Technical FAQs for "ImagXpress"

Financial institutions are spending on technology. As noted by IDG Connect, solutions such as AI-driven analysis and investment tools could boost revenue by 34 percent. In addition, 72 percent of senior management view artificial intelligence and machine learning (ML) as critical market advantages.

It makes sense. Banks, credit unions, and fintech firms must now meet evolving consumer expectations and satisfy emerging compliance legislation. The challenge? Ensuring existing processes — such as check image handling at ATMs and data verification during loan applications — are both streamlined and secure.

Fortunately, there’s a simple starting point: image processing.

Bridging the Data Divide

According to a recent Accenture survey, several emerging trends now inform the consumer landscape in finance. What’s the most important to data-driven organizations? Trust. While 67 percent of clients will now permit banks access to more personal data, 43 percent cite trust as the biggest driver of long-term loyalty. What’s more, 63 percent want banks’ use of personal data to drive more individualized, value-added services.

ATMs provide a key component of this data-driven strategy. For example, many ATMs use the X9.100-181 standard to store and secure .tif files. To ensure customers and bank staff have access to the right data at the right time, companies need image software capable of capturing, processing, and manipulating these images in real-time — in turn underpinning the development of agile web-based and mobile applications that engender consumer trust.

Processing, Permission, and Potential

Also critical for banks? Compliance. Consider the evolving standards of GDPR. As noted by Forbes, the regulation includes provisions for the right to access, which entitles consumers to information about how and why their data is processed by organizations.

Given the sheer volume of data now processed by financial institutions — and the growing risk of network data breaches — meeting compliance expectations is both time and resource intensive. Add in the increasing number of consumers now submitting checks via ATMs or mobile deposit software, and companies face the problem of accidental data misuse. What happens if check or loan data is shared across departments but customers haven’t specifically given their permission?

Redaction can provide the security you need to keep sensitive information secure. By combining ease of capture with straightforward redaction services, it’s possible for banks to ensure that check and application X9.100-181 .tif data is natively secured, in turn limiting potential compliance pitfalls.

Controlling Complexity: Not Always Black and White

In the years following 2008’s nationwide financial collapse, many financial firms drafted long-term plans designed to reduce complexity and streamline operations. According to a recent Reuters piece, however, despite ambitious plans “the level of complexity remains high for U.S. banks.”

Here, consumer expectations and compliance demands conspire to increase total complexity. From cloud-based technologies to mobile initiatives and ongoing compliance evaluations, streamlining processes often takes a back seat to mission-critical operations. Check imaging and recognition is no exception. Companies need tools capable of handling color, black and white, and multi-layered images. The solution? Powerful software development kits (SDKs) that integrate with existing apps to provide on-demand functionality.

Piece by Piece

Meeting consumer expectations, satisfying compliance requirements, and reducing complexity is a multi-faceted, ongoing process for financial organizations.

Accusoft’s ImagXpress SDK provides a critical piece of this long-term goal with support for 99 percent of common financial image types, optimized compression/decompression technology to minimize wait times, and enhanced redaction and editing capabilities to empower ATM, loan application, and mobile app image processing. Learn more about Accusoft’s SDKs and APIs here.

Getting Back to Business

My little cousin Liam is a very picky eater, and when I’m on babysitting duty, he always wants me to make him his favorite meal. A peanut butter jelly sandwich. Liam has a very particular way he likes his lunch prepared (Liam Style Ⓡ, he calls it) First, the bread. It must be toasted to his exact specifications. Not too brown, but just crispy enough to have that satisfying crunch when bitten into. Next, we need to apply 2 tablespoons of jelly to the top slice, and 3 tablespoons of peanut butter on the bottom slice. Now extract the crust. This takes surgical precision because if you cut too much off the sides, he’ll still be hungry and want seconds. Finally, partition the sandwich square into two halves so he doesn’t get grape jelly all over his face. Then and only then, is the sandwich complete and Liam will be satisfied.

As I stand there with vacant eyes, watching toast toast, I daydream of how awesome it would be to have a sandwich making robot that carry out all of these tasks for me in quick succession and deliver the perfect sandwich that meets all expectations at the push of a button. Liam agrees with me on this sentiment. Not so lucky for me but lucky for the businesses around the world who are stuck doing tedious, time-consuming, error prone tasks, there exists RPA.

Robotic Process Automation, or RPA, may be joining the ranks of tech industry buzzwords like “cloud computing” and “big data,” but it is trending for good reason. Where there is smoke, there is fire after all. Businesses of all shapes and sizes across the globe have taken up RPA in order to cut down the time and manpower spent doing mind-numbing tasks that could easily be automated.

Reading about my sandwich woes may have stirred up some hatred towards the boring tasks that you yourself, or your associates, carry out every day. Find yourself copying and pasting information, one field at a time, between multiple applications? Tired of making the same types of edits to the same types of documents, saving them and emailing them out to the same people? Have you clicked the same sequence of buttons so many times you could do it in your sleep? Before you go off fantasizing about sipping cocktails with your feet up on the desk while a robot does all your work, let’s first go into more detail about how exactly RPA works.

An Introduction to RPA

If you’re familiar with programming or IT, you have probably heard of the term “scripting.” Not too dissimilar from a Hollywood movie script, the concept is that, in a script, you have a sequence of events that when combined together, tell a story or contribute to a larger purpose. In isolation or out of order, the events don’t make much sense. Each event has a purpose in taking in information from the previous event, building upon that information, establishing new information, and sending the information along for when the next event takes place.

A script also has characters. Characters interact with each other using dialog and by taking actions. The script dictates what character will take an action, what the action will be, and when the action will be taken. Through the interaction of characters and the impacts their actions have on other characters and the environment, we have events transpiring.

The same concept can be used to describe RPA, but whereas the traditional idea of scripting can apply to many things in the tech space, in the context of RPA, this will be limited to the types of actions that a human would take when working with User interfaces, input/output devices, and the manual transferring of data between business endpoints.

Furthermore, where traditional scripting would normally require literacy in a scripting language (Python, Bash, etc), building RPA modules can be accomplished in a user-friendly graphical interface. Using our movie script analogy above, let’s take a generalized example of a task that would normally take someone 15 minutes to complete and break it down to be automated. Our task could be summarized as “updating an account balance” and its events would be the things you would tell your friend when they ask what you do at work all day:

1. Well, first I log on to the sales portal.
2. Then, I take the account number in the email that was sent to me by our automated confirmation service and search for that account number in the portal.
3. Once I find the account and make sure it’s the right one, I update the balance owed and document the date and amount changes in the account notes.
4. Then, I copy and paste the new notes along with the account number and name of the account to a spreadsheet which gets verified at the end of the day.

At this point, you may want to wake your friend up. Each of these steps can be considered an event for our RPA bot to process. Looking at our first event. “I log on to the sales portal,” we can identify each character and the actions they take to move the story along. The characters here are our mouse cursor, the Operating System, our keyboard input, and our sales portal application.

Using our mouse, we double click the app on the desktop to open it up. Then we type in our username and password at the login screen of the sales portal using the keyboard. Finally, we click enter to move to the next screen. The mouse talked to the OS, which told the application to open. The keyboard then tells the application who you are and the application shows you the next screen. End scene.

There’s just one problem. You are essentially filling the role of movie director by executing on the script and bossing the characters around, making sure everyone is doing their job. And this is just one event! Our script could contain dozens of these events, but now I, ambassador of RPA knowledge, officially promote you to movie studio executive, which means you can dump your old role of director onto RPA. Robotic process automation will click your buttons, paste your copies, and log your -in’s all day long and never complain or take bathroom breaks. When we extend this automation across your entire task workflow, you can start to see how powerful of a tool it can be.

Now that you’re the movie studio executive of your project, you’ll need to learn how RPA can impact your final cut. Continue reading here.

Software is everywhere. Recent research points to the development of “ubiquitous computing” solutions that underpin our interactions with familiar technologies and products. But there’s more to this IT evolution than meets the eye.

To meet growing consumer demand and corporate expectations of speed and security, enterprises are leveraging software development kits (SDKs) and application programming interfaces (APIs) — lightweight tools that can be easily integrated with existing applications and physical devices.

The result? A behind-the-curtain brand with powerful solutions. Did you know that you interact with Accusoft’s SDKs and APIs almost every day, but they’re hiding in plain sight?

Signed, Scanned, Delivered

Data is the foundation of reliable mail service. Accusoft’s Barcode Xpress Mobile (BXM) underpins critical technology used by the country’s largest mail carrier to ensure letters and packages are delivered to the right people on time, everytime.

By integrating BXM with mobile technology, employees can quickly scan postal barcodes to obtain delivery address, transit history, recipient names, and any special instructions for parcel drop-off or signature.

Accusoft’s SDK also empowers staff to deal with changing weather conditions like rain or snow, which may negatively affect packaging and transit labels. BXM has no trouble reading damaged, broken, or incorrect barcodes to ensure swift completion of appointed rounds.

Inside Job

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines provide critical data to healthcare providers about anatomical structures and physiological processes inside the human body without the need for invasive surgery. Now a fixture of both general and specialized hospitals across the United States, MRI machines depend on Accusoft’s PicTools Medical to create high-accuracy, high-quality images used to inform patient care.

Along with support for commercially-supported imaging software libraries, PicTools Medical natively delivers results that conform to digital imaging and communications in medicine (DICOM) image standards, making it easy for healthcare professionals to collaborate across departments, cities, or states and ensure patients receive the best care possible.

Green Machines

Used an ATM lately? Then you’ve probably watched ImagXpress at work. With over 80 functions for image processing and editing, ImagXpress provides ATM users with a fast, accurate view of the deposited check after the machine takes it.

Leveraging content processing technology, ImagXpress provides users with a better way to view their deposited check and keep an accurate depiction of their transaction for their records.

What does this mean for you, the consumer? ImagXpress streamlines the process that matters: documenting the check deposit with an image that shows the check you used in the transaction.

Behind the Scenes

Software streamlines our interaction with the world at large. But the cost and complexity of developing new software tools from the ground up for every new product and application can quickly sidetrack even the simplest of projects. The solution? Hide great code in plain sight with advanced SDKs and APIs.

Companies get the benefit of powerful tools and simplified functions fully integrated with existing applications and corporate security policies. Consumers reap the rewards of better end-user experience. Accurate, trackable mail delivery, life-saving medical images, and cold, hard cash on-demand. Ready to learn more about what Accusoft’s SDKs and APIs can do for you? Learn more about the products here.

So you’ve tried out our SDKs and you’re ready to install the license. The problem? You’re not sure how to get started. Accusoft offers a number of different license types based on customer need and environment. The following will show you how to install licenses for both evaluation and deployment depending on your specific needs.

The Basics on Activating Your Development License

The development machine licensing allows you to develop your applications without receiving evaluation prompts during runtime. To activate your license on your development machine, you will need to use the License Manager. Activating your license is simple. Just log into the License Manager using your account information and then click Activate.

Also, make sure to comment out any licensing calls in your code so that the toolkit will not look for a deployment license on the machine. When you’re ready to deploy your application, you have three different options for deployment: Node-Locked, OEM, and Web‑OEM. Our sales team can work with you on finding the right licensing for your project. Ready to get started?

Evaluation Licensing

During evaluation of Accusoft products, Evaluation licenses can be used to try out products. This license permits an Accusoft product or toolkit to be used on a system, whether it is a development machine or any other type of system. This type of license is best noted by an Evaluation dialog displaying occasionally while the product is in use.

Once the Evaluation dialog is dismissed, the product will continue to operate. Other forms of Evaluation or trial behavior include the watermarking of images when displayed or saved. When an Accusoft product is first installed onto a system, if no other license currently exists on the machine (and no other license is provided by the user during the installation), an Evaluation license will be placed on the system by default.

Interested in a more permanent licensing solution? Here are some instructions for installation for various scenarios.

Development SDK Licensing

As a precursor, Accusoft software is limited for use on a single CPU. Any runtimes or copies installed or distributed must be granted by a direct license from Accusoft. The first thing you’ll want to do is check your customer portal to make sure that you have an SDK license available.

Next, make sure there are no active license calls in your code (comment out any calls using a solution name, solution key, and OEM license key). When the license calls are active, the toolkit will be expecting a deployment license to be on the machine – which will fail since only a development license is on the system. When the licensing calls are not being used, the toolkit will automatically look for a development license.

You’ll want to make sure that there are no calls to SetSolutionName, SetSolutionKey, or SetOEMLicenseKey in your code. This ensures that no keys are pulled from your deployment pool.

Next, we’ll open the License Manager and log in.

Select a toolkit under the “Purchased Toolkit” section in the License Manager and click Activate on the right side of the dialog.

Once this is done, you can run your project and you won’t receive any licensing prompts. Your development machine is now licensed.

Deployment Runtime Licensing Overview

Node-locked licensing is designed for when your applications will run on a relatively small number of machines. Each of the machines will be assigned a license that is tied to the system’s hardware.

Once the license is applied, it cannot be removed. If a machine is being removed from service, please contact our sales department, who can assist with obtaining new licenses. You can license deployment machines programmatically (by using the LDK component) or by using the Server License Utility (SLU) provided with the SDK. In your code, you will call SetSolutionName and SetSolutionKey.

An OEM key unlocks the toolkit for use on many machines. With this key, there is no need to run the license utility and the license is not tied to any hardware. You can just throw it in your code and you can deploy without worrying about licensing individual machines.

The Web‑OEM key is used when embedding our ActiveX controls on your web page and is used to license client machines in the web application. The license is applied similarly to regular OEM with a SetSolutionName, SetSolutionKey, and SetOEMLicense key. When you purchase this license model, your OEM key will be web‑enabled.

Node-Locked Licensing

There are two methods you can use to register a runtime node‑locked license. SLU, the Server License Utility, and LDK, the License Deployment Kit. Both of these methods perform the same function of registering the runtime node‑locked license. The only difference is that the SLU provides a user interface for the LDK.

If you wish to hide the license registration from your end user, you will likely want to use the License Deployment Kit, which allows you to integrate the registration process in your application. Please note that when installing the license, the user that you’re running as must have administrative rights in order to add the key to the registry.

You will need a license configuration file for the SLU or LDK to activate licenses. The license configuration file contains information about runtime licenses for a particular platform, a version of a toolkit, and it can be downloaded from your Accusoft customer portal. Next, you will need to register your SLU if you’re planning to use the Server License Utility. The instructions are in the ReadMe file.

You’ll want to run the command prompt in administrative mode. Navigate to the location containing the Accusoft license client DLL. Once the DLL is registered, we can run the SLU. Here, we’re adding the config file that was downloaded. It gives us the option to auto‑register. This is available when you have an online connection, or manual register. When the computer is offline, you can do a manual registration. Here, we’re going to do the auto‑registration.

If licensing fails to register, you will receive an error message and a 14‑day temporary license will be applied, allowing you time to get the licensing issue resolved. If the license succeeds, your application should run without issues. As mentioned earlier, if your computer is offline, meaning that it has no Internet access, you can register using the manual registration process.

In this case, you will want to copy the hardware key and URL to a removable media device such as a thumb drive, and then, take it to a system that is connected to the Internet. From the connected system, paste the URL into the browser. A page will appear that contains a field into which you will enter the hardware key. After this hardware key is entered, a license file with a license key is downloaded, which you then save to the removable media, and take it to your offline system. Place your key in the SLU and click the license button to register your offline machine.

Once you’ve completed either process, your machine is licensed.

OEM Licensing

OEM licensing is ideal when deploying to many workstations or servers that have no Internet access. It provides an easier means of licensing for when your application runs in a secure environment. Accusoft’s OEM licensing is not tied to a specific computer and offers a quick and easy way to get your application licensed and ready for deployment.

First, if you haven’t already, you will want to obtain your license information from your customer portal. To apply an OEM license, simply add the solution name, solution key, and OEM key to your solution. It’s important that this information is placed before the usage of the toolkit within your project. Otherwise, when the application runs, you will see the licensing prompt. Now, we’ll run the application, and you see that the prompts to install the license are now gone.

Web OEM Licensing

If you’re using our ActiveX toolkits and you would like to embed them in your web page for running in a browser, you will need to use a special OEM license that’s intended for this type of deployment. To obtain a Web OEM license, please contact our sales department. They will provide you with access to a special site for generating Web OEM keys.

Once you access this site, you will enter the domain of your website where your web page will be hosted as well as the associated license information provided by our sales department. This will generate an OEM key, which you will be able to use on your web page.

In your web page’s scripting code, you will need to call the SetSolutionName, SetSolutionKey, and SetOEMLicenseKey functions, respectively, providing the license information for that toolkit. With this information in place, you can host your web page, and the ActiveX control will be licensed.

If this fails, however, then you might see a license error dialog display. Make sure that you’re using an actual license that was generated from the Web OEM license generator website provided by our sales department per your purchase.

If you need specific directions for licensing a particular SDK, please view the product on the Accusoft website and select documentation under the reference drop-down menu. For all of your other licensing questions, please contact a sales representative at info@accusoft.com or call us +1-800-875-7009 nationwide or +1-813-875-7575 international.