Revver Review

Why Revver Is Best for Automation and Workflows

We chose Revver as our top pick for automation and workflows because it’s almost impossible not to encounter and use the platform’s automation features. For example, when you add a drawer to a cabinet in Revver, it instantly replicates that folder in all linked cabinets. The roles and permissions for these replicated drawers will be the same as in the original folder. We were highly impressed that Revver fills in the blanks with no extra effort on your end.

You can easily create your own automation workflows from within Revver’s governance tools. Just set a few rules, and then any time you take the corresponding action, Revver will handle the rest for you. Potential applications for this automation setup include completing and storing daily reports that require employee action and signatures. The appropriate team members will get notified to complete and sign the form, and the final file will be saved in the appropriate folder. This hassle-free automation exceeds what we saw in other platforms we reviewed.

Revver’s workflow creation tool offers highly granular rule-setting criteria yet remains simple to use. (Source: Revver)

Usability

Revver is a clear standout on the usability front. Its user interface (UI) is clean and crisp, with all major tools available on the left-hand side vertical panel. When you open any of these tools, you’ll see icons for additional features on the right-hand side panel. This UI is intuitive and uncluttered, unlike that of DocuPhase, whose users must face a learning curve navigating the platform. Nevertheless, DocuPhase is our top pick for productivity. [Read our DocuPhase review to learn why it’s our best pick for productivity.]

The major tools immediately accessible from Revver’s left-side panel include documents, document requests, e-signatures, workflows and reports. There’s also an “All Features” section where you can access key tools such as your security settings. On the right-hand side, you’ll see a portfolio containing your key files and folders. You’ll also see your most recently opened drawers, cabinets, folders and files. When you use Revver’s leading automation tools, you’ll often operate on the right-hand side as well.

Revver keeps its left-hand panel clean with a pop-out “All Features” menu, where you can access dozens of key tools. (Source: Revver)

Between the left and right vertical panels, you’ll see a central area that takes up most of the screen. When you’re on the homepage of your Revver dashboard, this area will display your to-do items and another section titled “Work You Care About.” The to-do items include document management tasks you need to complete or documents you need to review and approve. Under “Work You Care About,” you’ll see notifications for events such as comments on documents for which you’re responsible. 

We were highly enthusiastic about this layout; it gave us just about everything we could ask for from a DMS. However, we also realize that, even with the best-organized systems, you might still struggle to find a file. Revver’s excellent search function addresses this issue. You can search your whole Revver platform or just one drawer, cabinet or folder, eliminating guesswork and getting you closer to that key file.

The Revver dashboard clearly displays key tools on the left-hand side and important information on the right-hand side. In the center, you’ll see key tasks and notifications on documents. (Source: Revver)

Revver Features

No-Code Automation Workflows

Business owners and employees alike need time for key tasks, not for tedious little things like organizing file folders. With Revver’s no-code automation workflows, your file organization and storage basically become a “set it and forget it” equation. You can set simple, linear workflows that result in storage and organization actions immediately upon uploading your file. 

These introductory automation features aren’t necessarily unique to Revver, as M-Files offers them too. However, we found that Revver’s remaining automation features go above and beyond the normal. You can also create much more complex workflows across teams and locations within Revver. The platform can accommodate just about any workflow, and complex workflows are as easy to set up as simple ones.

Despite its focus on workflows, Revver will still ask for your action when occasionally needed. For example, suppose you’ve uploaded a file that triggers a workflow requiring your signature on a document. You’ll see a task for this signature on your homepage in your to-do list. Once you take care of that, Revver will get your file exactly where it’s going. We were highly impressed with how seamless and simple this was. 

Custom Templates

Alongside workflows, Revver offers custom templates for further automation. For example, suppose you add a file to a folder for the current year in a cabinet where all folders’ names are years. With your custom template, Revver will identify any year-named folders missing the file or its equivalent. It will then instantly create a copy of the file and store it in the folder. This saves a lot of time and keeps you organized, and we didn’t see anything quite like it among other DMS platforms.

Through Revver’s templates, you can ensure that files exist across all the folders in which they should be available. (Source: Revver)

Zonal Optical Character Recognition (OCR)

We found Revver’s zonal OCR to be a standout feature for two reasons. The first is that the tool can add searchability to any document and read any file, including images. This is a standard feature for DMS systems, yet we still appreciated its presence. The second reason, though, was new and exciting to us. 

With Revver’s zonal OCR, when you print a document, the platform reads any data you’ve entered in pre-mapped fields. If Revver doesn’t find an appropriate folder for the document based on those you’ve already set up, it will then create one for you. From there, Revver will store the document in this folder and rename it as necessary. This is another automation feature that puts Revver well ahead of the pack.

Microsoft Office Integration

We felt that Revver’s integration with Microsoft Office was stronger than even that of our top DMS for integrations, DocuWare. [Read our DocuWare review to learn all about this platform’s high-quality integrations.]

To use this integration, you can just upload a Word document directly from your computer into Revver. This will open the Microsoft Office integration, which you can also access from the right-hand side if you’ve opened “Documents” on the left-hand side.

Once your Word doc is open in Revver’s Microsoft Office tool, multiple users can simultaneously access and edit the document. This feature is available only to users with Revver permissions to work on the document, guaranteeing your security. During these collaborative sessions, Revver will automatically save your work in real time and preserve prior versions of the file. Revver’s Office integration puts Microsoft Word’s typically flawed collaboration tools on the level of the far superior ones in Google Docs.

Uneditable, Automatic Audit Trails

Revver auto-generates audit trails for all parts of your account, from individual files all the way up to your very account itself. In fact, Revver’s audit trails were among the clearest and most secure that we encountered. You can pull them up from the right-hand panel when you’re in the Documents section. 

Once you do, you’ll see when a file was created or edited and by whom, among other key actions and changes. Plus, you never have to note these events yourself, as Revver automatically records them for you. We were impressed with how much of the work Revver takes out of documenting how your files are accessed, edited and otherwise interacted with.

The Revver audit trail clearly displays all actions recently taken on a file, folder, drawer, cabinet or your whole account. (Source: Revver)

Roles, Permissions and Security

As with all DMS platforms, Revver offers user-friendly tools for setting user roles and permissions. You can set these roles and permissions on individual files, and you can assign them to one person or several. When necessary, you can override these rules. These features are par for the course with DMS vendors, and they didn’t quite impress us as much as those available through FileHold. [Read our FileHold review to learn why this vendor is our top pick for scalability.]

Revver also offers tools for establishing access guardrails across your whole business. These include tools requiring users to change their passwords after a certain period or ending sessions after a certain duration. You can also limit access to certain IP addresses or times of day, and you can require two-factor authentication or single sign-on (SSO). These features impressed us, as they allow you to customize your system’s security in ways we didn’t encounter with other vendors.

Alongside these settings that you control, Revver’s very framework – which doesn’t vary by user and which you can’t alter – is highly secure. Revver stores and encrypts all your data on a Level 1 PCI-compliant server. Your audit log will also detail your files’ history, increasing their integrity. With these security features on your side, your business’s file storage will automatically comply with HIPAA, SOC 2 Type 1 and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

Revver Pricing

Although Revver doesn’t publicly list its prices, we obtained pricing when speaking with company representatives during our research. We were told that Revver costs at least $2,000 per year for an account with at least two users. That’s $166.67 per month, which is roughly what Dropbox for Business would cost for a team of 11 people. Were your team to expand to 12 people, Revver would become the more affordable option, and it’s certainly more feature-rich.

The amount of storage space for which you opt will affect your pricing. Plans with storage capacities of 1TB, 5TB and 15TB are available, which is another way in which Revver impressed us. The 15TB of storage – some users can obtain 20TB – far exceeds what other platforms offer. You’re not locked into any storage capacity since you can upgrade as needed, just as you can add features and users at any time. We appreciated that, though perhaps prohibitively expensive for very small businesses, Revver’s high costs include flexibility.

Setup

When you sign up for Revver, the company pairs you with a customer success manager who oversees your implementation. This person is just your main point of contact; the entire Revver customer success team assists you with onboarding. So too will any salespeople with whom you interacted as you first considered implementing Revver, which is accessible only via browser, not a desktop application.

A Revver representative told us that implementation typically takes four to six weeks. This may seem long at first, but it’s nothing compared to the six months that a Revver representative told us smaller businesses sometimes require. As impressed as we were with Revver’s automation and workflows, this setup time frame and the platform’s pricing might make it untenable for very small businesses. For other users, Revver’s features justify its lengthy setup – and the extensive hands-on help certainly doesn’t hurt.

Customer Service

You can add premium support to your Revver account to obtain 24/7 access to the company’s VIP phone line. Without this add-on, phone-based customer support is still readily accessible from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET on business days. Plus, at any time of the day or week, you can quickly get in touch via live chat and receive a thorough answer. Email assistance is also available.

There are certain issues you might face that you can probably address yourself without Revver’s involvement. That’s especially true given the several dozen articles, videos and webinars available via Revver’s online help center. These resources cover areas ranging from data export to user permissions. 

We liked all these customer service offerings, but they didn’t exceed what other vendors offer. However, Revver does offer one customer service feature fully unique to the brand: open office hours. During these hours, you can contact Revver via Zoom for direct one-on-one time with the customer support team or your customer success manager. No other DMS provider we reviewed offered anything remotely similar to this.

Drawbacks

Unlike most DMS vendors – and most SaaS platforms in general – Revver doesn’t offer a free trial, and this disappointed us. It’s always easier to make a smart business decision when you can actually try the technology you’re considering. We were also disappointed that the Revver mobile app isn’t yet available. As of this writing, you can find an eFileCabinet app only. Not only is this branding outdated, but customer reviews of this app are generally scathing.

Additionally, Revver’s prices are relatively high for teams with just a handful of people, and its setup time frames are also too long for these teams. The platform may thus be a logistical and budgetary mismatch for very small businesses. Though we quite like Revvver’s features and functionality, a free platform like Dropbox might be better for low-resource businesses that need immediate solutions.

Methodology

To determine the best document management system for automation and workflows, we sat for live demos with each vendor’s sales team. We also obtained free trials of platforms that offered them and conducted additional research into each provider’s services, learning resources and customer feedback. Our findings pointed to Revver as the best DMS for automation and workflows. It couples core DMS with features with all the time-saving organizing tools that a business needs in the modern-day era of cloud computing.

Overall Value

We recommend Revver for …

• Businesses looking to automate document signatures, approvals, creation and storage.
• Businesses, especially midsize and large ones, with an overwhelming number of manual daily paperwork tasks.
• Businesses seeking the most storage space.

We don’t recommend Revver for …

• Very small businesses.
• Businesses that need a mobile app for their document storage solution.
• Businesses intent on obtaining a free trial before committing to any software platform.