Xerox engineers introduce technology that integrates office equipment with the app world, making it easier to get work done

NORWALK, Conn., March 30, 2017 – Most office employees face daily, repetitive tasks that slow the flow of work. Engineers at Xerox (NYSE: XRX) looked at those productivity barriers and designed ways individuals can use multifunction printers (MFPs) and apps to automate personal work processes

Take a daily office chore such as scanning a document to your email, saving the file, and then uploading it to a cloud storage service such as Dropbox. That takes time. But, what if a personal work app streamlined the process by handling these tasks for you in fewer steps, enabling your MFP to serve as a smart, connected workplace assistant?

“We’ve created a series of capabilities –­ you could call it a toolkit – to enable users to customize printers and MFPs in a way that’s similar to how individuals use smart mobile devices to meet their personal needs,” said Keith Watson, part of Xerox’s Experience Design Group. “We’ve put the familiar interface of iOS or Android devices onto our ConnectKey®-enabled devices. But it’s more than embedding a tablet into our products, our innovations aim to address the specific needs of our customers.”

With a familiar tap or swipe, for example, users can translate a document, scan directly to a client folder in the cloud or complete a loan application – whatever their work requires. Enhancements to the ConnectKey interface are included in the 29 printers and MFPs Xerox launched on March 29.

“This launch marks a significant change in how work is accomplished,” said Steve Hoover, Xerox chief technology officer. “As the Internet of Things expands, the physical and digital worlds move closer together. Xerox innovations help office workers navigate by integrating their devices with the app world, creating an ‘open app ecosystem’ that makes it easier for workers to design how to best get their work done.”

In addition to focus groups and user experience testing, Xerox turned to its expertise in ethnography to enhance the ConnectKey platform. Ethnography is an in-depth approach to study human behavior. The ethnographic methodology, first applied to industry by Xerox social scientists in the 1980s, is a proven, systematic approach for capturing qualitative data about how people act in the workplace – what they do, what tools they use, how they interact with others and how they think in the real-life, natural settings where these behaviors occur.

“Every day we control our smartphones or tablets through a user interface that’s become so familiar it’s taken for granted. But behind the interface is complex software that helps us with tasks in daily life – getting directions in an unfamiliar city or checking airline fares, for example,” said Michael Kirby, manager of the controller development group. “ConnectKey is the result of Xerox essentially re-imagining the user interface for an office portfolio.”

The ConnectKey portfolio now includes the Xerox VersaLink® and AltaLink® series both introduced on March 29. The VersaLink devices – 19 printers and MFPs – are tailored to small workgroups and teams that work across different offices. The AltaLink series includes 10 MFPs designed for larger workgroups. All 29 products share a similar user interface, which provides consistency to the workplace.

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About Xerox

Xerox Corporation is an $11 billion technology leader that innovates the way the world communicates, connects and works. Our expertise is more important than ever as customers of all sizes look to improve productivity, maximize profitability and increase satisfaction. We do this for small and mid-size businesses, large enterprises, governments, graphic communications providers, and for our partners who serve them.

We understand what’s at the heart of work – and all of the forms it can take. We embrace the increasingly complex world of paper and digital. Office and mobile. Personal and social. Every day across the globe – in more than 160 countries – our technology, software and people successfully navigate those intersections. We automate, personalize, package, analyze and secure information to keep our customers moving at an accelerated pace. For more information visit www.xerox.com.

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Media Contacts:
Bill McKee, Xerox, +1-585-737-9069, bill.mckee@xerox.com
Alyssa Weir, Text100 for Xerox, +1-585-507-2304, alyssaw@text100.com

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Xerox®, Xerox and Design®, ConnectKey®, AltaLink® and VersaLink® are trademarks of Xerox in the United States and/or other countries.


Largest Product Launch in Xerox History Delivers New Technology to Transform the Workplace