Designed for organisations with quick turnaround, low-frequency data capture projects, our UK-based document scanning services include design and print of form templates, scanning, indexing, data export and reporting.
A structured form template will be designed to capture the data you need while maintaining your corporate branding, colours, and themes. At ePC, we design base stationery containing a mix of field types e.g., machine-printed text, handwritten text, and checkboxes to facilitate the capture of the information.
Your existing forms can be used as a style guide meaning the new layout will be like the original. However, where necessary, the form will be optimised for accurate automated recognition.
A well-designed form template consisting of various components such as constrained print fields, choice fields, cornerstones, barcodes, and ID blocks improves the processing of the scanned form, reduces manual intervention, and increases capture rates.
Once the base stationery has been approved, we can professionally print the forms.
At ePC, our teams will advise on the print quality and colour usage to ensure it is appropriate for the intended use. For example, if the form is an OMR sheet for a high-stakes exam, the paper must be resilient to the use of erasers and not smudge as well as suitable for scanner use (e.g., correct drop-out colours, thick enough paper to prevent show-through, etc.).
Before distribution, form templates can be generated with variable data (e.g., pre-fill fields with personal information) or a sequential tracking number or barcode to link multi-page forms.
Finally, we will securely courier the forms to you and collect the completed documents.
Once returned to our scanning bureau, we will begin the process of digitising your paper forms into electronic records.
Upon arrival at our secure document scanning bureau, a series of QC checks are conducted in line with our ISO 9001 accreditation.
Next, the documents are converted to an electronic image. This is achieved by scanning paper forms into data capture software through a high-speed document scanner.
At this stage, the files undergo image conversion and processing to check page size and orientation, convert colour images to black and white, remove image defects, confirm barcode readability and more.
At ePC, we use a range of industrial scanners from Canon and Kodak for document scanning. They start at throughputs of 25 pages per minute up to over 120 PPM, meaning our scanning bureau can digitalise hundreds of thousands of images every month.
ePC will read scanned images, perform mark and character recognition, and validate extracted data.
Common-sense logic rules will be applied to the extracted data to ensure that invalid responses are not exported (e.g., impossible to tick more than one response for a single-choice question on an OMR form). Our automated data capture software can extract the following data:
If human verification is required, scanned images of any field or form needing review are displayed for an operator to make instant decisions on borderline characters.
In this example, the correct answer is C but an operator is asked to decide if the marking in A means the answer should be marked as incorrect.
Once the process is complete, valid data can be exported to any required format (e.g., CSV. XLS, SPSS). We can ship your original paper documents back to you or destroy them at our secure scanning bureau.
We can also output document images – and verified data – to your records management system or eStore, our web-based document management system. eStore allows administrators to access scanned form images and indexed data securely via a web portal for future reference.
We can also provide an analysis of the results and commentary/observations on the whole process.
From high-stakes testing to simple questionnaires, we can deliver your scanning project, including OMR sheet design, scanning, and data export, within a matter of weeks.
ePC uses Canon and Kodak production scanners with our scanning bureau to be able to digitalise over half a million images each month.
For low volumes or irregular projects, outsourcing document scanning services to a bureau is more cost-effective than purchasing forms processing software.
However, if you have ongoing or high-volume scanning requirements, we recommend purchasing data capture software such as TeleForm or ABBYY for on-site scanning.
Our experts manage the whole project for you, eliminating manual data entry and allowing you to focus on more productive tasks.
Field data is intelligently extracted from scanned images and converted into searchable, metadata for archival and retrieval.
Our propriety eStore software provides indexing, storage, and retrieval of scanned images and metadata for future reference or compliance reasons.
Our new premises include a document scanning bureau monitored 24 hours a day by alarm/CCTV systems.
We are ISO 9001:2015 accredited, registered with the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) and hold Cyber Essentials certification.
Additionally, we provide solutions to the public sector through the G-Cloud and Digital Outcomes and Specialists (DOS) framework.
Digitalising paper forms will eliminate the need for manual filing and release valuable floor space in your organisation.
Accelerate your digital transformation initiatives with our workflow automation, electronic forms, and data capture systems.
With over 20 years’ experience in document capture, ePC has supplied data capture systems to NHS trusts, local councils, large commerce and more.
At the same time, we only select the best technology from OEM manufacturers including OpenText, ABBYY, Canon, and Kodak to meet your digital transformation requirements.
Case study
I would highly recommend ePC to other schools seeking an automated marking solution for the 11-plus exam. Our school has saved a significant amount of time during this year’s admissions process by outsourcing both the design of the OMR sheet and exam paper scanning with results issued to pupils in record time. We have greatly appreciated the personal contact and professional service provided; it has exceeded our expectations and my colleagues speak highly of it.
A.M. Robson, Chief Executive Officer, Reading School
For organisations with more regular line-of-business tasks, we recommend purchasing data capture software for on-site document scanning.
TeleForm automatically captures and indexes data and images from any form type, using handprint (ICR), machine print (OCR) and checkbox (OMR) recognition technology, ready for export to a database.
It aims to reduce manual data entry time by 90% or more and can eliminate hundreds of operator keystrokes.
ABBYY FlexiCapture is a highly scalable data capture solution for extracting data from structured, semi-structured and unstructured documents for export into backend applications and archiving.
FlexiCapture brings together NLP, machine learning and advanced recognition into an enterprise-scale platform to handle every type of document, from forms to complex free-form documents.
