SEMA reclaims the mailroom

August 13, 2009:Australian outsourcing specialist SEMA has implemented ReadSoft’s mailroom automation technology, to replace the laborious task of capturing and indexing unstructured claim forms.

SEMA’s requirement was to capture and index pro­cessed claim forms for an end user customer, in the first instance, and then facilitate output of the images to an archive system for quick and easy retrieval of the claim form by the customer at any given time.

SEMA needed a solution that could not only handle the sheer volumes, but could automate the entire capture and index com­ponent of both structured and highly unstructured data (much of the data to be captured is hand-written).

When documents arrive from the end customer, they are automatically scanned into a directory structure from which they are processed by CLASSIFY & INDEX software.

“We chose ReadSoft’s CLASSIFY & INDEX because of its best match to our complex requirements. It allows us to classify, group, index and output images of each benefit claim, in a timely and cost-effective manner,” says Tony Smith, Commercial Manager at SEMA. The processed documents are then automatically routed to the customer via FTP.

Tony adds, “The advanced solution that ReadSoft offers is also an opportunity to gain new experience in the mail­room technology which is consistent with SEMA’s desire to be a leader in this area. ReadSoft is highly adaptable to our SEMA environment with regard to its ability to accommodate both simple and complex data capture from documents of varying types.

"With the ease of setup (not needing individual defini­tions for each form or document type) coupled with the ability to capture the necessary index fields, the CLASSIFY & INDEX software enables our technology team to set up jobs with a short turnaround time, an essential element in our business.”

“We have achieved a very high percentage of accuracy due to the software’s performance and its ability to ac­commodate complex business rules. The rapid deploy­ment and implementation schedule meant that SEMA and ReadSoft were initially challenged, but we were able to deliver the solution on time for our customer, thanks to the nature of the software and ReadSoft support,” says Lee Bourke, Director-Digital Execution at SEMA.

“SEMA also enjoys significant benefit partnering with ReadSoft. By drawing on their advanced technology, SEMA is able to target prospective and existing custom­ers with a new value proposition and increased capability. This is a major advancement in document automation technology and will ensure we can meet our clients diverse business needs now and well into the future,” says Bourke.