I received an inquiry for a client that they had decided to move forward with USB based external touch screen monitors in their environment.  Everything worked well in their test environment but as they rolled out, performance became a problem.  But why?

Reason #1 – DisplayLink uses CPU cycles

Unlike a normal monitor like a VGA, DVI or HDMI monitor, monitors (including touch screens) that plug in via USB are likely using DisplayLink or a similar technology.  These rely on a software driver that tries to use the graphics card in your computer but when it can’t, it us using CPU cycles to create a virtual video port.  Fast action video will be slow and choppy at times and quickly moving your mouse or a window may even exhibit some stutter, even on the best of PCs.

Reason #2 – USB 2.0 is not fast enough.  USB 3.0 has been out for a long time now but like with many large companies, branches and smaller officers may not have the latest computers.  USB 2.0 is particularly a problem for newer DisplayLink tablets and monitors because the greater the pixels, the more data that needs to transfer.

In the end,  perhaps the client should have looked at upgrading computers with their project or chose to use a tablet PC instead of a external monitor.  As the client evaluates options, their from their experience that older PCs and USB Displays are a bad combination.

 

As part of its transition to a public company after a successful IPO in April this year, DocuSign (NASDAQ:DOCU) today announced that it will welcome three new members to its board of directors, and that five will in turn move off over the course of the year.

A recent healthcare client had a problem.  Paper overwhelmed their organization with hundreds of pages of paper required for each new employee they brought on board.  The goal?  Sign documents electronically in person.  Some of the documents were static (like an employee handbook) and others were very dynamic (like an offer letter).

They had first tried an eSign solution but the setup process was cumbersome and forced too many button clicks on screen to start a process.  They couldn’t afford to fully integrate it into their HRIS platform and the combination of static and dynamic document didn’t fit will with the traditional OneSpan and DocuSign models for signing.  Authentication was also not relevant when relying on identification already logged in the I9 form since this was an in person transaction.

They came to Core for a solution and I recommended Topaz’s pDocSigner.  The product provides a simple operation.  It allows one or more fillable Adobe PDFs to be signed by anyone in person on a stand alone tablet or on a touch screen.  They have a version for iOS, Android and Windows.

After making their hiring documents fillable, we demoed the solution to the team.  They loved it!  The entire setup took only an hour and after the demo their recruiting manager was ready to use it on their new hire coming into the office 2 hours later!

It was a good lesson that even the big names in the space don’t always have the best product for all use cases and each situation requires a unique solution.  Contact us to let Core help you find your next solution!

Acrobat has long since become the lingua franca for exchanging digital documents. In the past year alone, some 200 billion PDFs were opened in Adobe products. Three quarters of the Fortune 500 and more than 100 million people use Acrobat every day. PDF and Adobe Acrobat have achieved ubiquity but 25 years ago, the format got it’s start.  Find out how.

 

VASCO Transforms Business Enablement with Launch of New Anti-Fraud Platform, Renames Company OneSpan. Read the full details on their site.  Trusted Identity platform will leverage a flexible API and artificial intelligence with machine learning to improve the customer experience and reduce fraud for onboarding, online and mobile transactions, and the e-signature lifecycle.

The more doesn’t change the fact that VASCO (now OneSpan) still continues to offer a strong eSignature product for any business but particularly those in the healthcare and financial services space.