Skip to Main Content

How Barcode Data Capture Software Is Revolutionizing Document Management

barcode capture document workflows

Managing high volumes of documents can quickly become a burden for even the most resourceful businesses. Implementing some form of document management system is essential for keeping up with the steady tide of files that need to be identified, sorted, and routed to the proper workflows. Many developers are turning to barcode capture software as a means of rapidly integrating those essential content processing features into their applications.

Barcode Data Capture

Organizations are always seeking out new ways to maximize efficiency when it comes to business processes. Sometimes, however, the ideal solution doesn’t involve some new innovation, but rather a new application of existing technology.

Barcodes have been a mainstay of the retail and logistics industries for decades. They have proven themselves to be an efficient means of tracking items as they move through a supply chain and instantly providing data that would take time and effort to obtain manually. By simply reading a barcode, software systems can immediately connect an item to information stored in a database, which improves both efficiency and accuracy for any use case that involves managing assets.

While most people associate them with physical items, barcodes are increasingly moving out of the warehouse and into the digital office. Document capture automation software and enterprise content management systems can both leverage barcode technology to help streamline workflows and make it easier to manage complex document databases.

Integrating Barcodes into Document Management Solutions

Documents remain an integral component of large and small businesses alike. From financial records and human resources data to customer-facing forms and legal contracts, organizations both generate and gather documents at an incredible rate. Without some way of managing digital files automatically, they’re forced to rely on manual processes like visually matching account numbers or tracking IDs and laboriously reviewing every document to determine where it needs to be sorted.

Barcodes offer a convenient and relatively simple way of integrating automated data capture into a document management system. Rather than building out countless templates or relying on sophisticated machine learning software to identify different types of documents, developers can instead assign unique barcodes to documents as they enter an automated workflow. Barcode capture software can then quickly read the barcode to instantly identify the document and route it to the appropriate destination.

For instance, an insurance application form submitted by a potential customer may need to be pushed through to an adjustor’s workflow, but another form that provides supplemental information about the account might be safely routed to the customer’s file for future reference. Barcodes make it possible for the document management application to accurately identify every type of document travelling through the system, ensuring that everything ends up in the proper destination.

For larger, multi-page documents, barcodes also help ensure that individual pages are kept together in a batch. All documents in a series can be labeled with a barcode, which reduces the risk of pages being lost or mixed up with pages from another batch. This is especially important for organizations that scan physical documents into digital form. Since every document has a barcode, the document management system will automatically know what it is, what other documents are associated with it, and where it needs to be stored as soon as it’s scanned into the system. There’s no need to waste time and resources manually classifying or organizing documents as they’re scanned.

5 Benefits of Barcode Data Capture

  1. Speed and Efficiency: Incorporating barcodes into a document management solution streamlines workflows by eliminating the need to sort files by hand. They also make it easier to retrieve information quickly to accelerate other business practices.
  2. Accuracy: Barcodes ensure that documents are processed correctly and routed to the proper workflows. Since scanning occurs automatically, common human errors like misread document ID numbers or incorrect keystrokes are largely eliminated.
  3. Cost Savings: A reliable and simple technology to implement, barcode capture software is easier to implement and maintain than more sophisticated machine learning tools that perform similar document management functions.
  4. Flexibility: While ideal for document management, barcodes can be applied to almost any business practice that involves tracking and information retrieval. Barcode data capture technology adapts easily to different departmental use cases within an organization.
  5. Productivity: Transitioning to an automated document management system not only increases processing speeds, but also frees up valuable resources. Employees spend less time sorting and searching for documents, allowing them to focus their efforts on higher value tasks that will help an organization grow.

Enhance Your Data Capture Potential with Barcode Xpress

Accusoft’s Barcode Xpress is a versatile barcode SDK that integrates easily into your application to provide support for more than 30 distinct barcode types. Capable of reading and writing both 1D and 2D barcodes, Barcode Xpress has been optimized for speed and accuracy with regard to document processing. Locate and recognize barcodes anywhere on the page within milliseconds to extract vital data that can be passed along to your document management solution.

Barcode Xpress uses a flexible processing system that can read damaged, poorly printed, and skewed barcodes with ease. With a reading speed of up to 1,000 pages per minute, this powerful SDK can easily meet the content management needs of any business. Start your free trial to see how you can implement Barcode Xpress within your current application environment.