Optical Character Recognition (OCR) is transforming images of text into machine-usable text format. This technology converts printed text into electronic text or data that can be used in any application software or computer. OCR is commonly used to convert paper documents into electronic files, making storing and using information more manageable.

For example, when you scan a document and save it as a PDF file, you’re using OCR to extract the contents of the paper document and store them electronically. You can then extract that same information from your hard drive, email it to someone, or upload it to a website for storage.

Optical Character Recognition is critical because it’s a technology that allows businesses, organizations, and people to digitally store important paper documents such as deeds, birth certificates, and other types of records that can be hard to find. If documents weren’t converted into digital files through OCR technology, they would likely have been lost forever or destroyed by time. OCR also efficiently stores old newspaper articles, books, and other essential texts.

For example, Google Books uses OCR to scan books so that people can access their contents online regardless of whether they own a printed copy. This service provides easy access to millions of public domain books, many of which are no longer available for sale anywhere else.

What are the benefits of Optical Character Recognition?

There are several benefits to be gained from implementing Optical Character Recognition in your business. Here, we list some ways you and your business can benefit from Optical Character Recognition.

‍Fast and Accurate Data Entry

The main reason for implementing Optical Character Recognition is to save time and effort on data entry. This technology enables you to quickly convert any printed text into electronic data so that you can use that information for whatever purpose you require. The data can be used for applications such as databases, spreadsheets, and much more.

Better Usability

When you implement Optical Character Recognition into your business, you have vast data at your fingertips. That data can be accessed much more manageable than if it was entered manually, as it is all stored within one place. Not only does this make the data more usable for whoever needs to view it, but it also means that the initial information is stored within one place, making it easier to find when it is needed again.

Accurate Information

Using Optical Character Recognition enables you to get very accurate information from the text that has been scanned. The software will pick up punctuation marks and capitalization along with the actual words, meaning you get the full effect of the page or document in question. With this kind of accurate information, there is no need to check what has been entered, as everything will be checked automatically. This saves time and ensures accuracy every single time.

Flexible Implementation

With Optical Character Recognition, you can implement whichever suits your needs best. It doesn’t have to be used solely to convert printed text into electronic data but can be used in conjunction with other applications. For example, you could use Optical Character Recognition alongside databases and spreadsheets to make them more efficient and user-friendly. You are free to choose precisely how you want this technology implemented so that it works most effectively for your needs.

‍How does OCR help a company save time and money?

OCR allows scanning documents into electronic files so that they can be manipulated on your computer screen. You can edit these scanned documents, save them onto your computer’s hard drive or even transfer them to your company’s intranet if you have one. OCR also allows you to search for keywords within scanned documents.

A company would implement OCR because it saves them time, duplication costs, and hassle. For example, let’s say the marketing department is trying to create a significant marketing piece for a presentation at a trade show next month. The marketing department manager asks the administrative team for their printed brochures, marketing materials, trade show information, and all other printed materials that may be relevant to their topic. The Administrative Manager gathers up all this paperwork and then has the employees sit down and type up all this information into a word document or two, so they can hand it over to the Marketing Manager. This process takes up a lot of valuable employees’ time and money. Now, suppose those employees had access to Optical Character Recognition technology. In that case, they could scan all printed materials into a digital file where the Marketing Manager could easily manipulate it to fit their needs.

This saves time on both ends: time for the administrative team, which does not have to enter all of this information, and valuable time for the marketing team, which does not have to enter the data from scratch.