Capture users eye data extraction and document classification improvements

By Mark Brousseau

When it comes to enterprise capture, end users cite data extraction as the most important process to automate. A whopping 60 percent of respondents to a recent TAWPI Question of the Week identified data capture as the most important step to automate, far outpacing classification/sorting and integration with business processes, which were each identified by 20 percent of respondents.

None of the survey respondents saw filing/archival or data validation as important to automate.

Derrick Murphy (dmurphy@ibml.com), president and CEO of ibml (www.ibml.com), a Birmingham, AL-based document scanning solutions provider, isn't surprised by the survey results. "Data extraction and classification probably offer the greatest opportunities for cost reductions in the enterprise capture process," Murphy says. "By automating data extraction, users can reduce the amount of manual intervention required for data entry and quality control. And the more you can classify automatically, the less pre-sorting of documents is required. This results in decreased document preparation, lower operations costs, and fewer delays in getting documents scanned."

Murphy also sees value in integrating enterprise capture with legacy business processes to reduce or eliminate exceptions and special handling, and to accelerate access to mission-critical information.

What aspect of the capture process is the most important to automate in your operation?