Learn how intelligent document processing (IDP) enables organizations to capture, analyze and harness the power of their data stored in documents.
Timely, accurate data is the foundation for every modern business and central to digital transformation efforts. But extracting data from a variety of sources, including complex documents, can be a time-consuming and complicated process.
Legacy data processing automation tools, such as optical character recognition (OCR), which have been used for years to capture information from structured text files, has significant limitations when processing unstructured or semi-structured files, as well as physical documents.
In this post, we review how intelligent document processing (IDP) enables organizations to capture, analyze and harness the power of their data in a faster, more cost-effective and seamless way.
Intelligent document processing is a form of intelligent automation that leverages advanced technology to extract semi-structured or unstructured data from documents, emails, PDFs, images and other files and convert it into structured, usable data.
Intelligent document processing enables enterprises to eliminate manual data processing tasks, which greatly improves processing times, reduces costs and eliminates errors.
Terms like IDP, robotic process automation (RPA) and OCR are sometimes used interchangeably to describe automated data processing. However, each of these tools has distinct capabilities and use cases. While IDP, RPA and OCR solutions are related and often used together, they are neither interchangeable nor wholly replaceable.
RPA is a type of intelligent automation that uses machines or robots to perform simple and repetitive tasks with limited human intervention or supervision. While the RPA solution relies on data from other business applications to complete processes, the software typically does not support data capture or analysis. Instead, it relies on an IDP solution or similar technology to process data and apply insights within the RPA workflow.
Optical character recognition (OCR) is a core technology that extracts text from structured documents and creates a new text file. While helpful, this tool has limitations, especially in the modern business landscape, where data is contained within complex, unstructured documents.
IDP differs from OCR in that it can:
Here’s a list of questions you should ask when evaluating an IDP solution …
There are a number of steps that enable IDP to work. We’ll dive into them below.
All files, documents and other content is uploaded to the IDP platform for processing. For physical documents, files must be scanned and converted into an electronic format first.
The IDP tool leverages OCR, NLP, computer vision, AI/ML algorithms, and other intelligence-based techniques to recognize document characters within document elements and unstructured copy.
The IDP tool extracts relevant data from the document set. The solution leverages predefined rules and models to properly categorize the extracted data, such as dates, names, numbers, and other relevant information.
All data extracted by the IDP tool must be validated. This is done by cross-referencing data with external sources and models within the tool. Data that cannot be verified via automated means is flagged for manual processing by humans.
The real value of IDP solutions comes through integration with other business applications. The IDP tool can be used to support downstream activity, such as processing claims, registering customers, creating documents, invoicing or compliance.
IDP systems are used in many different industries, including financial services, insurance, logistics, legal, and healthcare. Common use cases include:
There are many industry applications for IDP.
Financial services
Insurance
Supply chain and logistics
Legal and compliance
Healthcare
By eliminating manual processes, IDP offers businesses a host of important benefits, including:
Inscribe’s intelligent documentation automation makes it easy to process customer applications and extract key fields from documents including bank statements, transactions, and payslips.
We work with clients to help reduce manual processes and integrate our easy-to-use API to automate document checks, streamline account opening or underwriting processes, and enhance compliance.
Key features include:
To learn how Inscribe can help your organization can improve your customer experience with a 10X reduction in application review times through intelligent document processing, contact our sales team to set up a demo today.
Check out our other guides on document processing: