OCR Services
Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology has evolved from humble beginnings into an industry transforming set of scanning and software tools that has streamlined many data capture and data intense areas of business. This has saved large amounts of time and money thanks to the sophisticated techniques employed. But what are the kind of services and software available, and who will benefit from the advanced OCR techniques?
OCR Services – The Software
There are three main programs used in modern OCR; PrimeOCR, Kofax Capture and ABBYY FineReader, all of which perform well in different environments.
Kofax Capture
Ideal for professional level document and data capture, capable of capturing and indexing documents in an intelligent and versatile manner. For data capture it can distinguish between and record bar codes, hand written information or hand-ticked boxes. Kofax Capture uses indexing software that can unify your electronic documents to streamline your workflow across different files and formats
PrimeOCR
The company Prime Recognition saw that the average error rate across the range of OCR software available was too high for most business applications, particularly in the survey market where accuracy in OCR and data capture is required to produce accurate statistical data from forms. It works by combining some of the most reliable OCR software on the market and then passing your scanned document through each one, acting as a layered filtration system and giving an improvement in accuracy of between 65%-80% over older OCR methods. You can choose between level 3 and level 5 accuracy, but the higher accuracy process of course takes more time and consequently is more costly, but if you require a high level of OCR accuracy and data capture then level 5 is probably the best option for you. Also, the highest accuracy will save you the hassle of error correction at a later date, so may prove more cost effective in the long term.
ABBYY FineReader
Now in its ninth version, ABBYY FineReader utilises Adaptive Document Recognition Technology to intelligently and accurately scan and convert documents, spread sheets, books, articles and images. Not only does it boast a high level of scanning and OCR accuracy, but it can also distinguish between text, images and the layout of a document, and recognise the natural progression of various types of information over several pages. This means that the original format and layout of scanned and converted documents using this OCR software is maintained. ABBY FineReader converts into the secure and popular PDF formats, and can directly export the information and data captured to a variety of popular applications. Documents containing different languages are also easily and accurately scanned using the OCR technology, and because of the results driven interface of the ABBYY FineReader software, the data and documents which are scanned and converted are easy to use and will improve productivity immediately. Further than simply being able to scan and convert documents and forms, ABBYY FineReader can also convert and analyse information taken from Digital Camera stills or screen shots, which means if you’ve only got photos of certain information or lack a physical copy of a document you can use this versatile piece of code to extract the necessary data whatever the format of the source material.
OCR Services – The Scanning and The Benefits
If you are a company or an individual with large amounts of data in the form of documents, surveys or forms which have locked the information into a hard copy paper format and with no way of quickly digitising and prioritising the data held on these forms to enable collation and analysis, you will be very interested in the Document Scanning services available and the OCR technology that can be applied. With Document Scanning and Data Capture services you will be able to scan bulk amounts of documents, forms and surveys quickly and cheaply, and then at the same time use the OCR software to analyse the data contained on the form. You can prioritise and extract the data which you need most, from hand written statements and addresses to a simple ticked box or multiple choice questionnaire, and then compile it in an editable digital file form, such as a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet or similar. Documents and forms can be scanned on a pay as you go basis or as part of an ongoing project as and when new documents and forms become available, and because of the unifying features of all of the OCR services and software, you will be able to bring continuity and compatibility to your workload. With the help of documentscannning.net you can also design forms and surveys that will work with the highest possible accuracy with their scanning technology. This ultimately means you will have better results. All of these services are available in house and under one roof, saving you the hassle of exporting work and data to different companies.