Under the Hood

How It Works In most business environments, ideas are captured on “sticky” notes, flipcharts, whiteboards or notepads. Traditionally, sticky notes (or Post-it Notes®) have proven invaluable in getting information and ideas out of a team members “gray matter”, and onto paper, where it can be shared. These sticky notes have three properties that have made them ideal for capturing thoughts and solving business problems: They’re about the right size to hold one piece of information They’re easy to attach to a smooth surface and they stay where they’re put They can be quickly and easily detached and reattached many times But for all their simplicity, there is one glaring problem with sticky notes.  Once the idea has been written down, the sticky is taken down and the information must be re-captured, transcribed and distributed in order to share it with the team. This is a very time consuming and tedious process. With NxtNote, information is captured as you go in a structured format and, once scanned, are available for immediate distribution. Team members now have a clear idea of next steps and goals which can be translated into actions, rapidly transitioning the project from the brainstorming to the planning phase, increasing your competitive edge. Once your NxtNotes have been captured, they seamlessly scan into ANY computer application, including Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Project, Visio, etc. to quickly move your plan into action.   Download the NxtNote Brochure (PDF)

Setup Prior to Workshop

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	1	setup NxtNote hardware
	As the facilitator, you need to setup the NxtNote hardware prior to your workshop.  It's a simple matter of setting up the notebook, connecting the NxtNote printer(s) and connecting to the wireless router.  All that's left is to load the printer with our patented NxtNotes, and you're ready to go!
	2	customize NxtNote software
	Depending on what type of information you want to capture during your workshop, you determine what flipcharts you'll be using, and mirror those flipchart categories in the software.  Simply choose from pre-defined categories, or make up your own. That's it, you're ready to start capturing NxNotes!
	3	hang flipchart paper on walls
	Before the participants arrive, take a few minutes and prepare a separate flipchart for each category you have determined you want to capture.
	4	participants connect to NxtNote software
	The workshop participants arrive for the workshop, bringing their wireless enabled notebooks or PDA.  They simply turn on their computer or PDA, launch their web browser, enter the NxtNote web address and they are connected ... no software or drivers are installed.  What could be simpler?

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Capturing NxtNotes During the Workshop

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	5	participant enters a NxtNote
	The facilitator is asking for participant feedback ... and you think of an issue that needs to be captured.  Using your notebook or PDA, select the Issue radio button, type your issue and print your NxtNote.
	6	printing the NxtNote
	Once you print your NxtNote, it is sent wirelessly to the printer.  It includes multiple pieces of information: flipchart type, user initials and the actual "chunk" of information you typed.  But the real magic is the 2D barcode that is also printed.  This barcode contains all of the text you just typed.
	7	place the NxtNote on the flipchart paper
	Either the facilitator or participant takes the NxtNote from the printer, and places it on the appropriate flipchart paper.  There may be multiple NxtNotes on the printer at the same time, but don't worry.  Each NxtNote indicates which flipchart it belongs to.
	8	multiple participants submit NxtNotes
	As you are submitting your NxtNote, your fellow participants have input that they are submitting as well.  There may be times when 4 or 5 NxtNotes are submitted simultaneously.  Not to worry ... all the NxtNotes will print out correctly!
	9	debrief and make changes
	NxtNotes are completely portable and they can be quickly detached and reattached many times.  As the facilitator discusses the information on each flipchart, the team may determine that what was captured as an Issue is really a Risk.  Simply move the NxtNote from the Issue flipchart to the Risk flipchart.  The data goes along with the 2D barcode.
	10	hundreds of NxtNotes created
	All the participants have been contributing to the success of the workshop.  At the conclusion, each flipchart will have dozens of NxtNotes on each, and this information needs to be captured and shared with management and the team.  With NxtNote, this will only take a matter of minutes!

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Scanning NxtNotes After the Workshop

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	11	plug in the scanner
	The workshop is done ... now the task of capturing NxtNotes can begin.  Take out the 2D hand scanner, plug it into any USB port and you're ready to start capturing text at over 600 words per minute.  It's just that easy!
	12	open ANY application
	NxtNotes can be scanned into ANY application ... it doesn't even have to be Windows based (can be Linux, Apple, etc.).  Just open Word, Excel, Project, Visio, PowerPoint, Outlook, Access or any of thousands of applications, and you can begin scanning NxtNotes.
	13	scan the NxtNotes
	As quickly as you can press the trigger, NxtNotes are scanned into your application(s).  The data entry takes minutes ... not hours!  Your face will have a permanent smile when you realize that you're done with data entry, all before the participants pull into their driveway after the workshop.
	14	you're done!
	All the NxtNotes have been scanned into the appropriate applications.  The workshop reports can be printed out and distributed to team members or upper management within hours of the workshop's completion ... not the days that you're used to currently.

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RemoteNote™ Participation

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	15	remote participant logs into workshop
	While face-to-face meetings are always best, sometimes it's just not possible for all participants to travel to the workshop.  Let's say the workshop is in New York, but you are in London.  All you have to do is log onto the internet, connect to RemoteNote and you can see, in real-time what is being placed on the flipcharts in New York.
	16	submit a NxtNote remotely from London
	As you hear what other's have said and read their NxtNotes, you'd like to contribute an additional comment.  Using RemoteNote, you simply select the flipchart category, type your comment and submit your NxtNote over the internet.
	17	NxtNote prints in New York
	The NxtNote that was submitted from London is printed directly to the printer in the New York workshop.  Your name is on the actual NxtNote, so the team knows it was submitted by you.
	18	NxtNote is placed on New York flipchart
	The NxtNote submitted from London is taken off the printer, and added to the New York flipchart.  This NxtNote is immediately scanned, and the London participant can "see" their NxtNote now included with all the other participants comments.  You are truly collaborating remotely.

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