Users of multi-function devices (MFDs) have to deal with large number of documents, which can be effectively handled using enterprise document management systems (EDMS). Users of such systems often face the task of capturing data from paper documents, and an essential part of any EDMS is optical character recognition (OCR), a technology that enables the user to capture printed documents and convert them into editable form. It is also used to create an index of keywords for paper documents, relying on full-page/zone recognition. Therefore, OCR technologies used in EDMS must meet a number of stringent requirements and provide zone and full-page recognition capabilities.
Canon Australia offers its customers EDMS for the imageRUNNER MFD series and desktop scanners. In order to satisfy the demand for OCR functionality, Canon decided to integrate an OCR engine with its existing software.
Canon Australia carefully selected the OCR module for the system. The main requirement was to have a cost effective solution that could be easily customised and integrated with existing document management hardware and software. The technical requirements of the software are:
Tests conducted by Canon and positive feedback from Canon's clients showed that ABBYY FineReader is a very reliable OCR system. Canon decided to evaluate the ABBYY FineReader Engine SDK. Evaluation that was held with the technical assistance of TopSoft Pty Ltd passed very successfully.
To test the viability of the technology when integrated with other Canon application software and to estimate functionality, Canon developed a special version of its scanning application that used the ABBYY FineReader Engine SDK. The testing showed that the ABBYY OCR Engine provided excellent recognition accuracy and had all the functionality required for integration with Canon's document management systems.
Next, the ABBYY FineReader Engine SDK was successfully integrated with Canon's document capture software, imageREAL Capture, and became part of the EDMS supplied together with Canon's MFDs. As a result of this synergy, users of Canon’s multi-function devices now have direct access to powerful OCR functionality provided by ABBYY technology.
Canon Australia began its business operations in 1973. Headquartered in North Ryde, Sydney, Canon Australia currently employs more than 1,150 people and has offices in all mainland capital cities. Recording sales revenues of $A725 million (for the calendar year 2002), the company is a leading provider of imaging technology and enjoys one of the most recognised corporate brand names in Australia.
For details please visit http://www.canon.com.au/.
