Accurate character recognition is the foundation, but OCR can power lots of efficiencies with just a few other key features
For today’s businesses, going digital is only the beginning. Scanned documents are easier to store and share, but manually extracting their data or copying it from one place to another can take ages.
Automation is the answer. With optical character recognition (OCR), employees can turn scanned images into workable digital documents in seconds. OCR can “read” a scanned image and turn any text it finds into elements the computer can interact with. But OCR software can do much more than that, from automatically extracting data to integrating with the rest of your solutions. Here are the five key features to look for when choosing the right OCR software for your business.
For a deeper dive into optical character recognition technology, read OCR Made Simple: A Guide to Understanding Optical Character Recognition.
What is OCR software?
Optical character recognition software refers to technology that converts scanned images into editable documents. Most OCR software starts by cleaning up the scan. That might include correcting skew, reducing noise, or identifying different segments of the document. Next, the software runs the document through its OCR engine. This engine analyzes the light and dark areas of an image to identify text characters. It can do that using one of a few different processes.
Pattern recognition OCR compares the text to a database of patterns. It’s best used in highly standardized documents, as it can struggle with different fonts and styles. Feature extraction OCR uses a more sophisticated method of breaking text down to its components: lines, curves, and where they intersect. That extra step allows feature extraction to maintain its accuracy even as fonts and styles change. If you’re looking to digitize handwriting, you’ll need intelligent character recognition (ICR). ICR uses machine learning to augment its character recognition over time.
Once the page has been processed, your OCR software can start spot identifying information and apply it to the document as meta tags. It can then use that information to route or store the document. With the right integrations, it can even populate that information to other software you use — all without employee input.
Did You Know?:RICOH PaperStream Capture software offers one-click scanning and powerful OCR. Click here to learn more.
Features of the best OCR software
Accuracy
Perhaps the most important thing OCR tools can be is accurate. When OCR software identifies important information, it needs to be able to read that information correctly. If it doesn’t, it can cause serious headaches later. Misreading a vendor’s name can lead your software to store the document in the wrong place. Copying incorrect numbers to your accounting software can cause chaos during tax season. Inaccuracies in a contract scan can slow negotiations or even undermine the agreement’s legitimacy.
On the other hand, if this information is correctly identified, your employees can save hours organizing, validating, accounting, and proofreading. It can also remove the risk of human error in data extraction and entry.
Most leading OCR solutions can correctly identify and reproduce typed text from scanned images with a success rate of 95% or better. Those numbers fluctuate somewhat if scripts or fonts aren’t standardized. If you need to digitize documents sent to you by third parties — documents whose formatting you can’t control — make sure you choose OCR software that tests well against a variety of fonts. If you deal with lots of handwritten forms, receipts, or contracts, look for OCR software that excels in reading handwriting.
Broad language support
Today’s business world is more interconnected than ever. Working with organizations from around the globe means receiving information in lots of different languages. Just as you need employees who can speak and read those languages, you need OCR software that supports them.
In most cases, the more languages your OCR can accurately read, the better. But be careful when evaluating language support. Most tools have a mixture of languages they can fully understand, those they’re learning, and those they won’t be able to read at all. If you use a language regularly, make sure it appears in the list of fully supported languages.
Automatic data extraction
OCR software comes alive once it’s finished analyzing a page. It starts by looking for labeled information, such as a date or a vendor’s name. Once it finds that information, it can use automatic data extraction to pull it and use it for any number of functions. It might use the date and vendor name to route the document to its proper storage location. Or it might apply those data points to the document as meta tags, making it easier to find through search.
But OCR can power more than organizing. Say a document holds a table full of financial data. The best OCR software will be able to pull the numbers from that table and copy them to a spreadsheet for ease of use. Some software can even extract data from unstructured documents, using context clues to figure out what the data is and how to treat it. At the cutting edge of OCR software, you can find solutions that can interpret a chart and preserve its data. The more flexible your OCR software’s data extraction capabilities, the better.
Flexible integrations
If you want to get the most out of your OCR software’s data extraction abilities, it needs to integrate with your existing tools. Each tool it integrates with can provide a different benefit:
- Integrating with your document management system (DMS) can allow your OCR software to route and store documents automatically.
- Integrating with your accounting software can allow your OCR software to fill out balance sheets and perform three-way matching.
- Integrating with your customer relationship management (CRM) software can allow your OCR software to populate names, phone numbers, email addresses, and other useful information to customer profiles.
On a similar note, make sure whatever OCR tool you choose can work with file types you use regularly. Most can work with PDFs and standard text documents. More specialized files such as electronic health records may not be as widely supported.
Accessible user interface
The simpler and more intuitive a system is, the more quickly users can learn how to use it. The shorter the learning curve on your OCR software, the sooner employees will start to generate value with it. As employees grow more familiar with the tool, they’ll refine their workflows and discover new efficiencies. An intuitive user interface helps to speed each process along.
In general, the more sophisticated a solution is, the less likely it will be to have intuitive controls. Look for the balance between ease of use and depth of features that makes sense for your organization.
Did You Know?:OCR plays a critical role in effective document management. For more best practices, click here to read our free eBook.
Our recommendation: Trust the experts
Choosing OCR software is like choosing any other tool: There is no best option, but there is a best for your business. Finding the right software for your business can take a lot of time and effort. But it doesn’t have to. At Ricoh, we’ve spent more than 50 years at the forefront of office technology. Our experts know the OCR landscape inside and out, and they’re ready to help guide your journey. Contact us today for an assessment.
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