As a result, they have dramatically reduced processing costs. Properly applied, a recognition system can shrink an organization's data-entry labor force by as much as 60 percent. Recognition technology also delivers indirect benefits to workers, such as a reduction in the number of cases of carpel tunnel and repetitive stress syndrome as well as eyestrain problems. But these benefits don't come easy. The harder it becomes to read the characters on a form or document, the more likely an error will occur.
More errors mean more time spent manually correcting what the computer misread.
With high error rates, benefits can quickly evaporate. If your agency wants computers to read handwriting, expect to pay a bundle to get it done. OCR, which was developed first, recognizes type fonts by pattern matching, character assessment and a crude learning process. ICR reads hand printing and, to a lesser extent, handwriting. OCR, which requires less computing power than ICR to recognize type fonts, can be installed in low-end imaging systems for a few hundred dollars.