Life Contained's Personal Productivity Blog

Time Management Tool: ShoeBoxed

  

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Here’s how it works:

	You submit receipts, business cards and other papers/information using pre-paid envelopes, email, or your phone.
Shoeboxed scans and enters the data into your Shoeboxed account. (The turnaround depends on your plan. Some plans include returning all paper after scanning...or, if you prefer, shredding and recycling it.)
	You access your data via online viewing (you can see the original scan or the data extracted from it), manipulate/view statistics/organize on screen, or export for manipulation in other programs.

Following are my observations from a small, pre-paid envelope test:

• Overall I’m extremely pleased with the service and will recommend as a time management tool when situations call for it
• Changing, moving, editing, enhancing on their site is intuitive
• For business card scanning...
  • Both sides of business cards are scanned and viewable—great for jotted notes
  • These fields are entered automatically: First Name, Last Name, Company, Job Title, E-Mail Address, Zip Code, Business Phone, Mobile Phone, Fax
  • You have to change your account settings for Mailing Address fields to be entered
  • Website addresses are not entered
  • Their CSV export works on most applications; to make it easier, Shoeboxed has tutorials for exporting into Outlook, BlackBerry, Apple Address Book/iPhone, Gmail, LinkedIn, Yahoo and Hotmail
  • Video demo
    
• For receipt scanning...
  • They receipts were returned neatly stacked & folded
    
  • These fields are entered automatically: Store Name, Category, Payment Type, Total, Date
  • Their export options allow you to work with Quickbooks, MYOB, Evernote, FreshBooks, Excel or other CSV reader as well as PDF Expense Table with Receipt Images
  • There are loads of extras for receipt scanning including a terrific feature allowing you to send all your online store receipts and coupons to Shoeboxed...ah...fewer emails in your main inbox
    
  • Video demo
• For document scanning...
  • They scan one side unless you note differently
  • These fields are entered automatically: Name (they select text from the document if you don't provide one), Create Date (they select a date from the document if you don't provide one), Note (left blank unless you provide notes)
  • Two items I sent exceeded their machine size (8.5"x11"), so they sent it back with a note saying "we’re sorry this item is too large to fit through our scanners"

I find this service exciting for my clients who have loads of business cards and/or receipts. Their pricing structures are reasonable given you can outsource your scanning without buying a scanner or hiring an assistant.

Have you used Shoeboxed? What is your experience?

*Shoeboxed is currently (September, 2010) experiencing delays in service. If you've got a project with quick turnaround demands, call them before signing up.