Automation isn’t here to steal your job. More likely, a range of solutions will take on the mundane, freeing you up to focus on what’s important.
What Is Optical Character Recognition?
Optical Character Recognition (OCR, for short) is software that converts images of written or printed text into machine-encoded files. Say you have a handwritten tax return that you want in a digital format. OCR can port the text from the document to a computer screen without any manual work. But the software also works in other contexts.
The Technique is Remarkably Accurate:
One DLabs.AI project achieved a 94% error-free rate using a dedicated OCR system.
What are the Benefits of Optical Character Recognition?
- Simple To Manage: Once an OCR system has scanned a document, anyone with access to a database can see it. That’s why banks use OCR to make records, like customer tax histories, visible to employees.
- Easy To Edit: Digitized documents aren’t static. You can edit them like a Word doc using a built-in processor. And accountants often use this process to amend self-assessment tax forms.
- Quick To Search: Scanned files are convertible into machine-readable formats (txt, doc, pdf), meaning you can find terms by searching for keywords, which authorities use to check names on a list.
- Highly Secure: OCR not only helps you digitize paper documents. It lets you store sensitive data in a secure location. And that’s why financial advisors often use it to manage client records.
What Is Document Classification?
Document classification is the process of arranging documents in classes or categories so that a person or company knows how to handle them. A customer services team might use document classification to ensure incoming support tickets go to the right individual. An accounting firm might use invoice classification to assign expenses to the correct department.
5 Benefits of Document Classification in Business
- Classify Any Content: Use your system for document classification, invoice classification, or to label content across channels. The software is dynamic. It can help everyone from accountants to marketers to social media managers and beyond.
- Fewer Manual Errors: Any manual process is prone to human error. An employee chasing a deadline might misinterpret a detail in the rush, pushing an invoice into the wrong expenses bucket. And while one small error might cause little more than a headache…
- Higher Consistency: Not only is human error potentially costly, it’s also entirely random, which makes it hard to account for — or correct. On the other hand, automated document classification produces a highly consistent output. Meaning you’ll learn how accurate your system is and, when you spot a mistake, you can optimize the software to improve the results.
- Higher Throughput: Even if you find an employee who can classify documents at the same rate as your software, people eventually have to sleep. But a computer never sleeps. On the contrary, it can process an infinite backlog of documents as quickly as possible.
- More Time For Work: Finally, while essential, classification tasks create limited value — whereas if you free your team to focus on productive tasks that move your business forward, you’ll see efficiencies fly.
Document Classification in the Real World
Let’s end the article with some real-world examples. That way, you’ll see what problems the software already solves, hopefully sparking ideas for business applications of your own.
Conclusion:
As we hope you now see, there are many benefits of document classification. And you don’t have to work in tech to make the most of them. Whether you’re in hospitality, financial services, or any industry for that matter, you can likely find a way to use the software to make your business more efficient. Take a moment to look at the manual tasks that currently slow your team down. Then ask yourself: “Could OCR and document classification make our lives easier?” There’s one surefire way to find out.
FAQs:
- How does Optical Character Recognition (OCR) work?
- OCR is software that converts images of written or printed text into machine-encoded files.
- What are the benefits of OCR?
- OCR is simple to manage, easy to edit, quick to search, and highly secure.
- What is document classification?
- Document classification is the process of arranging documents in classes or categories so that a person or company knows how to handle them.
- What are the benefits of document classification in business?
- Document classification brings 5 benefits: classifying any content, fewer manual errors, higher consistency, higher throughput, and more time for work.
