Frequently Asked Questions - Applications of TeleForm

TeleForm, and ePC's range of add-on products are used by our customers in many different ways to fulfil a variety of needs. The following are descriptions are based on actual customers' systems. We will explain how TeleForm, and our optional add-on applications, have solved a wide range of problems proving that automated data capture can be used for more than just converting handwriting to electronic data.

Automatic Analysis and Reporting of Exam Papers

A leading company specialising in helping organisations recruit, develop and manage their staff, base a lot of their work on the results of psychometric or analytical testing. Candidates are required to complete questionnaires by ticking boxes or entering the correct number and letters on answer forms.

Once completed these handwritten forms are scanned into the TeleForm system in batches. The system then reads the forms, converts the handwritten answers to electronic data and then runs custom scripts to calculate a score. The data is then be processed in a custom database to generate a profile. All information recorded is then sent to a candidate results database where it can be used for statistical analysis, printing or archival purposes.

The input of candidate's information and questionnaire answers were once typed into the computer system manually but this process has now been fully automated using the TeleForm system and a set of custom made forms, scripts and databases created in partnership with ePC designers.

Automatically Checking Form Data is Accurate

A local finance company uses TeleForm to process applications from customer's wishing start a credit agreement. The application form has been designed so that the customer's personal details, bank, credit or debit card details can all be electronically read by TeleForm and passed directly into their credit processing system. This replaces the laborious task of typing application data directly into the credit processing system by hand for every applicant.

Avoiding the manual entry of data is not the only time saving benefit to the organisation. Using a combination of the optional eNames and eBank modules, the system has been configured to check that customer's bank details are accurate. Account numbers are checked using the Experian Payments Bank Wizard to make sure that they are appropriate for the supplied sort code, additionally the ability of the account to accept direct debits can also be verified. Personal details are checked against electoral roll information to improve the accuracy of address information. By using these validation tools a great deal of time is saved by removing the need to chase up incorrect details or reject the application altogether.

NHS National Survey

The NHS National Survey is an annual survey conducted by Primary Care Trusts (PCT's) to record patients and their carers' experiences of the NHS. The results of these surveys enable comparisons to be made between areas or periods of time. A number of PCT's successfully use TeleForm to automate the input of survey results into a database which is then used to provide statistical reports on demand. A fair number of PCT's still choose to employ casual staff to manually type in survey results into the system; with today's increasing focus on health service budgets and expenditure, this is fast becoming a less favoured method. By investing in a TeleForm system PCT's have found that they not only save considerable amounts of money on temporary staff, but also have a useful tool which can be used for other surveys or data gathering exercises in the future.

Office Equipment Meter Readings

A company responsible for leasing out photocopiers and other office equipment to businesses regularly sends out engineers to service and repair machines. While the engineers are on the premises they are required to take meter readings of all the chargeable machinery such as fax machines, photocopiers or printers. The meter readings are handwritten on a form and processed by hand by staff back in the main office. With hundreds of individual meter readings being received daily it was decided that a more efficient method should be employed to generate invoices based on a companies counter readings. TeleForm was implemented and now engineers send their completed forms to the office to be scanned, which then automatically reads the forms. Once the data is verified the readings are exported to a system and invoices are automatically generated.

Clinical Trials Data

Clinical trials by their nature run over a long period of time and require regular meetings between doctors and trials patients. By using TeleForm the results of doctor's ongoing checks of patients can be logged on paper and sent back to pharmaceutical companies for monitoring and archival purposes. TeleForm will, however, also allow for electronic forms to be submitted directly over a LAN, WAN or even the Internet. This ensures that important medical data can be updated instantly enabling pharmaceutical companies to have the most up to date information possible for use in its' trials. The AutoMerge Publisher module within TeleForm has been used in conjunction with the PDF eForms module to automatically return incorrectly completed forms to the source doctors for completion and re-submission vastly reducing the amount of time dealing with corrections.

Timesheet Automation

TeleForm is used extensively in the temp agency sector to automate the processing of employee timesheets. Using the eForms and fax capability of TeleForm employees can submit their completed timesheets electronically via the Internet, via fax or by physically sending the paper form.

A large temp agency has utilised the full gamut of TeleForm and ePC's additional modules to form a complex but highly efficient method of processing, validating, archiving and retrieving timesheet information. This system has not only dramatically reduced the human input required to process timesheets but by utilising ePC's eStore software has enabled them to help in queries by retrieving any scanned timesheet via an intuitive search engine on any Internet Explorer terminal on the local network.

Safety Card Scanning

Chevron Texaco use TeleForm to record and transmit vital safety observations made by staff on four of their North Sea oil platforms. Previously, each platform used to manually record the information from safety inspection cards into individual systems. This was not only time consuming but also did not allow for centralised storage or analysis of key safety data. A TeleForm system has been implemented on each of the oil platforms which are linked via a combination of microwave, copper and optical fibre networks. When a safety card is scanned on any of the platforms the data is verified and exported onto a local oracle database. These databases are then synchronised with a database on the mainland so that all parts of the organisation can see the vital safety information almost as soon as it's recorded.