Anyone using a check scanner?

[Alex Clay]

Hi Jock,

Sounds good. The banks will often subsidize the scanning devices because the client doesn't need to visit a branch and it reduces the bank staff's workload. Scanners can be a single pass, like we use, or include a document feeder for bulk scanning, which our larger clients would love us to support. You may be able to get a single scan device since you have a lower volume.

You might also be able to get away with a mobile app for the remote deposit capture, but the bank might limit the amount you can deposit. Accessing the image and MICR data to store in the donation software could also be a challenge.

Finally, and please excuse me my shameless plug, we'd love to talk with your charity if they're in the market for new software. We interact with a check scanner and provide web-based donation interfaces that process directly into the Accounting module at better rates than using PayPal.

Good luck!

Alex

> On Mar 21, 2017, at 10:30, Jock Philip <jock at visionchips.com> wrote:
> 
> Hi Alex,
> 
> Thanks so much for the info.  I hadn't actually heard about bank supplied ones until last night.  This is for a charity that probably gets less than 100 checks per month, most payments come through PayPal etc, but I've found myself in a position where I need to get them radically streamline.  Their donation software is web based and I can't find any search results for somebody using that software with a check scanning solution.  I was thinking that there might be a way for the scanner to save the check image somewhere and to export the check values into an excel file that could then be imported into the donation software.  Ultimately, there may be an omnis piece in the middle but right now it's getting the data from the scanner to the PC in a usable format.
> 
> I am going to get them to approach the bank about them supplying one but not sure their volume is great enough.
> 
> Jock
> 
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Jock Philip       [jock at visionchips.com] Vision Chips, Inc.
> 888.517.7779 x 3563
> http://www.visionchips.com/
>  
> Developers of OBserver OB/GYN Ultrasound Reporting and Image Archiving System
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: omnisdev-en [mailto:omnisdev-en-bounces at lists.omnis-dev.com] On Behalf Of Alex Clay
> Sent: Tuesday, March 21, 2017 6:19 AM
> To: OmnisDev List - English <omnisdev-en at lists.omnis-dev.com>
> Subject: Re: Anyone using a check scanner?
> 
> Hi Jock,
> 
> We work with devices from MagTek (https://www.magtek.com/product/check-scanners <https://www.magtek.com/product/check-scanners>), although they're not the easiest to interface with from Studio. On Windows I wrote some Powershell scripts to communicate with the device over its serial connection and call those from Omnis. On macOS I wrote a command-line program in Objective-C to also communicate with the scanner as a serial device. Both solutions work, but they weren't the easiest to put together. We use a previous generation of MagTek's check scanner, and their sales reps tell me the newer devices have a better API, although support for a Mac client is questionable.
> 
> We're considering switching vendors to someone with a better API for talking to the device. We support both macOS and Windows clients, and Digital Check (http://www.digitalcheck.com <http://www.digitalcheck.com/>) purports to have a cross-platform API. A number of our clients can get a check scanner from their bank as part of remote deposit capture. Digital Check tends to be one of the vendors that US banks use.
> 
> If you're up to using 3rd partly software to perform the reading/scanning and then import that data into Omnis, that would be much easier. One gotcha is that MICR lines vary from check to check. Here are some resources that I've found helpful in understanding MICR lines and the standards controlling them:
> 
> http://www.troygroup.com/media/pdf/50-70300-001_CMICRBasicsHandbook_000.pdf <http://www.troygroup.com/media/pdf/50-70300-001_CMICRBasicsHandbook_000.pdf>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_ink_character_recognition <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_ink_character_recognition>
> 
> I hope this helps! Let me know if I can answer any other questions.
> 
> Alex
> 
> 
>> On Mar 21, 2017, at 01:00, Jock Philip <jock at visionchips.com> wrote:
>> 
>> Am looking for a device that will make it easy to scan 20 to 30 checks.  It needs to have some software that will allow me to capture and import the output (Payor, $$, Date, check number etc) and give me an image file of the check itself.  Anybody doing anything with check scanners?
>> 
>> Thanks
>> 
>> Jock
>> 
>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>> Jock Philip       [jock at visionchips.com<mailto:jock at visionchips.com>] Vision Chips, Inc.
>> 888.517.7779 x 3563
>> http://www.visionchips.com/
>> 
>> Developers of OBserver OB/GYN Ultrasound Reporting and Image Archiving System
>> 
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