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OCR technology: 5 things you didn’t know about OCR

Automating the purchase invoice processing process: that’s your goal. That’s why you’re looking for good OCR software. Because with it, you can easily scan and book incoming invoices. But one vendor is not the other. And although scanning and recognition are the foundation of a software solution, OCR technology is now available in various shapes and sizes. What do you need to know about OCR to choose the software that really fits your organizational needs?

Optical Character Recognition: a brief explanation

‘OCR’ stands for Optical Character Recognition, a technique by which the computer reads letters, numbers and punctuation marks from an image. This technique transforms documents into digital versions for editing and archiving. An OCR program looks at where the values are on a document. Users can train the OCR system so it can apply the knowledge to a similar document next time. If you look at the principle with an analogue view, you could see it as follows: the program “cuts” rectangles in the places where, for example, an invoice date, Chamber of Commerce number and VAT number are, so that next time you can easily overlay this template over an invoice from the same supplier. Sounds simple. But the OCR field is much broader than this basic principle behind “scan and recognize. To really introduce you to the world of OCR, we list 5 facts for you!

1. You can work with OCR software without templates

Whereas regular OCR software works with a fixed template, smart OCR software does not. The latter is so intelligent that it interprets an invoice as a human would. Is the invoice date in a certain place and consists of certain values (such as “2 digits, slash, 2 digits, slash, 4 digits”)? Then you can train the system to look for these values for every invoice near that spot. A regular program cannot do this because it recognizes the invoice date only when it is exactly where a rectangle is cut into the template.  

2. There is OCR software that learns from the user community

Two know more than one.But what happens when OCR software applies the knowledge gained within an entire user community? In that case, recognition grows at lightning speed. With smart OCR software, this is the case – and therefore you benefit from greater efficiency from day one. An example: When an invoice from your telephone provider arrives, the software does not immediately recognize certain elements correctly. As a user, you adjust the values. The OCR program records this so that it recognizes the values the next time. If there are other users in the community who also receive invoices from this phone provider, the system takes this knowledge for them as well!  

3. OCR is not just for large companies

Some SME organizations think that digital processing of incoming documents is only for multinationals and corporates. OCR software would be too expensive and complex, and a lot of manual work would remain. Did you know that this need not always be the case? With the increased supply on the market, OCR technology has become widely available. This means that solutions are much lower priced. Sometimes no initial investment is even required at all – with a cloud service, for example, you only pay for what you actually use. Modern OCR solutions are also equipped to read the very diverse flow of incoming documents (in paper and digital form). And implementation is a snap: with today’s technology, you can sometimes get a solution up and running within half an hour. Combine all this with the fact that a very high recognition rate minimizes correction work, and you can see why an OCR system can be profitable for smaller organizations as well!  

4. You can use OCR technology to process all kinds of document types

Digital transformation is in full swing. But companies are not all embracing it at the same pace. If you are just getting started with a digital scanning and recognition system, you may think it is only useful for processing purchase invoices. While this is the most widely used application, OCR software offers many more possibilities. If you choose a smart, future-proof OCR solution, you can use it to process other types of documents as well. Think of order confirmations, orders and expense reports. Want to know more? Read our blog “Document processing: why is innovation important?”)  

5. There are OCR solutions that link with your ERP system.

Some scan and recognize companies do have partnerships with ERP vendors. If such partnerships are solid, you as a user can benefit significantly. For example, both parties then take you through the implementation process. And with a good link, you can count on the implementation process going very smoothly. Basically, you don’t have to arrange anything yourself. How do you know if an OCR software vendor offers far-reaching interfacing with your ERP system? See if you can answer “yes” to the following questions. If so, have a conversation with this party!

  • Do you feel like the OCR and ERP software vendors are teaming up to take care of you?
  • Is it clear who to go to in order to resolve any problems?
  • Does the right information come to you at the right time through the tooling and software (in other words, is the process automated, but do you get a signal when deviations occur)?
  • Is the OCR party an experienced expert who is knowledgeable about your industry and ERP system?

Which OCR software is the best fit for your organization?

We hope the 5 facts in this blog post can help you make a thoughtful choice.
What is paramount is that you find a solution that meets all your requirements.
An important tip: once you have your eye on an OCR system, don’t forget to ask if the vendor does continuous development.
That way you can be sure that this OCR party can grow with your organization. Want to know more? Sign up for our newsletter or follow our LinkedIn page!

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With a (web) demo, you can quickly and easily see what benefits our solution brings you.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

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With a (web) demo, you can quickly and easily see what benefits our solution brings you.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.