A new subscription pricing plan aims to make the higher functionality of Adobe LiveCycle Reader Extensions available to small and midsized businesses.In a strategy designed to give smaller companies the ability to deploy PDF forms with advanced usage rights, an application service provider has unveiled a new subscription pricing plan for Adobe LiveCycle Reader Extensions.
Cary, N.C.-based FormRouter Inc. unveiled the new licensing strategy after negotiations with Adobe Systems Inc. The companies sought to make the Reader Extensions service available to a wider audience, especially small businesses that cannot take advantage of the service because of budget concerns.
LiveCycle Reader Extensions were originally designed for large organizations to give them better control over PDF functionality. The software lets users share interactive, intelligent PDF documents as well as create digital signatures.
The extensions are nestled inside the free Adobe Reader as hidden functionality that formerly required a special server from Adobe to turn on, said Jim Healey, chief technology officer at FormRouter. But with a price tag of about $65,000, such an equipment purchase wasn't feasible for many nonprofits and smaller companies.
"The reader extensions are so powerful, and really give users such advanced features," Healey said. "We wanted to see if we could bring that functionality to everyone, not just the companies that could afford the server."
FormRouter first crafted a deal with Adobe that allowed for unlocking only one form at a time, but the price still proved too high for some users. The company thinks it has hit on the perfect solution with a subscription model that allows users to access features on a per-needed basis and be charged accordingly.
Users pay only for temporary use of advanced features such as 2D bar codes, digital signatures and offline save. Once the document is submitted or closed, the rights are disabled until the user receives another rights-enabled PDF file.
LiveCycle Reader Extensions unlocks now start at about $300 per year, Healey said.
The company is optimistic that the service will boost deployment of intelligent PDF documents and forms for small and midsized organizations, which in turn will change how these enterprises do business.
"Right now, about 800 million people have free Adobe Reader, and everybody is using PDFs," Healey said. "With the ability to extend what they're doing into intelligent documents, we think it's going to make for huge opportunities within smaller companies."
Document Management 
