Even with iPhones, iPads, and other digital devices, forms, applications, cheques and documents are still widely used to collect data. While obtaining and leveraging this information from forms is a critical business differentiator, getting the data from documents continues to be a challenge, for many organisations, even in our digital age.

OCR (or Optical Character Recognition) and ICR (or Intelligent Character Recognition) technologies offer the potential to harness this information, provide increased productivity, time-savings and reduced costs for businesses, financial institutions and government agencies that process massive quantities of documents.

While OCR is used to digitise machine text located in document images, ICR is a technology to extract handwritten information. ICR increases productivity, reduces risk, improves ROI, and lowers operational costs.

But not all ICR software is created equal, some offer more sophisticated functionality than others. These more advanced ICR technologies are programmed to assess documents more like a human, performing automated recognition on unconstrained handprint (print not restricted by boxes or combs) and cursive handwriting, as well as difficult machine print that may be encountered on forms.

In order to recognize unconstrained text and cursive writing, advanced ICR technologies must evaluate data based on its context, versus looking solely at individual characters. Advanced ICR technologies take a “holistic” approach to recognition that combines highly sophisticated mathematical algorithms, neural network applications, image interpretation using a special description language, and content validation within context that happens during the recognition process.

When compared to character-dependent recognition systems, advanced ICR can also offer significant cost savings and greater versatility in recognition and form design. Because it can read information written in free form and cursive handwriting (in addition to machine print or hand printed information restricted in combs), these systems open up a new realm of possibilities to gather even more information from forms that formerly may have been passed over or ignored.

From name, address, phone number, or any other unconstrained or cursive information entered on a form, advanced ICR solutions can capture this data with a high degree of accuracy and make it available for use within the organization.

Based on research performed by AIIM and Parascript last year, only 6% of organizations are automating this level of recognition. At the same time, survey participants estimated that they would achieve a considerable level of productivity savings if they were able to automate the recognition of hand-written text.

The average estimate was over 34% improvement and 36% of respondents said they would expect a 50% or greater increase in improvement. While specific results may vary, the value of utilizing more advanced ICR is derived from substantial cost savings and/or access to business intelligence previously inaccessible due to cost.

Recent handwriting recognition technology advancements expand ICR functionality – and give corporations that need to process large volumes of data a reason to take a closer look. When compared to manual data entry and early-generation, character-dependent recognition systems, advanced ICR can offer significant cost savings, greater recognition versatility and the ability to adapt to any style of form, along with high read rates and accuracy levels.

Don Dew is Director of Marketing for Parascript, a leading document capture and recognition solutions provider.