Tools for CPAs working remotely: IPEVO Document Camera
As many CPAs and accountants transition to working remotely due to the COVID-19 outbreak, some may be searching for equipment and software that help them get the job done outside of the office. There are some things I would consider essential: a computer, webcam, headphones, and a second monitor (if not more). Could a document camera be a useful tool to add to that list? Well, maybe.
Check out IPEVO’s website and you’ll see that their document camera products are primarily marketed for use in a classroom setting. It’s a high-tech replacement for the clunky overhead projectors I remember from elementary school. In live presentations, I mostly use PowerPoint or demonstrate functions from software shown on the screen. With all of my materials in electronic form, I can’t think of a time I wished I had a document camera in a live presentation, though there may be accountants out there who may use one this way.
The usefulness of a document camera goes beyond live presentations. One thing accountants do frequently is document capture. There are a few ways I currently do this:
- Genius Scan app from my phone, which I wrote about in a previous post
- Fujitsu ScanSnap iX1500 which has a document feeder
- A flatbed scanner
Where does the IPEVO document camera fit in? With an 8 MP camera, the image quality is comparable to my iPhone and good enough for recordkeeping. My iPhone works great for taking a picture of a single receipt, but holding the phone steady for a batch of receipts can become tiring. With the document camera, I can easily take pictures in rapid succession. For things that don’t fit in my document fed scanner, such as pages from a book or a spiral notebook, the document camera is ideal. It may just render my flatbed scanner obsolete except for photographs I want scanned at top quality and resolution. The document camera is so much easier to use and faster than a flatbed scanner.
I’ve also found the document camera helpful in videoconferencing. Though it’s now rare for me to have paper rather than documents in electronic form, I can remember a few awkward moments holding up a paper up to the webcam (“can you read this?”) or saying, “give me five minutes to scan this in and send it to you.”
It is plug and play. As soon as I plugged in the USB cord from the document scanner to my computer, it appeared as a video device in Zoom. I do a lot of demonstrations and training for mobile apps, and found it to be fast and easy to put my phone under the camera (see image below). Sure, I could also join a Zoom meeting from my phone and show the phone’s screen, but I initiate almost all calls from my computer and it takes time to get the app going on the phone. Another downside of the Zoom mobile app is that it won’t show where I’m tapping with my fingers. Because of these advantages of the document camera, I plan to use it frequently for showing my phone.
There are other fun uses too. I’ve always wanted to do a time-lapse sketch and post it to YouTube. With sports and other group activities on a hiatus, I’m going to need to find some new hobbies!
Disclaimer: IPEVO provided me with a complimentary VZ-R HDMI/USB Dual Mode 8MP Document Camera to try out with no strings attached. I was not given any compensation nor does my website contain any affiliate links.
Tags: Document Management
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