October 8, 1996 -- Lawrence Tremmel Consultants announced today an agreement with Ricoh Corporation today to provide custom software to Ricoh that supports network scanning in Microsoft and Novell network environments. Lawrence Tremmel Consultants will design and develop client and server portions of the Ricoh Workgroup Software.
The software allows TWAIN-enabled scanner and copier products to act as network devices when executing on a Windows-95 workstation. Lawrence Tremmel Computers will provide Ricoh with functional specification, product architecture document, system design specification and a detailed design specification for the product. Lawrence Tremmel Consultants will develop all Windows-95 software for server. On the client side, Lawrence Tremmel Computers will develop a background process for Windows-95 that will receive and store TIFF files from the Ricoh Workgroup server. Additionally, Lawrence Tremmel Consultants will provide a Windows DLL for client workstations which will act as a virtual TWAIN driver. The virtual TWAIN driver will trap TWAIN commands and map them to network I/O functions. The virtual TWAIN driver on the client allow users to scan documents directly into TWAIN-compliant applications across the network. Network software functions utilize the Windows Socket library, allowing the product to execute on both TCP/IP and SPX/IPX networks. The software provides protocol-specific network advertising, thus allowing client software to automatically discover Ricoh Workgroup Software servers. Ricoh Corporation, a 36-year old U.S. company with headquarters in West Caldwell, New Jersey, is a diversified office automation equipment and electronics manufacturer with sales in excess of 1.6 billion annually. Ricoh is a pioneer in the development of computer- connected and digital multifunctional document systems, and has been named the number one U.S. manufacturer of black and white digital copiers in 1997 by Dataquest and CAP Ventures, two highly respected analyst firms. Ricoh is also a leader in the burgeoning color copier market and is a major supplier of facsimile machines, computer peripherals such as scanners and printers, optical and magnetic storage devices, and photographic equipment. Supporting the marketing and sales for its full line of brand name office products, Ricoh utilizes a nationwide network of independent dealers as well as regional direct sales forces. Additionally, Ricoh markets its products through wholly-owned subsidiaries that sell its brand name solutions.