Intelligent Data Capture (ICR)
Intelligent Data Capture is a key focus area for businesses who are looking to reduce costs and improve efficiences. The ability to capture data directly from a hard copy form, and automatically import into a computer system, can significantly decrease business overheads.
Cleardata provides form processing and forms capture services to companies throughout the UK. The company has a state of the art document scanning bureau, providing 200% quality checking services. Cleardata uses Intelligent Data Capture Software or ICR, Optical Character Recognition Software and Kodak Document Scanning Equipment to automatically capture your data from forms such as travel survey forms, questionnaires or medical records.
Intelligent Data Capture can reduce Employee data entry time by up to 80%. This reduction can help your business:-
- eliminate bottle necks such as manual typing errors
- improve the quality and accuracy of your data
- reduce the need to bring in additional staff during busy periods
- Improve the level of customer service
so what sort of data can be captured?
bar codes
Data that has been bar coded can be read very easily by modern capture software and directly imported into a system.
word processed documents
OCR or optical character recognition can be used when the documents have been produced using a word processor. The text to be captured has been printed and is generally of a structured and clear format that is easier to read than hand written text.
Caution should be applied when capturing text printed on traditional impact printers such as dot matrix or line matrix, as the quality of these characters are not as good as those output using a laser or ink jet printer.
hand written text
ICR or Intelligent Character recognition is most commonly used when the document to be processed has been completed by hand.
A form to be processed through ICR software should be designed with the help of a professional organisation with ICR capture in mind. For example, the forms available for obtaining passports or driving licences have been designed with ICR in mind, produced with clear single boxes for a single character or number to be written.
Spending time at the project outset ensures that the form is conducive to ICR capture, provides high read rates and reduces manual intervention to a minimum level during form processing.
ICR process...
stage 1 – recognition
The form is scanned into the capture system and recognised by the capture software. Each field or tick box is located and the written text extracted. The system will make an intelligent decision as to what it believes the extract text is.
stage 2 - verification
After recognition the system will review each field captured and if unsure of its accuracy; will display the field to a user. With a single keystroke the user simply confirms or corrects the field.
stage 3 - completion & validation
Completion is where the data has been captured and verified; but still may be incorrect. The capture system can validate the data that has been submitted against set rules, prior to its export to the host application. Data can be exported to a host in whatever file format is required.
Validation was required for the following examples:-
•A claim form from a client that should be received within 28 day, dated over 3 months old. Although the system captured the date correctly; rules behind the scenes highlighted that the document was incorrect in terms of the data supplied.
•A pathology request form stating that the patient is male (via a tick box); yet in the tests requested; the GP has selected “pregnancy test”. This is obviously not correct. Rather than the data being passed to the host system and the error being noticed at that point; these faults are spotted through validation and can be easilyrectified.
•A Time sheet submitted for work states that the employee “A” worked for 60 hours at business “X”. The capture system can reference the host job system and see if Employee “A” was allocated to that task. Often “genuine” errors can result in invoices being raised incorrectly.
To find out more about Cleardata's forms capture, forms processing and intelligent capture services call 0800 046 8086 or contact us.
