Document processing is the conversion of physical documents – whether already typed and printed, or hand-written – into electronic ones. This is carried out by a variety of means, including simple scanning and conversion to pdf, optical character recognition and intelligent character recognition, amongst others. The benefit of this is that the files created as a result can be uploaded to a document management system, allowing for far greater flexibility in their subsequent use, sharing and so on. It can also be used to transform invoice processing, so that instead of manual copies being made the whole system can be automated – with benefits in terms of efficiency, time scales and budgeting.

Document processing has come a long way in the last decade or so. Previously, there was no realistic way for physical letters and memos to be converted to Word documents; instead the best that could be achieved was a scanned image. These took up a lot of disk space (at a time when storage was more expensive and far more limited) and, of course, could not be edited. Now, optical character recognition (OCR) has come of age. Intelligent character recognition (ICR) is a development of this, and can even be used to decipher handwriting and turn it into an electronic file. This typically uses a neural network and ‘learns’ to understand handwriting as it goes along. This means that initial results may be quite poor, although when the system is properly ‘taught’ it can result in 97 percent accuracy – with obvious efficiencies available, especially if such documents would usually be transcribed by staff.

The type and sophistication of document processing that you opt for will depend on your budget and needs of your organisation – obviously a smaller outfit with fewer documents will probably not benefit from the most expensive and extensive form of ICR. However, document management is an important step in bridging the gap between current practices and truly paperless offices. Although emails are easily the most popular form of written communication, plenty of people still use notes and letters, and many documents are sent through the post. These can all-too-easily be lost or mislaid if they are not carefully tracked. The same is true of invoices, but invoice processing can bring your procedures for physical invoices in line with those submitted by bacs and other electronic means. This makes for far greater efficiency and fewer mistakes.

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A document management system is akin to a sophisticated filing cabinet for your computer network. Few firms today are really paperless, although many aspire to this for a variety of reasons. It may be cost – cutting out paper, printers and all that is associated with them (envelopes, stamps, fax machines, etc) saves cash. It is also environmentally friendly. Finally, it is simpler to organise – so long as things are ‘filed’ in the best place on the network, there’s no risk of that letter or memo ending up on someone’s desk under a pile of paper. document processing can help your business take a step towards being paperless. It is the method by which ‘real’ documents are processed for use on the computer. This can be a simple matter of scanning them and converting them into pdf files. However, it can be more complex and impressive, for instance in those cases where optical character recognition is used to make an editable Word document of a handwritten document. Finally, invoice processing refers to this technology when it is applied to your accounts department. This means that physical and electronic invoices are treated the same way, so clients are not disadvantaged by using one or the other.

The advantages of this technology are numerous. For starters, it does take you a step closer to the hallowed paperless office. In twenty or thirty years, probably many more businesses will work online only. All documents will be sent by email, and invoices sent and paid electronically. However, while a large proportion of the population stay offline, or at least prefer to work with paper, this is not possible. What document processing and management means is that you don’t have to have a two-tier system, where ‘old school’ clients and customers find that they do not get payments or replies so quickly – with associated fallout for the relationships.

There are plenty of companies who work with document processing solutions, and it is worth looking around to see what is available. Document management has progressed significantly in recent years, particularly with the advent of good OCR, which means that basic scans of paperwork can be turned into useful files. Similarly, as more companies and individuals migrate to online banking and BACS payments, you may find invoice processing becomes more important. Either way, these are changes that will inevitably occur in the near future, so if you want your business to have any kind of longevity it’s best to think in advance.

Please visit http://www.bottomline.co.uk/ for further information about this topic.

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Video conferencing has come a very long way since its original creation. Ever since the invention of the television it has been possible to make a connection to enable audio visual conferencing by connecting two closed-circuit television systems. But the difference between the first instances of remote communication involving a visual element, and the status of such communication today, is quite incredible. In fact, it reflects the amazing progress of science and technology as a whole over the past century. Now, though, it seems that conferencing has just taken an extra step forward: we have stepped out of a somewhat two dimensional world – whereby people can be linked as if via a phone line, but with a visual element as something of an extra – into a conferencing world that goes by the name of ‘telepresence’. Telepresence video conferencing is the next stage in business communications. Why?

First of all, let us look back at that two dimensional world of audio visual conferencing that we knew so well before telepresence. Why is it describable as ‘two dimensional’? If you have ever used a web cam to talk with somebody, via Skype, for example, then you will see that not every individual web cam user has the capability of placing their web cam at a point that is close enough to their computer to appear to be looking into their web cam.

The result of this is that the feeling of talking to somebody ‘in person’ is utterly lost. It is impossible to accurately simulate making eye contact, because you need to look away from your web cam to look at the eyes of the person you are speaking to. And this applies even in a one-to-one conversation. You can imagine, then, how hard it must be to create a feeling of ‘really being there’ when it comes to holding a conference with any number of colleagues and associates present.

Telepresence video conferencing consists of a series of technologies that are designed to confront these problems. All of the technology available is used to create a sophisticated simulation of presence, such that it feels like you are actually in a room with associates who could in fact be half way around the earth. As such, telepresence represents the next step forward in audio visual conferencing. While once it seemed a miracle of technology that video conferencing was possible, the earlier technologies now look out-dated in the face of telepresence.

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