scanner that can deliver the scanned files directly into a folder. She also wants to be able to search all documents by type, sender or date and sort by name and category.

Overall, the most important objective would be to index the files sent from a printer/scanner, thereby saving time when searching for something. She hopes to reduce the clutter in her workspace and at the same time protecting the environment.

Getting started with filePod

Since this is her first time using the filePod, Janney needs to insert an SD card[1] and then connect the filePod with her laptop using the supplied USB cable. On her computer, in Chrome, she punches following URL https://myfilePodTM.io:8080/.

filePod setup is convenient and easy

NOTE: For the first-time users – watch the GETTING STARTED video on the main page.

After connecting to the local office WiFi router and registering her account on the FilePod™, she is ready to log in and do the work.

It’s important to point out that filePod™ also functions as a secure “tunnel” into the Internet; no more worrying about snooping and prying “cyber eyes” – she is safely connected to all your Internet services. Best of all, she does not need to configure anything on her laptop, tablet, or smartphone. There is no additional software to download and install. There are no new applications to set or update regularly. The FilePod™ is now doing all the hard work.

Configuring Adobe Document Cloud and other Cloud Storage accounts

FilePod enables you to connect to many cloud storages accounts (e.g., Dropbox, Google Drive, MS OneDrive).

Janney’s company is using Google Drive as the company’s primary cloud file sync and share storage service. Some of her external team members are also using Dropbox.

In addition, Janney has a personal account on Adobe Acrobat Document Cloud.

After performing simple ‘add cloud-storage account‘ procedure, she adds both of her Google Drive and Dropbox accounts to filePod.

Simple way to add as many cloud storage accounts as you want

NOTE: In filePod adding cloud storage account is a simple and straightforward procedure: select cloud storage service, login into your account, select what content you wish to synchronize and accept those settings. (See video ‘How to add cloud storage account’ on http://www.filepod.io website).

With that, her basic setup[2] is now complete, and she can start using FilePod™ as if it is an ordinary USB-attached device.  To her laptop, tablet, or smartphone, filePod ™ appears as an attached disk drive.

Using filePod as a USB drive

There are two ways to access files on FilePod’s SD card. One way is using the standard USB Mass Storage Mode. The other way is to use a built-in WebDAV server.  In both cases you can access the SD card using your computer’s standard native file manager application.

Popular desktop operating systems like Windows, Mac, and Linux have built-in WebDAV support, so you don’t need any third-party software. For example, on a macOS X computer, in Finder, filePod will show as a mounted network drive “myfilepod.io”. There you can browse its content, download, upload, copy, paste, delete, edit and save files directly from the Finder window into the FilePod’s SD card. 

Conveniently access all files on filePod’s SD card as locally attached disk

This makes it extremely simple to work with all of your files whether they are stored in Dropbox, Google Drive or Adobe Acrobat Document Cloud.  All files are also stored and accessed locally in filePod.

Using Finder application, Janney creates “MFP SCANS” directory on filePod’s SD card where she wants to put all the MFP scanned documents.

All scanned documents are located in directory “MFP SCANS”

She can also organize her directories so that all the documents end-up automatically synchronized (i.e., backed-up) into cloud storage service of her choice  e.g. Google Drive.

Accessing filePod from Acrobat DC application

To process newly scanned files in filePod, Jenny is using Adobe Acrobat DC application on her MacBook Air laptop.

NOTE:  In Adobe Acrobat, select “My Computer” and browse  directory  hierarchy to /Volumes/myfilepod.io/MFP SCANS directory.

Access all your filePod files directly from Acrobat DC

Converting paper documents to PDF

So if you receive lots of paper documents and don’t have their electronic originals, you can use the MFP’s scanner feature to create digital versions. MFP devices, which can scan bulk documents, will helpfully scan both sides of multiple sheets simultaneously and combine them into a single digital document.

To start, first, connect filePod™ to your office local network or the Internet. The easiest way is to connect filePod™ to the office’s internal WiFi access point. 

From MFP scan your documents directly into filePod for digital processing

She loads a stack of paper containing multiple documents into the MFP tray and enters her filePod address, user login information and presses scan.

After the MFP is done scanning, the scanned document is uploaded and now appears as one large file in your “MFP SCANS” directory.  From her laptop, she opens a Finder window, navigates to “myfilepod.io:3000” mounted network drive, and goes to “MFP SCANS” where she finds the newly uploaded file.

NOTE: When she is on the go, she uses the Adobe Scan app to scan documents from her mobile device and synchronize with her Creative Cloud account. These “scanned” images appear in her Adobe Document Cloud account in directory “Adobe Scan”.

Processing and organizing scanned documents with Adobe Acrobat Tools

Adobe Acrobat has rich set of tools for processing and organizing all of your digital documents.  Adobe Acrobat tools allows you to:

  • Create and edit pdfs
  • Convert to other formats
  • Create forms
  • Process signatures
  • Share and review
  • Collaborate and comment
Acrobat has rich set of PDF file processing tools

Convert scans to editable text.

Having scanned her paper copies, she uses Acrobat DC’s Enhance Scans feature to convert the content into searchable text. She can then export to plain text or Word documents if she needs to do more work.

There she can use Adobe Acrobat DC application to open the file and then “cut” it and save it as individual files in any of the directories e.g., invoices, contracts, NDAs, expenses, payroll stubs, tax return.

Create electronic forms.

Some of the documents that contain forms can be converted into digitally fillable forms using Acrobat DC’s form wizard. Use it to add text fields, multiple choice options, check boxes, radio buttons and more to PDFs which can then be completed and returned using Acrobat Reader for free.

Collaborate and comment

She can also use Acrobat Pro, Acrobat Reader or the Adobe Acrobat Reader to collaborate with colleagues to add comments, drawings, images and even audio.

Store and share PDFs

To access files in Acrobat Document Cloud, Jenny launches Adobe Acrobat DC application on her MacBook Air laptop and login into her Adobe DC account.

In Adobe Document Cloud she has two directories: “Adobe Scan” contains all the scans done uploaded from her mobile phone. She has also created new directory “My filePod Documents” which contains all the PDF documents she is working on.

Adobe Scan directory holds all your scanned documents done by Adobe mobile app

She stores her digital documents online through her Adobe DC storage account or on any other cloud services such as DropBox and Google Drive. She can then share them with the rest of the team.

Conclusion

Using filePod and Adobe Acrobat Document Cloud you are one step closer to achieving paperless office.

References:

Why paperless office and how

https://www.business.com/articles/create-a-paperless-office/

https://theblog.adobe.com/achieved-paperless-office/

Six Steps To Going Paperless With Adobe Acrobat

https://www.pcworld.com/article/138254/article.html

http://www.thecyberadvocate.com/2015/06/03/9-shameless-paperless-office-tips/

FilePod

www.filepod.io

Adobe

https://acrobat.adobe.com/us/en/acrobat.html

[1] FilePod™ supports high-capacity SDXC cards up to 2TB, and Jenny is starting with SanDisk 512GB.

[2] For details on how to configure more features check out the “How to section” and videos on the FilePod™ website (https://www.filepod.io.)

Multi-Functional Printers together with filePOD’s RPA bots Makes a Simple Way to Digitize Paper Documents

More and more businesses are using Multi Functional Printers (MFP) to scan a large number of paper documents into digital documents format ready for further processing. Use FilePod RPA imBOT apps as your Digital Worker Assistant to scan, analyze, process and manage digital documents.

Summary

More and more businesses are using Multi Functional Printers (MFP) to scan a large number of paper documents into digital documents format ready for further processing. In many cases, scanned i.e. digital documents are just “pushed” into various public cloud storage systems such as Dropbox or Microsoft OneDrive or sent directly to another cloud-based application/service for further processing (e.g. SAP or ECM). 

To facilitate these conversion MFP manufacturers have implemented a number of “connector” applications which connect MFP to a cloud service (e.g. Dropbox). A user of MFP first needs to download, install and configure such “connector” applications for each individual cloud service.  Then to use it a standard procedure is for a user to login into an account on a cloud storage service from MFP’s LCD screen, then scan a document which will be then sent to corresponding destination account with the cloud storage provider. If there are a number of documents that need to be sent to different locations than this process needs to be repeated for each destination account over and over again.

The better approach is for the user to use its own personal filePod device. In this scenario, the user would use MFP’s standard WebDAV connector to login into filePod as WebDAV server. All scanned documents would then be sent to the user’s filePod. A great new feature of FilePod is the ability to execute different Robotic Process Automation (RPA) imBOT applications which can scan, analyze, process and redirect each digital document to an appropriate destination. In this use case, each human can have his/her own digital worker assistants capable of performing a number of different functions.

Meet the User: Enzo is an Owner of a Small Business and wants to have a Paperless Office

Hi, my name is Enzo. I ran a small business.  I have been searching for a good way to manage papers in our office. Over the years our small office became even smaller due to piles of boxes with all sort of paper documents. I want to scan my letters, bills for guarantees, and important documents to reclaim more physical space in my office.

So, what do I want?

I want to scan all papers with a scanner which can send or put the scanned files into a folder. I would like to be able to index all of the pdf files. I also want to be able to automatically sorts all letters by sender or datum, and for bills by retention period for the guarantees.

The main important thing is, to index files sent from a printer/scanner. I think everyone wants to index their physical letters and save time when searching for something.

I hope I can reduce the amount of paper and protect the environment and of course save a lot of space in my own office.

So How is Enzo Going to do it? – Simple, by Using filePod’s RPM imBOTs

To start using filePod, Enzo will first connect it to his office local network where his old and tired MFP is quietly sitting in the corner. To do this he will simply connect his filePod to the office internal WiFi access point.  

Now you are asking: What in the world is filePod?

FilePod is your programmable, miniature, mobile, personal pocket cloud storage device. It is also a personal WebDAV server. filePod can connect to a number of devices such as desktops, laptops, tablets, smartphones, MFPs, and many other networked devices.

FilePod can also securely connect to numerous cloud storage services both public such as Dropbox, Box, Google Drive and MS OneDrive and private storage services such as SharePoint and any other WebDAV compliant storage via SSL or private VPN connection.

FilePod is smart but can become even smarter by simply downloading applications from its private Appstore. FilePod supports different categories of applications such as file sync and share, security and VPN client and, what is most important for Enzo, RPA imBOT[1] apps.

But wait: What are these RPA imBOTs?

RPA stands for Robotic Process Automation.

RPA software utilizes bots to automate routine tasks within software applications normally performed by a company’s employees. These products are used to save time and eliminate the need for humans to conduct time-consuming, repetitive, and tedious tasks. RPA can be used to automate labor-intensive workflow, infrastructure or a back-office process. These software bots can interact with an in-house application, website, user portal, etc.

The RPA is a software program which runs on an end user’s pc, laptop or mobile device. It is a sequence of commands which are executed by bots under some defined set of business rules.

A bot (short for “robot”) is a program that operates as an agent for a user or another program or simulates a human activity. “Bots” are configurable software set up to perform the tasks you assign and control.

There are even intelligent bots that can learn. So when you show your bots what to do, they will learn and do the work. They can interact with any system or application in the same way humans do.

FilePod and RPA

FilePod system is a programmable and extensible platform. It can be used for many purposes and can be configured from a single function device to a multi-functional, multi-purpose system. Extensibility comes from its unique dual-OS runtime and its private Appstore.  Dual-OS runtime is based on Linux and Android environments which can run filePod Android plugin applications as well as Docker containerized applications.

filePod RPA system consists of the main RPA Engine application and number of bot applications called imBOTs.  imBOT is the type of a bot that runs on the micro-edge appliances, usually mobile devices or end-points such as filePod.

To activate robotic process automation functionality user needs to download RPA Engine application.  Once RPA Engine is installed user would download appropriate imBOT application from the Appstore.

There are whole kind of imBOTs. Here are some:

  • imBOT FileSplitter, is a bot which splits large file into number of small files based on the page count
  • imBOT FileSticher, is a bot which analyze two files to determine if the files belong to same logical document and then puts them together
  • imBOT   FormFinder, is a bot which analyze file and determines if the file contains form type document, any type of the form
  • imBOT InvoiceFinder, is a bot which analyze file to determine if the document is invoice type document
  • imBOT LegalFinder, is a bot which analyze file to determine if the document is legal document
  • imBOT NameGiver, is a bot which analyze file to determine the title and renames file based on the document title
  • imBOT TimeStamper, is a bot which analyze file to determine when the document was issued and assign the date to the file
  • imBOT ContractFinder, is a bot which analyze file and determines if the file contains contract type document, any type of the contract

filePOD RPA system is open system that enables anyone to develop imBOT applications. These 3rd party imBOTs could be uploaded to the Appstore as community contributions, free of charge, or could be sold for profit sharing.

Now that I know what I need about filePod and RPA imBOTs I am ready, so let’s do it!

First let’s Enzo setup his filePodTM.

Since this is his first time using the FilePodTM, he needs to insert an SD card[2]  then connect the FilePodTM with his personal laptop using supplied USB cable or the magnetic USB cable. On his laptop, in Chrome, he punches following URL https://myfilePodTM.io:8080/.

NOTE: For the first time users – watch the Getting Started video on the main page.

Click on the drop-down menu to select your local office WiFi router. This would also connect to the Internet. Register your account on the FilePodTM by entering your email and a unique password. Now log in using your new user id and password credentials.

Once you are logged in, follow a simple procedure to add as many cloud storage accounts (e.g. Dropbox, Google Drive, MS OneDrive etc.) that you want to be synchronized with your FilePodTM and your basic setup[3]  is now complete.

Now that everything is nicely configured, you can start using FilePodTM just as you would any other ordinary USB-attached device.  Whether the FilePodTM is connected to your laptop, your tablet or your smartphone, FilePodTM looks like an attached USB drive.

At the same time, it is also a secure “tunnel” into the Internet, no more worrying about snooping and prying “cyber eyes” – you are safely connected to all Internet services.  Best of all, there is nothing to do on your laptop, tablet or smartphone.  You have no additional software to download and install.  There are no new applications to configure or update regularly. All the hard work is now being done by the FilePodTM.

Using filePod as USB drive

There are two ways to access files on FilePodTM ‘s SD card. One way is using standard USB Mass Storage Mode.  The other way is to use a built-in WebDAV server.   

Here, we will show how to access files using the WebDAV server. Note that when using the WebDAV approach, you can access the SD card from your host computer using native file manager applications (e.g. macOS Finder or Microsoft Windows Explorer) while FilePodTM’s 2-way-sync applications (e.g. Dropbox and Google Drive) can be accessing the SD card simultaneously.

To use WebDAV to access files on the FilePodTM ‘s SD card you don’t need any third-party software. Popular desktop operating systems like Windows, Mac, and Linux can all do this out-of-the-box. For example, on macOS users can do file management out-of-the-box with the Finder, a native file manager.

MacOS has built-in WebDAV support. On your macOS X computer, start the Finder application.  Open the Finder, click the Go menu, select Connect to Server to see the Connect to Server dialog then type your filePod’s address. For example, to connect to the FilePodTM’s built-in WebDAV server you’d enter https://myfilepod.io:3000 

FilePodTM will show as a mounted “network drive” and you are now able to browse its contents, download, upload, copy, paste, delete, edit and save files directly from the Finder window into the FilePodTM’s SD card.

Enzo decided to create “My Scanned Documents” directory.  That is where he wants to put all the scanned documents.

Now, let’s login to MFP and do some scanning

Use MFP’s LCD display to locate WebDAV application and then when asked, sign into your filePod. On the screen that appears, you enter the username, password, and address associated with your filePodTM. 

Once logged in, the application’s Home screen will appear, displaying your filePodTM’s folders and files. By tapping on or swiping the files and folders listed, you can access additional functionality. You can also tap on the scroll bar or finger swipe the screen to scroll through folders and files.

 

To scan a document into a folder, do the following:

  1. Choose a folder to scan e.g. “My Scanned Documents” by tapping on a folder listed on the left-hand side of the screen
  2. Tap on the Upload icon. The File Upload pop-up screen will appear
  3. On this screen, you can do the following:
    • Specify a name for the uploaded file in the File Name field.
    • Choose scan settings:
      • File Type. Swipe or tap on the arrow button to choose from a list of supported file types (PDF, Compact PDF, TIFF).
      • Resolution
      • Color (Color or black/white)
      • Density
      • One-sided / Two-sided
      • Rotation
  4. Tap on the SCAN button when you are done.
  5. The uploaded file will appear in the filePod’s “My Scanned Documents” folder once the scan/upload operation is complete.

Manual Processing of Scanned Document

Scanning documents is laborious and long drawn process. You essentially have two options:

So Enzo has decided and he is going with second option. After some time, after scanned document is uploaded and is now showing as one big file in his “My Scanned Documents” directory, he will go and on his laptop open new Finder Window, navigate to “myfilepod.io:3000”  mounted network drive and in “My Scanned Document” find newly uploaded  file.

There he can use Adobe Acrobat or Apple Preview to open the file and then “cut” it  and save it as individual files in any of the directories he chooses  e.g. Invoices, contracts,  NDAs, Travel Expenses, payroll stubs, tax return etc.

You can also organize your directories so that all the documents end up automatically synchronized (i.e. backed-up) into your favorite cloud storage service under one or more accounts

FilePod also allows you to create encrypted volts where you can deposit sensitive documents.  These volts can be also stored in cloud storage account and service of your choosing.

Using filePod’s RPA imBOTs to Process Scanned Documents

Initially Enzo just wants to separate that one big scanned file into number of files, where each file contains only one document. So he will download RPA Engine first and then FileSplitter and FileSticher imBOTs.

While filePod ARP system is doing his job he will think about the document categories and how to set directory structure. Then he will have more imBOTs to help him sort it out.

References:

  1. www.filepod.io
  2. Konica Minolta BizHub Connector for WebDav (https://us.konicaminoltamarketplace.com/market/product/45)

[1] RPA imBOT is filePodTM’s Robotic Process Automation intelligent mobile BOT  plugin application

[2] FilePodTM supports high-capacity SDXC cards up to 2TB, and Enzo is starting with SanDisk 512GB.

[3] For details on how to configure more features check out the “How to section” and videos on the FilePodTM website (https://www.filepod.io.)