Get scanning support for Google Chrome now

Google Chrome is a very popular browser and has been vouched for by internet users all over the world. Gradually Google devised the Chrome OS which has been working on becoming a versatile operating system. There are gadgets like Chromebox or Chromebook which gives its users plenty of interesting conveniences. But scanning was definitely not one of them. If you wanted to have any document scanned go here, you had to take the help of other operating systems like Apple or Windows which are well equipped with scanning functionality. Though many do not consider scanning to be such a big deal – but when the need arises, having a decent functioning scanning setup can make a lot of difference. The good news for Chrome users is that, such a set up will now be possible on the Chrome reference.

Introducing a new technology

One cannot deny that the prospect of being able to use scanner on Chrome can prove to be a great boon. Besides, it will magnify the competitive value of Chrome in the market too. Including this feature will need a new technology, and such technology has already made an appearance. The name of the technology is Lorgnette. It is believed that with the help of this particular piece of technology, one will be able to successfully run a scanner on the Chrome. Along with that, Google too will be working on the matter, and in making the interface of the Chrome friendly enough to support such function. Chrome is a cloud based operating system and has been high on functionality for a long time. Only because of the document scanning support it was falling behind. Now, with the news of this support being made possible, Chrome is set to reach higher levels of efficacy among its users.

How will the scanning support work?

The document scanning support on Chrome will work in a similar way, as it works on most of the operating systems. As of now, there is the process of getting API proposal done going on. Once that is done, you will be able to scan documents via the Chrome using Lorgnette software. This software helps web applications to tap into the operating systems. The technology will help the Chrome machine detect the scanners nearby – both USB connected ones and LAN connected ones. Once the scanner is detected, you can get one page scans from the Chrome. You will also have a record of the images scanned. They will all be saved in the downloads folder – so you can get access to them whenever you want. Overall, this set up will make the process of scanning through Chrome a fast process, without having to depend on other operating system machines for getting scans.

Usage made all encompassing

Chrome is a browser based operating system and its users are well aware of its conveniences and limitations. It is when the company consciously tries to overcome limitations like document scanning support, it rebuilds the faith consumers have in the brand. With this update, Chrome’s usability will increase remarkably.

What to do to get good OCR results

You can tell if your business is up to date with the global standards of working by the type of technology you use in your workplace. OCR conversion is one such popular technology. You may wonder why this particular technology is of so much importance in the present day work space. The reason is simple. It is very important today to have quick and easy access to each kind of important document or information. Keeping hard copies of documents is past story. Now, these hard copies are being converted to soft digital copies, to which you can gain access using a keyword. This means, you are hardly wasting any time doing manual searches. You might wonder then, do you have to type out every document in order to make it digital? That would be a lot of labor too. But herein lays the ease of conversion via OCR. With the help of it, all you need to do is scan and get an image of the document and then convert it into usable word form.  But in order to get a good result in such conversion, you need to be well aware of the process.

Know the basics of OCR process

Before you can know more about bettering the quality of OCR conversion, you first need to gather basic knowledge of the process so that you do not make any mistake in that step. OCR is the acronym for optical character recognition. As stated once above, this procedure involves first scanning hard copies of documents into images and then turning them into usable format of digital documents. For instance, say you have a page of text in hard copy, which you would like to convert into soft MS word copy for easy use. Earlier, you would need to type out the entire thing. But with this conversion method, you would simply need to put the document in the scanner and get an image. Then run that image through OCR conversion tool About Optical Character Recognition, and soon enough you will have your word document ready. You will also have to use good conversion software.

Tips for getting good conversion results

In order to get better results out of the OCR conversion, you need to ensure good results in the scanning stage itself. Most of the tips for bettering the quality of the scanning are basic. First of all, you have to ensure that the original document that you are about to scan is in a good condition. The text on the page should be good in clarity. The document itself should not be too folded or torn. If the document is so, then it is important to restore the quality of the document before you can scan it.

While scanning, make sure you have the right settings. The settings include the resolution of the scan, the mode of the scan and also the format in which the scanned image will be saved. All these help to make the process of conversion easier and better. 

Manual Data Entry and Typing Solutions for Document Scanning

What is Document Indexing
Document indexing is a method of making sets of scanned documents retrievable from within a document management application. A data set can be any amount of digitized pages from as little as one to an entire folder and stored within one PDF file. The index is populated with basic information about the data set or in this case the PDF file. For example, ID #, document type, and date which allows the user to search/retrieve the PDF.

Optical Character Recognition (OCR)
It is quite labor extensive to index large amounts of files and more expensive as the amount of fields increases. Indexing software is one solution to bring the costs down. The software uses Optical Character Recognition (OCR) (Link) to populate each field with the appropriate value. The indexing software can accomplish this through Zonal OCR when the information is located on the same part of the page. Another solution is Rubber Band OCR where manual boxes are drawn around the data. The limitation is that lower quality or handwritten documents are not suitable for OCR software.

Manual Index from Images
In cases where documents are not suitable for OCR or the error rate is too high, it is more cost advantageous to manually type-in each field especially when the documents are indexed offshore (Information). Manual indexing is in fact more accurate than OCR when double keying is used. One operator types the data in and another checks the accuracy. Manual indexing from the image may be combined with the use of patch and barcodes during digitization. Patch codes may be inserted between each document and each time the scanner reads a patch code a separate document is saved out. Barcodes are more useful when pre-existing data in digital format is available from either a spreadsheet or database. This allows the scanner to populate multiple fields and the remaining fields are manually keyed. This process may also be less expensive than purchasing software.

Logical Document Determination
Even the insertion of patch codes or barcodes takes a lot of time when the documents are not pre-sorted or the documents sets are small. In these cases, the use of Logical Document Determination may be more cost effective. In this method the data entry operator logically determines where each document starts and stops. This method is more prevalent for legal coding.

Manual Retying Documents
Manual retyping is an outsourcing service used for E-book conversion in cases where the OCR results are poor due to either low quality originals, fonts not supported by OCR and dot matrix printer fonts. In these instances, the manual correction is more time-consuming than retyping the documents. Manual retyping is also suitable for spreadsheets where it isn’t possible to delimit the data into separate fields.

Document Scanning Software

A Document Scanning Software is an integral part of the modern-day workplace. A Page Scanning Procedure is essentially a part of Page Management Procedure that seeks to build a additional undemanding, paperless work environment wherein all the textual communication is done through the medium of digitalized documents. This kind of documents is also easily created, viewed and shared once they have been scanned and electronically saved. A Page Scanning Computer software is ready of saving the digital images of paper-based documents and saving them in an orderly, indexed format. This ensures that normal problems related to paper-based records for instance loss of data or need of storage space are removed.

The Document Scanning Computer software uses some straightforward equipment like scanning machines, pc server or a network for achieving this purpose. Most of the modern-day Page Scanning Softwares are quite advanced and provide loads of features that make the entire procedure of moving to the digitalized documentation format significantly easier.

This includes the freedom to multipage PDF and TIFF files—also referred to as multi-page document scanning which combines graphics handling and manipulating the final display of documents. Users can produce miniature displays of pages that resemble thumbnails. Other features include Page Insertion, Replacement, Deletion and Appending. Browsing through many scanned pages inside a Page Scanning Computer software is rather simple because Page Browsing features combined with Image Rotation mean that the readability is also additional customized based on the user’s preference.

Electronic Document Storage

Documents are stored in both hard copy and electronic document format. Taking certain points into consideration such as disaster recovery, storage, retrieval and compliance, electronic document storage offers many advantages over storing paper based records. Consequently, companies can shred the paper documents that are no longer needed after capturing them with document scanning. This allows the organization to save years of annual storage costs as well as the time used to search for paper records.

Once a company decides to "go paperless", there are many options available for electronic document storage. Electronic files can be stored remotely with web-based document storage, on a dedicated file server with RAID drives, to external hard drives and written to disc.

Web-based storage companies provide online space on secure servers. Record management is also possible with web applications that provide online retrieval and delivery of the files. Patient medical records may also be stored using web-based EMR software. In addition, advanced service plans such as tape back-up and technical support may also be purchased. This solution is ideal for small businesses and medical practices that do not have a dedicated IT support staff.

A dedicated file server offers many advantages for data storage. A file server usually saves the data on RAID drives, should one drive fail the data can be recovered. However, a RAID drive is not full-proof in cases of the failure of two or more drives in the RAID array. The file server in addition to a RAID drive may also back-up to tape storage, a network-attached device or continually save smaller changes to a back-up drive.

The scanned images can also be stored to disc. Generally, a CD holds 700 MB of data or about 10,000 pages and a DVD holds 4.7 GB of data or about 70,000 pages. Some types of discs may hold more data such as a Blu-ray disc which holds up to 25 GB, single-sided double-layer disc which holds up to 8.50 GB and a HD-DVD which holds 25 to 50 GB of data. The disadvantage is that the disc may scratch or degrade with age, sunlight and with dirt/grease through handling the media.

Business Process Outsourcing

Business process outsourcing (BPO) is a common practice in today’s business environment. It is often essential to lower costs and get the work done faster and more effectively. When deciding to outsource your project, it's a good idea to understand what the company wants to accomplish with outsourcing. The company must define and prioritize its goals and requirements. The criteria, which the company wants service providers to meet, may also be defined.