What is OCR (optical character recognition)
Optical character recognition (or OCR) is the term used for software that picks up printed and handwritten characters in a scanned image, and translates them into digital text. It lets computers ‘read’ documents, so that humans don’t need to manually type it all in.
Once a physical document has been scanned and ‘read’ using OCR software, it creates an editable text version. That text can be copied and pasted, searched, formatted, and even edited. In other words, it converts an image into a document. And that's why it behaves like it would in a word processor.
For anyone who needs to manually enter and process data, OCR technologies can be a godsend. In fact, with a bit of smarts, OCR can not only help your computer read the text in scanned images—it can match them with data entry fields.
At Console, our software uses OCR tech to just that. You’ll find it in Console Cloud’s FlashScan, and in Gateway’s Viatek ScanAssist. In both cases, these features help you process invoice payments faster than ever. Here's why we love it.
Why use optical character recognition
The process for users who've switched on this feature in Gateway is incredibly simple. In Gateway, ScanAssist automates a good chunk of your accounts payable process. When you scan an invoice, ScanAssist reads it, and feeds that information as text and numbers into the right fields in your payments screen.
What’s more, ScanAssist prepares your payments for you automatically. Once you've scanned the document and dropped it in Gateway, all you need to do is review and hit go. It's a simple case of capture, process, and disburse.
Viatek estimates ScanAssist cuts down the time taken to process payments by as much as 95%. That's translating to a saving for some customers of an estimated $30,000 per year in man hours alone. And because it bypasses the opportunity for human error, it’s also saving a lot of pain and frustration involved in following up incorrectly processed payments.
Covering all bases
With tech disruption shaking up the industry, keeping up with the pace of change is essential for an agency’s survival. That’s why going paperless or paper-light should be a priority for agencies in 2019 (provided they haven’t already made the transition).
Paper-based offices typically spend more time doing everything. That's more time processing manual tasks, more time filing, more time searching for documents, and more time searching those documents for information. Paper is slowing business's down, and that's making them less competitive.
To ensure our customers don't fall prey to his, we've made sure that our OCR tech (FlashScan and Viatek ScanAssist) attaches scanned images to payments. This ensures the original document is always linked to the payment. It also keeps it within easy reach, and means it won’t be accidentally deleted.
It’s just another way we’re helping property management businesses stay competitive, and stay ahead. Ready to reclaim your day? Maybe it's time to add Viatek ScanAssist to your subscription.
Where to from here? Learn how to write a more compelling agent bio, or get inspired with more ways to use video in real estate and property management (besides listing videos).