KwikTag - Software Review - Evaluation

Home Office Computing, April, 2001 by Holly Aguirre

* Requirements: An Internet connection; a fax machine * List Price: $40 * Publisher: ImageTag, www.kwiktag.com

THE PAPERLESS OFFICE ISN'T QUITE DEAD. Utilizing bar-coded stickers called Post-it eFlags, KwikTag allows you to manage and safely store up to 200 pages of paper records as digital images on the Internet. This means you can access these documents from anywhere in the world.

Once you sign up, you'll be given a username and a unique password, and sent a packet of sequentially numbered eFlags. To use the service, you first log on and enter a document title and number of pages to the KwikTag Web site. Next, attach a Post-it eFlag to the first page of the document and fax it into the system with KwikTag's toll-free number.

The document is then converted to a PDF file and saved to the KwikTag server. Anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour later (though our faxes were processed in as little as five minutes), your document will be available, and you'll be e-mailed a notification. Take caution to always set your fax to fine mode or better, as the system may not read a lower-resolution fax. We learned this the hard way.

We also encountered problems with KwikTag's processing. On one occasion we sent a 16-page document. When we returned to the KwikTag site, only one of the pages we had tagged and faxed had been received. The one page that did make it through was misaligned and crooked. Thinking that perhaps we were at fault, we went through the online filing tutorial again. We had made no error, but resending the document produced better results.

KwikTag boasts the fact that it is simple. We think it might be too simple, and also found the site to be a little too bare for our needs. In its current state, KwikTag requires a frustrating amount of busywork. It's a good concept that needs more development.

RATINGS

HOME OFFICE COMPUTING rates products on a scale of 1 to 10--with few 9's or 10's--based on value, performance, innovation (medals go to rare standouts in these areas), ease of use, and suitability for home offices. The A and B symbols indicate pros and cons.

Rating: 6

A Cuts clutter, provides secure storage B A lot of busywork for little return