How to search paper documents by keywords?
But it doesn't end there. Optical character technology (OCR) is also making life easier for businesses.
By deploying OCR software any document image can be turned into an electronic document containing searchable and reusable text. This text can be electronically searched by key words and even extracted from the document and re-used.
Advanced algorithms of such software pre-process the document images accordingly, detecting images, text areas and turning the 'photo of a text' into a 'true text' with 99.8 per cent accuracy. Some systems even allow adding meta-data, which is then transferred to the digital libraries together with the resulting documents.
These systems can be desktop-based software or even advanced document recognition and PDF conversion servers that run automatically in the company's IT background and process a high volume of documents.
According to the pre-defined workflows, such systems can turn millions of scanned pages for example into searchable PDF or PDF/A formats and make the need for physical paper storage obsolete.
This helps with compliance guidelines, as well as extending the longevity of archived documents that are saved in such formats so they continue to be accessible in the long term.
The winner takes it all
So, in the paper war game who are the winners? Naturally, businesses with a lot of documentation such as the pharmaceutical industry, as well as insurance companies, banks, businesses within the automotive industry as well as larger legal institutions and libraries.
They can significantly profit by deploying document conversion servers and moving printed documentation into centralised electronic storage areas.
Many systems are quickly deployed, providing return on investment since the very moment of the purchase. Usage of electronic documents that can be anytime accessed, forwarded or distributed allows the companies to increase customer response times and improve customer service.
As well as the indisputable fact such as saving time and increasing efficiency, companies no longer need to spend time looking for misplaced documents. The efficiencies of the past will now be all but eradicated, with the humble paper document still remaining king.
- Colin Miller – Marketing Manager for Western Europe at ABBYY - has been working in both the enterprise and consumer technology space for nearly 10 years and has experience working in international environments across Europe, Asia and North America.
