Document capture
is the uploading of information from documents or digitally created documents into a central digital storage space or repository. In a company, information can be captured manually or the process can be automated to speed up the process. Manual document capture had been in use for years before the introduction of technology which came in with the automated document capture easing the process altogether.
Manual document capture
Manual document capture is the manual keying in of information from paper documents into the computer. This is done to enable digital access. Manual document capture is quite labour intensive
Manual document capture can be long and tedious. It is also prone to human errors which can make the process even longer. In companies with large volumes of documents the manual document capture can be frustrating and would lead to slowing down of the document processes. Within a large company where a lot of information is handled this will not add any additional value to the managing of documents. Managing the electronic documents with this kind of capture would end up being the same or worse than searching for a paper document in an accumulation of large volumes of paper documents.
But in a small company where less documents are being used, manual document capture can be manageable. With the manual document capture the searchability feature is lacking. This makes searching for documents difficult and accessing them takes time. As a small organization a simple document capture can work where you scan your document and keep it on your desktop or an electronic storage device. This works for a small company which does not use a lot of information.
Automated document capture
The other option is to use the automated document capture process which would speed up the document storage process
.Automated document capture is the scanning or imaging of paper documents and uploading into a system through the use of technology. This speeds up the process of document capture with minimal human labour.
It minimizes time used in storing the company’s information. It works well for a large company minimizing the time taken to store information in the large volume of documents.
With technology many organizations are embracing automated document capture which is enabled using document capture software. There are many document capture software available in the market to choose from.
The document capture solution is integrated with an electronic document management software to create a flow in the process. For a company that handles a lot of different types of documents, this would require a more complex data extraction and putting in place automated indexing to speed up the capturing process and to assist in the document search where the documents are stored. The technologies used for document capture include the OCR (Optical character recognition), ICR (Intelligent character recognition). It recognizes any electronically typed text and converts it into readable text.
Why use automated document capture ?
Document capture software converts unstructured data into structured data. This it does by capturing information in a systematic and structured manner through the use of indexing and metadata. This gives direction to the way documents are stored ensuring the documents are well structured and searchable.
Automated document capture enables the document to be editable. The document capture softwares available enables the document to be edited, easing the company’s work process. It also enables digital document approval and sharing.
Automated document capture eases document search. Automatically capturing documents through indexing and metadata makes searching for documents easy. By using the search feature, finding a document is just by a click.
Automated document capture minimizes repetitive work. By minimizing repetitive work less time is taken in the process. This is because the entries are automatically inputted into document storage thus very minimal human involvement. This also minimizes errors caused by human involvement due to overwork and fatigue.
Automated document capture minimizes human errors and omission. This is because the manual document capture is eliminated. The document capture software automates the process eliminating the human factor altogether.
Automated document capture minimizes cost of labor. This is because less human labour is involved in the process. With automation no human is required to make entries.
Conclusion
As a company, whether small or large, to manage your document capture, having an automated document capture would speed up your productivity. It also not only reduces your cost of managing documents but also reduces your overheads. For better management of your digital documents automated document capture would be the way to go.