Innovation delivers choice

One add-in for all

As Chris, our CEO, wrote (Choosing future-proof modern software) about recently, it’s becoming less desirable to install any client side software and ease of deployment is becoming a key factor when choosing software. Modern software needs hybrid options and with the NAV team’s neat implementation of the Windows Client deployed remotely via ClickOnce, it looks likely to remain that way - for a while longer at least. So, if you’re on a PC you’ll probably still be using the NAV Windows Client.

We’ve now released an update to Zetadocs Express and Zetadocs for NAV that includes the option of a Document FactBox installed on the NAV server to support the NAV Web Client. It is also automatically available to the NAV Windows Client, deployed remotely using ClickOnce and NAV Windows Clients when installed directly on the desktop. This cross-client support now gives partners the option of zero client-side software deployment to achieve simple document management across all NAV Clients.

Touch and Choose

When redesigning the add-in, we wanted to give Zetadocs customers a consistent experience across all devices and clients, whilst providing partners with ultra-simple capture deployment. We looked long and hard at the key actions people want to perform on a web client, which workloads its best suited to and what functionality was possible.

One of the main benefits of Zetadocs is the ability to drag and drop related documents which are stored in the electronic archive for viewing in context within NAV. This ability to collaborate on documents your colleagues have “attached” to NAV, along with the ability to contribute by adding related documents pertinent to your role, is seen as a key benefit of document management.

However, drag and drop to capture is very much a Windows invention for enhanced usability. A Web Client in a browser on a tablet makes that more complicated, especially when we found that the main reason for drag and drop was moving emails and attachments from Outlook onto NAV records. That sort of action - between two separate programs - is just not possible yet in the web world, especially with most touch devices.

Consequently touch and choose was born as the way to add documents in the NAV Web Client, which works just as well irrespective of the device you happen to be using. It’s now just as simple to view and upload documents whilst on the go with most tablets or a touch enabled laptop as it is on your PC desktop.

Coexistence

But what if some of your desktop based users with NAV Windows Client want the ability to capture emails using drag and drop from Outlook? Well now they can with an additional client-side install.

The Zetadocs Document FactBox detects whether the Zetadocs Client is installed locally on the desktop, and if so it automatically shows the additional drag and drop functionality and Outlook email integration.

Both add-ins happily coexist in the same NAV system - you just need to decide if the additional functionality is needed by the client and install Zetadocs Client on those desktops that need it.

Available on premise or private cloud

The recent addition of network folders for archiving has been very popular. We wanted to give your customers those same archive options if they choose to use Zetadocs with the NAV 2013 R2 Web Client too.

Using the NAV Web Client on premise works great with all our storage options - SharePoint Server, network folders or Office 365’s SharePoint Online for document archiving.

When NAV is hosted in the cloud then SharePoint Online is currently your only option unless you also choose to store your documents where they can be accessed directly by your private cloud-based NAV server.

Zetadocs offers the same browser support offered by the NAV Web Client. So, if you have a tablet connected to your private cloud-based NAV server or one that can connect to your on premise NAV deployment, you have options to view documents previously archived by your NAV colleagues.

There’s more to come

This is our first step toward a zero client-side option for Zetadocs. We are on a journey this year to move more Zetadocs functionality server-side, giving our partners and their customers a much simpler deployment option.

Keep watching this space to see what comes next!