While the marriage of a keyboard and scanner is not something new, other vendors that had attempted pulling off that deed have met with failure or have perished over the years. That leaves KeyScan as the only company currently offering a product such as this and the first to add “color” to the equation.

Desktop scanning in itself is neither unique nor uncommon, but has required that yet another device to be placed on a user’s desk, taking up valuable desktop real estate. Some scanners, such as those from Xerox and Visioneer, are small enough to make that less of a problem, but none offer the small footprint and convenience offered by the KS810. That helps to make the KS810 a great option for a system builder or a solution provider to offer. What’s more, bundling in a KS810 with a new system can power up-sell opportunities to document management or image management software and services.

Solution providers will find the bundled software pretty much only covers the basics of getting scanned images into the system, perform basic OCR and PDF creation. More importantly, that software will integrate into some mainstream scanning applications, such as OCR applications from Nuance or PDF utilities from Adobe and others. That integration is the key to add-on sales and productivity-boosting services.

The unit is very easy to use and offers clearly labeled buttons to scan different types of paper or to launch an ad-hoc photocopy application. With a footprint of little more than a typical keyboard, the unit fits on most any keyboard drawer or shelf and the convenience of having a scanner at arm’s length helps to make all that paper disappear, or better yet, transform into the digital realm.

For solution providers, the KS810 is more than just a nifty toy, it is a path to selling document-management solutions and services and offers customers a taste of the benefits of scanning. When coupled with searchable PDF technology, the KS810 can become the horsepower behind solving filing nightmares, organizing correspondence and bringing the paperless office one step closer to reality.

The product offers quite a lot for the money, with the only downsides being the lack of 64-bit Vista drivers and Linux support. If Keyscan can push the price down to the $99 area, the KS810 should start to fly off the shelves and become a no-brainer for most any business user.