The right office technology can eliminate manual and redundant tasks. Some estimates calculate that office inefficiency can cost a business as much as 20 to 30 percent of revenue each year.
When a manual process is replaced by a digital process, the company benefits. It can reduce expenses. Employees once tasked with these inefficient processes can be moved to more valuable work. Often, this can increase overall revenue.
Data capture using optical character recognition (OCR) is one readily available technology that can increase office efficiency. It provides benefits across the company and frees up employee resources.
Businesses are fueled by data and information. Records, documents, and data need to be recorded archived for future use.
In the past, a company would hire an employee for data entry. Receipts and accounts need to be recorded and filed. Data must be collected and processed.
Data capture is the automatic input of data. Data is collected not through data entry, but through a standard business process. For example, a barcode reader in a grocery store will capture purchase data from a customer. When you use a mouse and keyboard on a computer, you are capturing data.
Automated data capture, especially data capture using OCR, utilizes technology to automatically capture data. Typically, the data captured is electronic which increases the usefulness of the data while reducing the overall cost.
OCR is a specialized data capture technology that combines hardware and software. OCR takes a scanned image and converts it to text. The software will look at the lines in an image, converting the black and white graphic into a number or a letter.
Typically, paper-based documents are scanned and converted in a text-based PDF or digital document using data capture tools. More advanced OCR systems can even successfully convert handwritten documents into digital text.
Electronic data capture systems using OCR are revolutionizing office efficiency. Companies are eliminating highly inefficient paper-based records and processes. They are replacing them with digital processes that put relevant and critical information at employee’s fingertips. Other benefits of OCR data capture include:
Any office that is forced to manage paper documents knows how inefficient and annoying they can be. Shuffling paper between desks creates errors and problems. Information is trapped, even lost, with paper. Storage and filing can be expensive. Every employee that touches a paper document is an expense and a potential error.
Data capture tools reduce these expenses. They can eliminate paper processing errors. In addition, with the right document management system, any electronic document is instantly accessible.
Paper and paper records can clutter an office. Finding and retrieving information are highly inefficient. Employees need to pull records and search pages and pages of documents for a single data point. With OCR technology, you can quickly run a digital search in your database to retrieve information. A document scanned and archived using OCR technology can save hours of work in data retrieval.
Often, data capture can be integrated within existing office processes. Automating data capture increases the efficiency gains for the business. For example, many businesses automatically capture and archive documents like invoices, orders, statements, and shipping records.
By automating data capture, work can be completed faster at a much lower cost. The company benefits with better records, reducing risk.
There are viable solutions for data capture tools. Depending on your business needs, you can digitally capture and store files such as paper, email, PDF, images, graphics, CAD, and more.
Once you decide automatic data capture is the right solution for your business, you’ll want to work with experts like Blue Technologies. They will work with you to design and implement the right OCR and data capture tools for your needs and business requirements.
With data capture, there will likely be several pieces to the solution. It could include data capture technology, but it may also require a document workflow application that works with your office processes. A central data storage system or enterprise content management (ECM) system could also be used to improve the solution.
There has never been a better time to implement and use office technology to reduce costs and improve efficiency of your business. Low-cost data solutions like data capture tools and OCR software can reduce your need for manual data entry and immediately put critical data information in the hands of the employees who need it most.
With the right system in place, you can empower your team to complete work better, faster, and with fewer errors. Quit wasting money on data entry and revolutionize your office with data capture tools and solutions.
Talk to the data capture experts at Blue Technologies to see how they can increase efficiency for your business.