ABBYY is recognized as a leader in Everest Group’s Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) Products PEAK Matrix® Assessment 2024.
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Document Ingestion
What is Document Ingestion
Document ingestion is the automated intake and normalization of documents from multiple input sources into a processing system, preparing them for classification, extraction, and downstream handling.
How document ingestion works
Ingestion handles the channel diversity of the real-world document workflows. Input sources include:
- Email attachments in multiple formats
- Fax transmissions
- API payloads
- Portal uploads
- Cloud storage syncs
- EDI feeds
Each of these channels may deliver documents that require consistent handling regardless of their origin.
Document ingestion vs. Document capture
Document capture is about acquiring documents into the system, while document ingestion is about normalizing the heterogeneity across multi-channel inputs before processing begins.
| Aspect | Document Ingestion | Document Capture |
| Focus | Handles multi-channel normalization across diverse input sources | Focuses on the initial acquisition of documents |
| Input channels | Accepts documents from email, fax, API payloads, portal uploads, cloud storage syncs, and EDI feeds | Typically handles a single or limited number of input channels |
| Format handling | Normalizes documents delivered in different formats, quality levels, and packaging | Captures documents in their original format |
| Document separation | Separates and individually classifies multiple documents from a single input, such as an email with multiple attachments | Generally, treats each captured document as a single unit |
| Pipeline role | Resolves heterogeneity before the processing pipeline begins | Feeds into the ingestion or processing stage |
