Most companies are slowly starting to forget what paper is. There are just too many affordable digital temptations that simplify business with a press of a button. However, even though everybody has and uses a computer, we can guarantee that OCR software is still yet to come to every modern business.
And this is definitely something you shouldn’t miss out on because after you embrace the benefits of converting mechanical text into digital devices, you will see your workflow and production spike up dramatically. If your office is packed with piles of paper documents, stressed workers, and chaos, you came to the right place because we’re going to give you some very useful tips.
You’ve probably heard about OCR software and even considered acquiring some kind of solution, but you could have reconsidered it because it didn’t look like much of a big deal. The truth is that it’s a pretty huge deal in the digital world, and staying up to date will only increase your chances of survival in this competitive business environment.
If productivity has dropped, it’s possible you need to invest in OCR software development. Looks out for these signs of danger.
Too many paper documents
If your office lately started looking like a warehouse, that means it’s time to do some spring cleaning. Storing folders, invoices, receipts, and accounts take lots of space and manual handling, resulting in wasted time, longer work hours and confusion within vast catalogs of paper logs.
This can be solved with proper OCR software that scans, organizes and automatically manages your data archive. Lesser papers mean more space and order in your workplace, leaving you more time to focus on company growth.
Your documents are not searchable
It’s very common to have volumes of PDF documents with information that’s not editable or searchable. You basically have images and text that’s frozen. This becomes very inconvenient if you want to quickly find something specific. OCR software gives you the ability to convert all that text into a format that’s machine-readable.
This means that users are able to search for desired information in documents, as well as copy and paste it into other applications. Unsearchable documents are pretty useless, especially when you have lots of data, but fully manageable scanned documents give real power over your information. Imagine searching and quickly finding a specific term or quote in a 2000 page scanned book.
Availability
Storing documents is no simple task, with countless files claiming every corner. Chaos reigns in such circumstances and sometimes folders get misplaced and papers accidentally are thrown away. OCR combats this issue by letting people store their files on any electronic device.
The best part is that this ensures constant access to any piece of paper – you can view, edit or share documents with your colleagues or partners; that means no more running around with stacks of copies or exchanging folders. Information management becomes rapid and efficient, even with documents that traditionally are still kept in paper form.
This saves a significant amount of work time that otherwise would be spent manually handling, editing, and waiting for physical documents to arrive.
Security
Seems like keeping documents in paper form should be safer, but actually, when it comes to improving security, OCR technology can be a significant advantage in improving data loss. OCR software can recognize, convert and extract any information, giving your company more data visibility and control over how it’s used.
Scanner software converts all content, even information residing in images, forms, or other non-text formats, which brings lots of clarity into what’s going on in your company. You can create specific rules to show or restrict information from certain employees.
For example, you can use OCR to search for terms like “private” or “restricted” and then set an algorithm to prevent any distribution of documents containing those terms.
Human error
We all get tired, frustrated or sometimes just can’t focus, especially when it comes to relatively boring jobs like inputting text into a machine. It’s almost impossible to avoid mistakes when you deal with lots of physical data.
Archives have to be organized, edited, typed, or retyped into the computer, and there is no guarantee that a tired employee won’t miss a letter or important number, whereas a reliable OCR algorithm is certain to scan and capture every symbol and detail, even in the most unlikely places.
You’ll get more work done faster and probably will even save some money on electricity bills and paper, while also letting your employees work shorter hours and focus on more creative duties. Human error is unavoidable, but well-designed scanner software can make it less common.
Conclusion
Purchasing OCR software is a big decision, and if you play your cards right, it could be a major step in growing your business, making it transparent and easier to manage. Practice shows that digitization via OCR cuts costs and turns a pool of information into a collection of searchable, safe, and highly accessible data.
If your company recently had information management problems, it’s possible that they’re going to grow even deeper, leading to unwanted consequences. The good news is that in the digital age most of these problems can be avoided by simple solutions from our developers. Don’t hesitate to contact me if you feel like your office is a little out of control.