Electronic Data Capture Software from IntelliChief: Simple Tools for Faster Document Processing

Processing data can be incredibly time-consuming. Invoices, purchase orders, receipts – it all adds up. But you don’t have to waste your company’s important resources on paperwork. Electronic data capture software can process your documents automatically, giving your employees the ability to focus on other – more important – work.

What is Automatic Data Capture?

Automatic data capture is the process of collecting data from documents without user input. Technology scans an unstructured document for important information, such as supplier names, PO numbers, and purchase prices. Then, it converts that information into data that can be easily read by a computer.

In the enterprise, the process usually involves entering that information into your ERP. For instance, invoices need to be keyed into your Accounts Payable software, matched against purchase orders and receipts, and vouchered for payment.

Automated data extraction allows this to be done without manual effort. It also allows data to be captured and processed in real-time. This means shorter lead times, faster procure-to-pay cycles, and enhanced insight into your company’s spend.

Automation also help you avoid data entry errors. Computers can process information much more accurately than humans. And, they’re not prone to mental fatigue that can slow employees down as they work through hundreds of documents.

Data Capture Technologies

There are several ways of capturing and processing data electronically. One of the most common approaches: scanning documents in to a processing system (via a standard document scanner), at which point optical character recognition (OCR) software is used to detect the characters on those documents and validate it against other known information (perhaps in the ERP).

Structured vs. Unstructured Data

Some technologies are only designed to process structured data – that is, data that’s always located in the same place, every time. (Think of scantron tests taken in school, where the answer sheets are all the same). Unstructured data, on the other hand, doesn’t always follow a standard format.

An example: many suppliers create custom invoice formats. Some place their contact information in the top right corner, while others place it in the middle. Advanced data capture technologies let you process unstructured information, using rules and keyword locators to read and analyze documents more like a person.

Find Out How Much Time You Can Save With IntelliChief’s Automated Data Capture Solutions

IntelliChief’s data capture software helps you manage both digital and hard-copy documents. You can scan them in, or you can have them directly imported from your email or fax system – whatever’s easiest for your document management workflow.

Once a document is captured, our technologies retrieve their information in seconds. If there’s something our program doesn’t recognize, such as new vendor name, it sends out a notification – then remembers your manual input for the next time. This makes our software smarter with every single use, letting you leverage the power of machine learning in your back office.

And, IntelliChief is designed to integrate with other enterprise technologies, such as Oracle and SAP. But it doesn’t just enter your data into your existing programs – it also validates that information and uses it to automate your data-driven workflows. This allows you to eliminate many of the manual “touches” that your documents go through as they make their way through your organization.

If you’d like to learn more about our electronic data capture system, contact us today. We can help you create a custom document management solution for your company’s specific needs.