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Data entry costs businesses more time and labor than nearly any other business process and is traditionally a tremendously difficult process to scale when done manually. As a result, mid-to-enterprise level businesses often express data entry as a major pain point for their business and are constantly looking for ways to save time and money on it. While tools that automate individual steps of the data entry process, like spreadsheet exporting tools, have been around for a while, AI has made far more transformative data capture automation tools possible.
Data capture automation tools now have the capability to automate the entire process, other than scanning the hard copy documents. Once documents have been scanned, though, trained staff can leverage AI-driven software solutions that can automatically extract and organize the data within them exactly how businesses need.
To clarify how this works, and what the best solution is for your business, we will cover the following:
- Data capture automation use cases
- Benefits of data capture automation
- The best data capture automation deployment strategy
Let’s examine each and get a comprehensive view of what data capture automation looks like in practice and what material value it can provide your business.
Data Capture Automation Use Cases
| Data Extraction from Documents with Machine Learning-Paired OCR | The first step of automated data capture is enabling the software to read the data in a scanned document. ML-powered Optical character recognition (OCR) technology allows software tools to read text from any document—typed or handwritten—and index its data as it is stored in a database. This means that scanned documents don’t just exist as images; their text becomes fully indexed, meaning it can be copied, pasted, and searched both manually and automatically. |
| Automatic Data Capture and Organization | After documents are “read” by the OCR technology, data capture automation software can utilize machine learning to learn how to identify a document’s type, the data fields it includes, and where to input that data. This allows this information to be captured and organized automatically and accurately. |
| Cloud Storage | Full-service data partners often offer cloud storage, which eliminates the need for their clients to purchase and maintain expensive physical storage assets like servers. This saves businesses money, reduces the strain on their IT teams, and makes stored data easier to access during weather emergencies that could cut power to local servers. |
| AI-Automated Data Security | Data outsourcing teams that leverage AI tools typically benefit from AI-powered data security, which improves the consistent application of security best practices and automatically flags potential breaches. Some practices can even be automated with AI, like document/data labeling and setting permissions to ensure that only specific authorized users can see sensitive documents. |
| Centralized Source of Truth | Enterprise businesses often suffer from disconnection between different departments. Full-service data capture teams usually offer a unified data capture platform. This centralized source of vital data can be shared with departments on their software tools with far better accuracy than manual entry, ensuring that all departments operate on the same information. |
| Expert Data Teams | One of the most valuable assets that full-service providers bring is their data teams. These experienced staff members know exactly how to pilot the cutting-edge software needed to automate data capture, eliminating the need to train your in-house staff or worry about whether this new technology is reaching its fullest potential for your business. |
While it may seem obvious what data capture automation can do for businesses, modern tools are so comprehensive that many business leaders may be surprised by their capabilities and those of the expert teams that full-service data capture automation providers staff. Data capture automation on its own is helpful, but more comprehensive data capture services tend to be even more valuable if the same technology is combined with data outsourcing experts who know exactly how to maximize its value.
We have provided full-service automated data capture for countless businesses across several industries and understand the most common value-adds that these solutions offer. The following are the most common use cases for both data capture automation and full-service data capture in enterprise businesses:
Benefits of Data Capture Automation
These data automation use cases are relevant only because of the material value they offer your business. To make decisions regarding implementing data entry automation or data capture services, you must know exactly what material value it will provide. As a long-time full-service provider, we have worked with countless businesses to improve their data capture processes, and they have provided us feedback on the tangible results of our services.
The following are the most commonly cited benefits of data capture automation and full-service data capture for our clients:
| Rapid Data Entry | Data capture automation solutions store data automatically, making data capture near-instant. As documents are scanned, their data can be stored in the proper databases immediately, without requiring a manual data entry clerk to punch anything in. This allows staff time to be spent on more big-picture, human-influenced tasks like auditing data and interacting with community members. |
| Consistent Data Accuracy | ML-paired OCR is exceptionally accurate and provides ample time for existing data staff to focus on auditing since they don’t have to manually enter data. This means that data accuracy is far more consistent and easier to audit. |
| Indexable Handwritten/Older Documents | An impressive capability of ML-powered OCR technology is its ability to extract data from handwritten documents and older documents with obscured or less intact text. While more auditing is required when indexing these documents, modern OCR does a far better job identifying text in hard-to-read documents than any technology before, allowing it to automate processes in ways that weren’t possible a decade ago. |
| Stronger Data Security | AI-powered data security improves the consistency of applying data security best practices and provides real-time warnings about potential breaches. This helps businesses reduce outsourcing risks by ensuring that data security regulations are always complied with. |
| Unified Data Access | Cloud-based storage and automated document indexing make it easier to store and search for specific documents, including any data they contain. This makes it easier to internally store information across different department databases and allows leadership to search for and access any data from any department with a simple search. |
| Scalability Without Hiring More Staff | By outsourcing to a full-service data capture team, instead of simply adopting a data entry automation platform, businesses can completely eliminate the need to hire data entry staff as they grow, making it far cheaper to scale. |
These benefits improve businesses’ bottom lines, reduce the workload of their existing staff, reduce the need to hire more staff when scaling, and mitigate risk and liability regarding data security and misreporting vital financial data.
Best Data Capture Automation Deployment Strategy
As demonstrated in the rest of this guide, data capture automation is far more valuable when paired with more comprehensive data capture services. Automating data capture is a difficult process that requires cutting-edge AI and OCR technology and extensive knowledge of how to operate and maintain software tools and databases that use it.
As a result, it is best accomplished by outsourcing to a third party that provides the data capture automation technology alongside other valuable services like cloud storage and data organization. This gives enterprise businesses access to a cost-effective data capture tool and a team that has built-in expertise on how to operate it all effectively, so they can simply send over their scanned documents, and watch as their database is populated with all of the information they contain.
When selecting a full-service data capture provider, business leaders should seek out a partner that:
- Offers the most advanced data technology
- Provides support that aligns with their working hours regardless of where they operate
- Stores data in an easily auditable database with transparent operation
- Prioritizes data security
- Has experience working with enterprise-level businesses across multiple industries
Without these features, businesses can’t be confident that their outsourcing partner will provide what they need to achieve truly transformative outcomes, or that they will outperform an in-house data team with similar tools. iTech data offers all of these helpful features and more.
Take Advantage of Full-Service Data Capture with iTech
We at iTech pride ourselves on our cutting-edge machine learning OCR software, top-of-the-line onboarding experience, and ongoing support. We also offer 24/7 access to support personnel and senior account managers to maximize visibility and peace of mind, eliminating the “black box” approach to outsourcing.
To learn more about data capture automation, fill out the contact form below.
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IDS Commander iTech2021
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