OCR which refers to Optical Character Recognition is the technology that aids in recognizing the texts that are present in images. By using this, it is possible to convert scanned PDF files to Word files or many other formats that you require.
Because of the reason that data that are produced in a company requires OCR conversion, they should outsource this work. But before you go for outsourcing we will give you a clear picture regarding the pros and cons of outsourcing OCR conversion service.
Pros of Outsourcing OCR Conversions
Boosts Productivity
When optical character recognition technology is integrated with the data entry process, it reduces human work to a large extent. And it makes the in-house employees free from their mundane tasks involved in the data entry process. When the manual tasks are replaced they can invest their valuable hours in some other vital operations in the company.
Altogether, when in-house employees concentrate on the core operations of the company, it will have a positive effect on the company’s productivity.
Another factor that leads to productivity is the short time it takes to complete the data entry process.
Data Security
Data security refers to the protection of crucial information from unexpected attacks and securing it from unauthorized access. It is also important that while we are making restrictions to protect it from threats; it is available to the right group when they need it. Data security has become a matter of necessity for every company, as its loss may affect both the company and its clients in a negative way.
So another advantage of outsourcing OCR conversions is that, the technology can boost data security. With the layer of AI and machine learning, OCR can recognize if there happens in any activity to access the data from people who are restricted.
Along with this, as the information is present as soft-copies the BPO companies can apply other measures to protect the data.
Easy Access
Information becomes valuable only when it is available at the right time. So when the data entry process is with the aid of OCR technology, it converts all the text in images to digital format. As the information is present in the required format when we need to dig into loads of papers to search for data.
The infusion of OCR becomes more valuable when we need specific data that is present in large documents.
Altogether, only when information is available at the right time, the top management can make crucial decisions quickly and efficiently.
Cons of Outsourcing OCR Conversions
Inability to read certain languages
Even though there is a wide range of languages that can be recognized by Optical Character Recognition Technology, there are some other languages that are not working on this. So when you are outsourcing, the bpo companies can only make use of this technology if the text that you share with them is available in OCR Language Pack.
So it is not necessary that the issues that pop up during OCR conversions are due to improper scanning. It may also be due to the absence of that particular language in the OCR Language Pack.
In other words, it is necessary that bpo companies must check whether the language of documents. works on OCR technology.
Expensive
OCR document conversion services become sometimes expensive due to many reasons. Firstly, the amount that a BPO company needs to take OCR license is very high. Secondly, it is not necessary that their employees need to have the necessary knowledge to work on this technology. So in such a situation, they have to spend a considerable amount of money to provide training for their staff. Finally, sometimes the BPO company needs to customize this software as per the needs of their client. In such situations also they need to invest a high amount of money.
Inaccuracy
Another disadvantage of outsourcing OCR conversion service is that it may create errors in the output. It happens due to various reasons. The primary reason that causes errors in documents is the inability of OCR technology to recognize fonts that are different from the default fonts that it has learned already.
The secondary reason for the inaccurate document is the lack of information on some common characters. That is when this happens OCR reads misread characters and creates errors in the output.
But these issues won’t be there if proofreading is there before the submission of the final document.
Final Thoughts
Hope you got an understanding regarding whether you need to hire a BPO company to deal with OCR conversions. Outsourcing OCR conversion services can boost productivity, data security, and access to information. However, there are potential drawbacks, such as high costs and accuracy issues. NexGen Data Entry is a leading provider of OCR conversion services with a team of experienced professionals. We use the latest OCR technology and have a proven track record of accuracy and quality. Contact us today to learn more about our services via [email protected]