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Easy to use, one-click processing
Enables automatic scanning, indexing and uploading to ImageSite document Management.
Capture full page OCR and targeted field index information
thru "zonal" OCR directly from scanned documents for use in automated indexing and uploading to
the ImageSite document management system.
ImageSite is a web-based solution that
installs on your corporate network.
Your important intellectual property
always remains under your secure control.
Users need only a web browser to
access all of ImageSite’s features.
SimpleIndex provides one-click scanning and unattended processing for scan
data capture including OCR, zonal OCR, and Barcode indexing capabilities.
How many clicks does it take to scan your documents? Many business scanning applications
lack time-saving automation features like OCR and barcode recognition
required for highly efficient document management systems.
SimpleIndex is an affordable fully-featured document capture solution that fills this
gap. It is the fastest, most affordable way to organize all of your digital files or index
them for your ImageSite document management system.
SimpleIndex automates the indexing process of large numbers of scanned images or
electronic documents. SimpleIndex was designed to be easy to use yet offers extensive
power and flexibility. It does this by providing a smooth workflow that takes the
user automatically through the stages of scanning, processing, indexing and exporting
documents. This design enables SimpleIndex to perform unique one-click scanning
and unattended processing jobs.
Automating Document Capture
The two main methods for automating indexing are barcode recognition and OCR –
Optical Character Recognition Barcode recognition is faster and more accurate, but
your documents must contain a barcode on the document or a cover page for this to work.
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OCR is able to read printed data
directly from the page, which means
most documents can be processed as-is.
However there are many conditions that
can affect the practicality of OCR that
will be discussed in this section.
If your index data already exists in
another database, SimpleIndex has two
features that can make use of this data to
automate processing. The Index Autofill
feature lets you enter one key field that
is used in a database lookup to retrieve
matching values and fill in the remaining
index fields automatically. SimpleIndex
also has the ability to pre-set index values
using the Command Line Interface
and have a scanned document receive
these indexes automatically.
Using Barcode Recognition
Barcode recognition is the most efficient
way to capture index data printed on
documents. Some documents already
have key information in barcode format
on them. If your project is to scan new
documents on an ongoing basis, it may
be possible for you to redesign the forms
to include barcodes. Having a barcode
with index data on the document is the
best case scenario, since all the index
data is on the document at the time it is
created in a format that can be read with
near 100% accuracy.
If it is not possible to print barcodes on
the document itself, an alternative is to
have the person who creates the document
print a barcode cover page and
place it on the file before it is scanned.
Barcode recognition can also be useful
when you have documents with a variable
number of pages that will all receive
the same index values. If it is not possible
to generate an indexed coversheet
for these at the time they are created, a
generic barcode coversheet can be used
to separate the scanned images into
multi-page files, one for each document.
A second process can then be used to
index these images one file at a time
instead of one page at a time, greatly
increasing throughput.
Using OCR
Zone OCR solutions traditionally require
you to specify a region on the page where
index information will be found. This
region is recognized and the result is
inserted into an index field. The problem
with traditional zone OCR is that
if the region is moved slightly due to
variations in scanning, the result could
contain extra neighboring characters or
cut off desired characters. This limits
the usefulness of traditional zone OCR
to documents where the index value is in
the exact same place every time and has
plenty of white space around it.
SimpleIndex’s OCR contains many
advanced features to overcome the
inherent limitations of zone OCR. This
is done by providing template and dictionary
matching for OCR fields. These
features search the OCR results for a
certain pattern or list of possible values
and return only the matching data. This
allows you to draw your OCR zones
much larger than normal, ensuring that
no matter how much the data shifts
around it will always be contained within
that region.
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It is even possible to draw your zone
around the entire page and find key
information that is not printed in any
fixed location. For example, a doctor’s
office may receive lab reports from many
different labs. Each report is formatted
differently, but each contains the
patient’s name somewhere on it. Using
the dictionary matching feature with
a patient name list, SimpleIndex can
identify the correct patient for each lab
automatically.
When implementing OCR for document
automation, carefully consider the
data you are trying to recognize. Is the
text legible? Does it appear in a fixed
location? Does it conform to a unique
pattern that won’t be found anywhere
else on the page? Is there a list available
with all the possible values for this field?
Answer these questions and you will
know which OCR approach is best for
your application.
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Autofill Feature
The Autofill feature of SimpleIndex is
an easy way to associate many index
fields with one document without retyping
data that already exists in another
application. Autofill uses a database
lookup to retrieve records that match
a key value entered by the user. Blank
index fields are then filled in automatically
with the data from this lookup.
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The result is a document database with many
different possible search fields, of which
only one must be entered during
scanning.
The key field may be typed by the user
or read from the document
automatically using barcode recognition
or OCR. The lookup is performed either
when the user changes this field or when
the index values are saved. If the lookup
finds multiple matching records, the
user is notified and the first set of
values is used by default.
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Distributed Document Capture
Distributed Document Capture is a key
feature of SimpleIndex that can provide
huge savings, fast turnaround and
improved quality control for enterprise
scanning applications.
For large enterprises
with many locations that need
to capture and share data, distributed
document capture with SimpleIndex is
an ideal solution.
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To scan documents from many locations
with a centralized solution, they must
first be shipped to a scanning facility
where dedicated personnel are required
to process the large volume of paper.
SimpleIndex makes it possible to scan
these documents at their original location
and send them electronically to a
central database where they are made
available throughout the enterprise.
The savings in shipping costs alone can
often justify the investment in distributed
capture with SimpleIndex. Other
advantages include faster turnaround,
keeping the originals on-site, eliminating
the need for dedicated scanning departments
or costly outsourcing, and the
ability to ensure the presence of required
documents at the time they are collected
using SimpleIndex’s Batch Auditing
feature.
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Centralized Administration of
Job Configurations
SimpleIndex jobs are highly automated
through the use of pre-defined configuration
files for common scanning, sorting
and indexing tasks. Once defined,
job configurations provide easy to use
standard operational procedures for all
end users.
SimpleIndex job configurations may be
hosted on a website and launched via
web links. This allows administrators
to have a single version of all configuration
files that can be updated without
having to distribute local copies to
many locations. A web portal can be
created with links to all of the jobs
relevant to the user, as well as processing
instructions and other relevant
information.
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Simple Index’s unique features make it especially powerful! |
One-Click Processing
SimpleIndex is designed to streamline
document scanning and indexing through
a single user environment. It does this by
performing all of the steps in the scanning
process in sequence. SimpleIndex offers
the automation you need to perform zonal
OCR, full page OCR, barcode recognition,
database lookups, indexing, pdf conversion
and export to your ImageSite Document
Management system with a single
mouse click.
Template & Dictionary Matching
This simplified version of what is commonly
known as Unstructured Forms
Processing lets you automatically
extract index information no matter where
it appears on the document. Most "Zonal OCR" solutions only work if the information
appears in exactly the same place
on every page. SimpleIndex lets you
to automate indexing as long as the field
matches a unique pattern or pre-defined
list of values.
| | Command Line Interface
The Command Line Interface allows SimpleIndex
to be integrated with custom software
solutions with minimal programming.
This interface allows you to specify all job
settings, set index values and process images
with a single command. SimpleIndex
also has the ability to run a command line
application automatically before or after
each batch. These can perform file format
conversions on the import and export files,
upload files to an FTP server, email files or
launch custom application integration.
Document Presence Auditing
Some applications have a set of standard
documents that are required to be present
in each batch. SimpleIndex has the ability
to specify a list of required documents
then audit each batch at the end to ensure
all are present. Any missing pages may be
scanned and indexed automatically from
this screen as well. This feature is designed
for front desk scanning applications, where
several required documents are collected
and scanned when they are presented by a
client.
| | OMR (Optical Mark Recognition)
SimpleIndex offers a unique new approach
to determining where the first page of a
new document starts.
Traditionally, barcode
separator sheets are inserted during
document prep to mark the start of a new
document. It is wasteful and time-consuming
to insert them between each file,
especially if the files are small.
SimpleIndex takes advantage of OMR
technology to provide an easier solution
to this problem. Simply take a felt pen
and make a black mark on the upper-left
corner of the first page of each new document.
SimpleIndex will scan automatically
to numbered multi-page files, with
a new file created each time a mark is
detected. These files can then be indexed
and exported with a second SimpleIndex
job.
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Digital Copiers
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