Known as ScanAnPro, the software can capture a variety of different types of data from scanned forms, including check-mark boxes, OCR (optical character recognition), ICR (hand print), barcodes and comment fields.
The new software was originally developed by Kendata for use in the company’s formsprocessing bureau, where it has successfully processed over a million A4 forms. Since ease of use is a key consideration in this high-volume environment, ScanAnPro was designed to minimise the need for operator intervention by handling all the decision making when errors such as double marking are detected.
Rather than asking the operator to decide which of two marks is ‘correct’, ScanAnPro simply requires confirmation that both boxes are indeed marked and then records it as an invalid response.
ScanAnPro can provide a complete audit trail by printing a unique identification number on each sheet as it is scanned, which is especially important when dealing with longer survey booklets as they have to be separated into individual sheets prior to scanning.
In addition, the software randomly selects a certain number of forms from each batch for QA validation in accordance with the sampling requirements of ISO2859/BS6001, thereby confirming the integrity of the data.
A high level of data security is provided as ScanAnPro immediately stores a copy of each form’s image on the operator’s PC as well as on the server, so no data is lost even if the server goes down during processing. Captured data is automatically entered into an Access database, from where it can easily be exported as an Excel document or in other file formats if required.
Equally suitable for high- and lowvolume projects, ScanAnPro also offers adjustable thresholds for optimum checkmark reading, a logging facility for tracking operator actions, and a collation feature that automatically creates a multipage PDF as pages are scanned.
