3.1. Capture Information From Source Documents Onto A Computer System

Computers and information systems are essential parts of every business today. Like accounting and legal, every business needs to invest in technology to compete. Technology is both a cost of doing business and an opportunity to do more business. 

Data capturing is a process of putting information into a computer system. A wide variety of sources can be used to capture the data

One of the most useful application tasks of data capture is collecting information from paper documents and saving it into databases (CMS, ECM, and other systems).

There are several types of basic technologies used for data capture according to the data type:

• OCR
  • for printed text recognition
• ICR
  • for hand-printed text recognition
• OMR
  • for marks recognition
• OBR
  • for barcode recognition 
• BCR
  • for business card recognition 
• DLR
  • for document layer recognition

These basic technologies allow extracting information from paper documents for further processing in enterprise information systems such as ERP, CRM, and others.

Why should you do all this you ask? Imagine a customer calling you because they want to place a large order with your company. They have previously done business with your company. Since you do not have their data captured on a computer system for easy access, you would ask them to wait while you find the hard copy file with their information. You could tell them that you would call them back when you have their information handy but you would have to work through the physical file to establish what the customer ordered the last time and any other relevant information you may need to fulfill their order.

You might be smart enough to see cross and up-sell opportunities but you could also miss these opportunities completely. In the meantime, the customer is annoyed that you do not have their information or that they have to repeat information that you should have on file.

Data versus Information 

Data refers to raw, unevaluated facts, numbers, words, symbols, objects, events, etc. All of this is information that is to be coded using reference codes. 

Data may be a collection of facts lying in storage, like a telephone directory or census records. 

Information is data that has been put into a meaningful and useful context and communicated to a recipient who uses it to make decisions. Information involves the communication and reception of intelligence or knowledge. It appraises and notifies surprises and stimulates, reduces uncertainty, reveals additional alternatives or helps eliminate irrelevant or poor ones, and influences individuals and stimulates them to action. An element of data may constitute information in a specific context; for example, when you want to contact your friend, his or her telephone number is a piece of information; otherwise, it is just one element of data in the telephone directory. 

Computers have made the processing function much easier. Large quantities of data can be processed quickly through computers aiding in the conversion of data to information. Raw data enter the system and are transformed into the system’s output, that is, information to support managers in their decision-making. 

Data capturing is the process or means of obtaining and storing external data from source documents for use at a later time. There are various ways in which this can be done; the best method depends on the application.

Hundreds of thousands of documents of all types – paper, emails, file attachments, faxes, etc. – may reach an enterprise business every day, especially when customers are mainly private consumers or end users. Typically, this incoming information is a mixture of known forms, semi-structured accounting documents, and totally unstructured letters from customers, all appearing with either printed or handwritten text information. 

A primary challenge of running satisfactory operations is processing these documents, as they are received, in a standardised and efficient way. Creating a process to deal with complete source documents will go a long way to ensuring documents are processed correctly. Another process must be in place to manage incomplete source documents. It is important that this process allows for the gathering of complete information to enter into the system, rather than discarding the incomplete information. 

To capture your source documentation, you would need a computer system. A computer system is a complete, working computer. Computer systems will include the computer along with any software and peripheral devices that are necessary to make the computer function. Every computer system, for example, requires an operating system.

A computer is a general-purpose device that can be programmed to carry out a finite set of arithmetic or logical operations. Since a sequence of operations can be readily changed, the computer can solve more than one kind of problem.

Conventionally, a computer consists of at least one processing element, typically a central processing unit (CPU) and some form of memory. The processing element carries out arithmetic and logic operations, and a sequencing and control unit that can change the order of operations based on stored information. Peripheral devices allow information to be retrieved from an external source and the result of operations is saved and retrieved.

In computing, an office suite, sometimes called an office software suite or productivity suite, is a collection of productivity programs intended to be used by knowledge workers. The components are generally distributed together, have a consistent user interface, and usually can interact with each other, sometimes in ways that the operating system would not normally allow.

Existing office suites contain a wide range of various components. Most typically, the base components include:

• Word processor
• Spreadsheet
• Presentation program

Less common components of office suites include:

• Database

Backup software is computer programs used to perform backups; they create supplementary exact copies of files, databases, or entire computers. These programs may later use the supplementary copies to restore the original contents in the event of data loss. 

Backups are crucial when customer data is captured to help manage customer interaction. If your data becomes corrupt or lost, a backup should allow you to restore this information with only minimal loss of data, if any. The way you configure your backup operations will determine how much data is lost.

Input is any data or instructions entered into the memory of a computer. Two types of input are data and instructions. Data is a collection of unorganised items that can include words, numbers, pictures, sounds, and video. 

A computer will process data into information, which is organised, meaningful, and useful. Instructions can be in the form of programs, commands, or user responses. A program is a series of instructions that tells a computer how to perform the tasks necessary to process data into information.

A command is an instruction given to a computer program. A user response is an instruction you issue to the computer by responding to a question posed by a computer program. Commands can include the addition of new information to a client database, the generation of unique reference codes for transactions with the customer, and the modification of existing customer information, including deletion or cancelling of existing information.

Customer data would typically be captured in a database. A database is an organised collection of data. The data is typically organised to model relevant aspects of reality (for example, the availability of rooms in hotels), in a way that supports processes requiring this information (for example, finding a hotel with vacancies).

Other examples of databases could include Job costing, sales ledgers, purchase/bought ledgers, employee databases, and crash logs.

Formally, the term “database” refers to the data itself and supporting data structures.

Databases are created to operate large quantities of information by inputting, storing, retrieving, and managing that information. Databases are set up so that one set of software programs provides all users with access to all the data. 

Databases use a table format, which is made up of rows and columns. Each piece of information is entered into a row, which then creates a record. Once the records are created in the database, they can be organised and operated in a variety of ways that are limited mainly by the software being used. 

Databases are somewhat similar to spreadsheets, but databases are more demanding than spreadsheets because of their ability to manipulate the data that is stored. It is possible to do a number of functions with a database that would be more difficult to do with a spreadsheet. 

The word data is normally defined as facts from which information can be derived. A database may contain millions of such facts. From these facts, the database management system (DBMS) can develop information.

A “database management system” (DBMS) is a suite of computer software providing the interface between users and a database or databases. Because they are so closely related, the term “database” when used casually often refers to both a DBMS and the data it manipulates.

A reference code, also referred to as a reference number, is a unique code assigned to a transaction. The unique reference codes will help the customer to follow up on a transaction without having to explain everything again. If they quote the reference number, the staff member should be able to easily extract the information from the computer system. 

Manual reference codes could be created by using invoice numbers or employee numbers. 

When you do job costing, assigning a reference number manually could be very risky. It is better to let the system assign a reference number that can be tracked automatically. 

Providing a customer reference goes a long way to creating customer confidence as they know that they will be able to track the progress of their request or order.