Technical FAQs

Today’s high-speed forms processing workflows depend on accurate character recognition to capture data from document images. Rather than manually reviewing forms and entering data by hand, optical character recognition (OCR) and intelligent character recognition (ICR) allow developers to automate the data capture process while also cutting down on human error. Thanks to OCR segmentation, these tools are able to read a wide range of character types to keep forms workflows moving efficiently.

Recognizing Fonts

Deploying OCR to capture data is a complex undertaking due to the immense diversity of fonts in use. Modern character recognition software focuses on identifying the pixel patterns associated with specific characters rather than matching characters to existing libraries. This gives them the flexibility needed to discern multiple font types, but problems can still arise due to spacing issues that make it difficult to tell where one character ends and another begins.

Fonts generally come in one of two forms that impact how much space each character occupies. “Fixed” or “monospaced” fonts are uniformly spaced so that every character takes up the exact same amount of space on the page. While not quite as popular now in the era of word processing software and digital printing, fixed fonts were once the standard form of typeface due to the technical limitations of printing presses and typewriters. On a traditional typewriter, for example, characters were evenly spaced because each typebar (or striker) was a standardized size.

From an OCR standpoint, fixed fonts are easier to read because they can be neatly segmented. Each segmented character is the same size, no matter what letters, numbers, or symbols are used. In the example below, the amount of space occupied by the characters is determined by the number of characters used, not the shape of the characters themselves. This makes it easy to break the text down into a segmented grid for accurate recognition.

“Proportional” fonts, however, are not uniformly spaced. The amount of space taken up by each character is determined by the shape of the character itself. So while a w takes up the same space as an i in a fixed font, it takes up much more space in a proportional font.

The inherent characteristics of proportional fonts makes them more difficult to segment cleanly. Since each character occupies a variable amount of space, each segmentation box needs to be a different shape. In the example below, applying a standardized segmentation grid to the text would fail to cleanly separate individual characters, even though both lines feature the exact same character count.

Yet another font challenge comes from “kerning,” which reduces the space between certain characters to allow them to overlap. Frequently used in printing, kerning makes for an aesthetically pleasing font, but it can create serious headaches for OCR data capture because many characters don’t separate cleanly. In the example below, small portions of the W and the A overlap, which could create confusion for an OCR engine as it analyzes pixel data. While the overlap is very slight in this example, many fonts feature far more extreme kerning.

In order to get a clean reading of printed text for more accurate recognition results, OCR engines like the one built into Accusoft’s SmartZone SDK utilize segmentation to take an image and split it into several smaller images before applying recognition. This allows the engine to isolate characters from one another to get a clean reading without any stray pixels that could impact recognition results.

Much of this process is handled automatically by the software. SmartZone, for instance, has OCR segmentation settings and properties that are handled internally based on the image at hand. In some cases, however, those controls may need to be adjusted manually to ensure the highest level of accuracy. If a specific font routinely returns failed or low confidence recognition results, it may be necessary to use the OCR segmentation properties to adjust for font characteristics like spaces, overlaps (kerning), and blob size (which distinguishes which pixels are classified as noise).

Applying ICR Segmentation

All of the challenges associated with cleanly segmenting printed text are magnified when it comes to hand printed text. Characters are rarely spaced or even shaped consistently, especially when they’re drawn without the guidance of comb lines that provide clear separation for the person completing a form.

Since ICR engines read characters as individual glyphs, they can become confused if overlapping characters are interpreted as a single glyph. In the example below, there is a slight overlap between the A and the c, while the cross elements of the f and t are merged to form the impression of a single character.

SmartZone’s ICR segmentation properties can be used to pull apart overlapping characters and split merged characters for more accurate recognition results. This is also important for maintaining a consistent character count. If the ICR engine isn’t accounting for overlapped and merged characters, it could return fewer character results than are actually present in the image.

Enhance Your Data Forms Capture with SmartZone

Accusoft’s SmartZone SDK supports both zonal and full page OCR/ICR for forms processing workflows to quickly and accurately capture information from document images. When incorporated into a forms workflow and integrated with identification and alignment tools like the ones found in FormSuite, users can streamline data capture and processing by extracting text and routing it to the appropriate databases or application tools. SmartZone’s OCR supports 77 distinct languages from around the world, including a variety of Asian and Cyrillic characters. For a hands-on look at how SmartZone can enhance your data capture workflow, download a free trial today.

Today’s applications need tremendous versatility when it comes to document management. Developers are expected to deliver tools that can handle multiple file types and have the ability to share them securely with internal users and people outside the organization. As more companies transition to remote-first work environments, online (and secure) collaboration tools are becoming a must-have feature. One of the major challenges facing developers is how to adapt existing document technologies and practices to an increasingly interconnected environment without creating additional risks.

Rendering and Conversion Challenges of Microsoft Office

Microsoft Office (MSO) files have long presented problems for organizations looking for greater flexibility when it comes to viewing and marking up documents. This stems in part from the widespread reliance on the Office software itself, which held a staggering 87.5 percent share of the productivity software market according to a 2019 Gartner estimate. Companies of all sizes across multiple industries rely on programs like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, but there are many instances where they would like to be able to share those documents without also surrendering control of the source files.

The challenge here is twofold. On the one hand, if an organization shares an MSO file with a client or vendor, there’s no guarantee that the recipient will be able to view it properly. They may not have access to Office, in which case they can’t open the file at all, or they may be using an outdated version of the software. While they may still be able to open and view the file, it may not display as originally intended if it uses features not included in previous editions of Office.

On the other hand, however, sharing files outside a secure application environment always creates additional risk. Microsoft Office documents are notoriously attractive targets for hackers seeking to embed malicious code into files, and older, unpatched versions of the software contain numerous known vulnerabilities. Sharing MSO files with an outside party could quickly result in the file being exposed to a compromised machine or network. There’s also a question of version control and privacy, as a downloaded file could easily be copied, edited, or even distributed without authorization.

Unfortunately, it has proved quite difficult to natively render MSO documents in another application. Anyone who has had the misfortune of trying to view or edit a DOCX file in Google Docs will understand the challenges involved. While it’s certainly possible to render MSO files in a different application, the end result is often a little off the mark. Fonts may be rendered incorrectly, formatting could be slightly (or drastically) off, and entire document elements (such as tables, text fields, or images) could be lost if the application doesn’t know how to render them properly.

Rendering MSO Files Natively with PrizmDoc Viewer

As a fully-featured HTML5 viewing integration, Accusoft’s PrizmDoc Viewer can be deployed as an MSO file viewer that renders them like any other document type. However, this doesn’t provide a true native viewing experience, which many businesses require for various compliance reasons. Fortunately, the PrizmDoc Server’s Content Conversion Service (CCS) allows applications to natively render MSO documents with a simple API call.

The MSO rendering feature allows PrizmDoc to communicate directly with an installed version of Microsoft Office, which ensures that every element of the file is rendered accurately within the HTML5 viewer. For example, a DOCX file opened in Microsoft Word should look identical to the same document rendered within an application by PrizmDoc Viewer. Once the document is accurately rendered, it can be shared with other users inside or outside an organization. This allows people to view and even markup MSO files without the original source file ever having to leave the secure application environment. It’s an ideal solution for reducing security risks and eliminating the possibility of version confusion.

Converting Additional MSO File Elements

In many instances, organizations need to share MSO files that have already been marked up or commented upon. This could include Word documents with multiple tracked changes or PowerPoint slides with extensive speaker notes. Those additional markups could be important elements that need to be shared or reviewed, so it’s critical to include them during the conversion and rendering process.

Using the server’s CCS, PrizmDoc Viewer can convert Word documents with accepted or rejected markup changes when converting the file into a different format (such as converting an MSO file to PDF) or rendering it for viewing in the application itself. The same capabilities extend to PowerPoint presentations with speaker notes. When converting these MSO files, the outputted version can consist of slides only or include the speaker notes along with them.

These conversion and rendering capabilities provide developers tremendous flexibility when they’re integrating viewing features into their applications. They can easily deploy them to help their customers collaborate and share MSO files without having to remove them from a secure environment. It’s also a winning feature for end users, who don’t need to worry about downloading files or having access to the latest version of Microsoft Office.

Improve Your Document Capabilities with PrizmDoc Viewer

With its extensive file conversion, redaction, and annotation capabilities, Accusoft’s PrizmDoc Viewer is an essential integration for any document management platform that requires an MSO file viewer. It provides support for dozens of file types to give applications the flexibility needed to meet the demands of today’s complex workflows and improve efficiency. As an HTML5 viewer, it can be integrated into any web-based solution with minimal development effort, which frees up valuable resources developers need to focus on the innovative features that will help set their applications apart in a competitive market.

To learn more about PrizmDoc Viewer’s robust feature set, have a look at our detailed fact sheet. If you’re ready to see what our HTML5 viewer will look like within your application environment, download a free trial and start integrating features right away.

Automated data capture tools are an essential feature of today’s business applications. Without the ability to quickly extract information from incoming forms and documents, organizations will struggle to keep their records, databases, and customer-facing software up-to-date. While software SDKs like Accusoft’s SmartZone can deliver powerful optical character recognition (OCR) and intelligent character recognition (ICR) to help applications accurately capture the information they need, these tools were not designed to operate in isolation. To get the best performance out of them, they need to be incorporated into a comprehensive and well-designed forms processing workflow.

Building an Efficient and Effective Forms Processing Workflow

Although data capture is often the primary objective of forms processing, a number of elements need to be in place for an application to be able to deploy SmartZone’s powerful OCR/ICR functionality. The first step involves the creation of form templates that can be used both for identifying incoming scanned forms and for defining field regions on the page from which data can be extracted. Building this library of templates provides a road map of sorts for the recognition process.

After form images are acquired, either from pre-existing digital documents or newly scanned images, they may need to be enhanced or cleaned up to ensure the best recognition results. Operations such as binarization, despeckling, deskewing, and line removal can all improve the data capture process, especially in the case of scanned documents. Older documents frequently include a great deal of image noise when scanned into digital format, which can make it difficult for an OCR/ICR engine to properly segment and read characters cleanly.

Once a form image has undergone enhancement, it can be matched and aligned with the correct template to ensure that the SmartZone recognition engine will be able to obtain a clean field clip. Scanned images can be overlaid via an alignment algorithm that performs minor adjustments to match it exactly with the correct template. This step is crucial because the data capture process is set up to read the field areas identified by the template rather than recalibrating for each form. If the alignment is off, the engine will not get a clean read of the characters, which could result in inaccurate recognition results.

After the form is identified and aligned, additional enhancement and cleanup operations can be performed on the specific areas of the form that contain information to be extracted. This typically means individual field areas where text or other characters have been entered. The locations to be cleaned up can be designated during the template creation process when data extraction zones are defined. In some instances, a processing workflow may skip the initial full-page enhancement and instead only perform clean-up on areas where data capture will be carried out. This approach is often more efficient from a processing standpoint, especially when targeted, zonal recognition is being applied.

Form image dropout can also be performed at this stage, which involves the removal of image content like signature lines, text field boxes, comb lines, or other extraneous guiding content. Here again, proper form alignment is crucial. If the form is slightly “off” from the template, valuable character content could be removed, making accurate recognition much more difficult. Good form dropout tools should also be able to reconstruct characters that lose pixel data during the dropout process, which is common for characters that have an element that overlaps form lines (such as the lower half of a “j” or a “y,” which might otherwise be read as an “i” or a “v” if not repaired prior to recognition).

SmartZone’s Role in the Recognition Phase of Application Workflows

After a form is acquired, enhanced, identified, and aligned, it can be passed along to the next stage of the workflow for text recognition using SmartZone OCR/ICR. There are a few options that can be selected at this point to help improve recognition accuracy and faster data capture performance.

1. Select Character Sets

SmartZone supports a wide variety of languages and alphanumeric character sets. Realistically, only a few of these sets will need to be used at any one time. Selecting only the sets needed for a particular form will improve recognition accuracy and speed. For instance, there’s no need to have support of Cyrillic languages (like Russian or Greek) enabled if all of the forms being processed are in English.

2. Designate Field Types

SmartZone can designate the expected format of text found in specific fields on a template. Rather than reading each field out of context and extracting the contents without knowing whether or not it’s been filled in correctly, field types can be set to values such as date, email, currency, phone number, or Social Security Number. Regular expressions can also be established for more customizable results. If the character content of the field doesn’t match the designated field type, SmartZone will immediately return an exception and move on rather than trying to recognize and extract the incorrect data. Setting this parameter can greatly improve both accuracy and speed.

3. Set Minimum Character Confidence

Every character SmartZone reads is assigned a confidence value, which reflects the OCR/ICR engine’s assessment of its recognition accuracy. A lower value means that there is a higher likelihood that a character was incorrectly identified. Setting a minimum character confidence value ensures that any character result below that value will be rejected and replaced with a designated rejection character. In practice, this control is used to determine which characters require a manual review following recognition. Setting a high confidence value will ensure higher recognition accuracy, but will likely lead to more exceptions that need to be reviewed by a human.

SmartZone Recognition Results

After character recognition is performed, results can be returned for the character, text line, or text block level. This data can then be passed along to the next stage of a business workflow or used to populate databases connected to the application. Operation instructions, identification, and image areas defined can be transferred to other components for additional forms processing or stored in memory for later access using SmartZone’s Read From Stream or Write From Stream functions.

Getting Started with SmartZone

With support for both OCR and ICR data capture, Accusoft’s SmartZone SDK can serve a vital role in high-performance forms processing applications. The powerful OCR engine can recognize multiple languages, including select Asian, African, and Indian characters. Capable of performing full page or zonal text extraction, SmartZone also includes a variety of customization features that can improve accuracy and recognition speed. Learn more about this versatile SDK’s features and use cases in our product fact sheet.

As the software industry continues to transition to web-based applications and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions, developers are prioritizing flexibility more than ever. Building a unique and compelling customer experience frequently requires versatile software toolkits that are easy to customize and adapt to changing requirements.  Customizing the PrizmDoc Viewer interface makes this simple.

Accusoft’s PrizmDoc Viewer is an HTML5 viewing integration that not only provides an extensive array of viewing, conversion, and annotation features, but was also designed with customization in mind. Creative developers have several options at their disposal when they deploy this innovative solution within their applications.

PrizmDoc Viewer Interface Basics

Once PrizmDoc Viewer is integrated into an application, developers can deploy the pre-built user interface to start viewing documents and image files. Out of the box, the viewer consists of a number of components:

• Tab Navigation: PrizmDoc Viewer can perform a variety of different functions, such as basic viewing, annotation, and redaction. The Tab Navigation indicates which function is currently active.
• Tab Pane: Each tabset selected in the Navigation features a specific set of tools. They can be configured to display either vertically or horizontally.
• Status Bar: This component indicates the current page being viewed. By selecting a different page number, a user can quickly jump to another document page.
• Dialog: Extended options and settings are displayed in this menu area.
• Context Menu: Used primarily for markups, this menu allows users to change annotation properties.
• Page List: The core element of the viewer control, this component is where the document or image itself is rendered for viewing.

Any of these tabs can be disabled easily by altering the configuration parameters. For example, to disable the navigation tab for redaction, the following code could be applied:

var pluginOptions = {
    uiElements: {
        redactTab: false
    }
};

Customizing the Viewer

While developers can simply deploy the viewer interface as-is, PrizmDoc Viewer provides extensive customization features that allow them to change almost every aspect of the viewing experience. The viewer’s functionality itself is built upon the Viewer API, so changing different elements of the viewing interface doesn’t alter the rendering performance or other core PrizmDoc Viewer functionality.

Here are just a few quick customization options that can be added to the viewer with minimal effort:

Custom Buttons

Adding a customized button that performs a specific task can greatly improve the viewer’s functionality for end users. Developers can quickly add custom buttons with a bit of JavaScript and uploading an SVG icon for display.

Keyboard Shortcuts

The PrizmDoc Viewer interface already supports a variety of keyboard shortcuts that allow users to easily scroll up and down the page, adjust the zoom level, and delete selected marks. Developers can alter the existing key bindings to enable new shortcuts or create their own.

Customize Style

In order to provide a consistent brand experience, many developers choose to alter the look and feel of the viewer to match the rest of their application. PrizmDoc Viewer provides extensive controls that allow them to alter image resources, colors, toolbar sizing, icons, and more.

Reorganize Menus

All of the menus and navigation elements can be adjusted based on application needs. Developers can add or remove different viewer templates that feature unique elements for specific use cases. Each template could use different styles and feature custom tabs or markup tools.

Create/Customize Mouse Tools

Unique mouse tools can be created along with a custom button within the UI, although PrizmDoc Viewer comes with a variety of predefined mouse tools that can be deployed and customized. Creating a new mouse tool is a quick two-step process that involves some JavaScript code that first defines the tool and then updates the UI to add a button for it (usually in the annotation tab pane).

Step 1

// Create the new mouse tool. var myTool = PCCViewer.MouseTools.createMouseTool(
                 "PinkLine",
                 PCCViewer.MouseTool.Type.LineAnnotation);

// Configure the tool to draw a pink (#FF69B4) line that is 10 pixel thick myTool.getTemplateMark()
    .setColor("#FF69B4")
    .setThickness(10);

Step 2

<!-- The following markup will create a button that enables use
     of the mouse tool named "PinkLine".

     The custom attributes that are used:
      \* data-pcc-mouse-tool="PinkLine" - specifies that the button selects the mouse tool named "MyLineTool"
      \* data-pcc-context-menu="false" - specifies that a context menu is not shown for this mouse tool
     -->
<button>
    data-pcc-mouse-tool="PinkLine"
    data-pcc-context-menu="false"
    class\="pcc-icon pcc-icon-annotate-line"
    title="Pink Line Tool"\></button>

Build a Customized UI

Developers may decide that the default PrizmDoc Viewer UI isn’t quite right for their application needs. In such cases, they can easily use the available components to build a customized viewing UI that is better suited to their application and end users. Creating a custom interface allows developers to strategically place menu and button elements to improve application workflows and conform to their own user experience priorities.

Embrace the Power of Flexibility

Turning to a third-party solution for an application’s viewing and imaging needs doesn’t mean a developer has to give up control over their application’s user experience. Accusoft’s PrizmDoc Viewer delivers powerful viewing, conversion, and annotation features in a fully customizable package that can be adapted to a wide range of application needs. Developers can use the available tools to craft a unique viewing experience from the ground up or utilize the built-in viewing interface to get their solution up and running quickly while putting off customization until later in their development cycle.

PrizmDoc Viewer’s versatile HTML5 rendering technology makes it an ideal integration for web-based applications that need the flexibility to adapt to changing user expectations. Thanks to those customization options, the application a developer brings to market can evolve over time to support a wide range of additional features throughout the product’s lifecycle. To experience the customizable power of PrizmDoc Viewer firsthand, download your free trial today.

Without accurate forms recognition, developers will have a hard time building effective forms processing applications. The primary advantage of forms processing workflows is the ability to automate the data capture process, but the benefits of automation quickly evaporate if the system continually misidentifies forms or can’t align document images cleanly for accurate data capture. Accusoft’s FormFix SDK ensures that forms processing applications get off to the best start possible by quickly matching and aligning form images to predefined templates.

When to Use FormFix

FormFix works with structured forms that feature a standardized layout with fields located in fixed positions. The SDK has a number of use cases as part of a broader forms processing and data capture workflow. Its primary function is to identify form images and route them to the proper destination. In some instances, this will mean handing the recognized form off to the SmartZone integration, which performs optical character recognition (OCR) and intelligent character recognition (ICR) to extract printed text from form fields. If data capture doesn’t need to be done immediately, the form can instead be routed to a storage location for later reference.

But FormFix can do more than simply identify forms. It also features powerful optical mark recognition (OMR) capabilities, which allows it to detect marks in fillable bubbles or checkboxes that are commonly used on a wide range of forms. Without OMR, a forms processing application will be forced to rely on manual data entry for any form that contains these marks, which typically indicate information like marital status, health history, ethnic background, or a variety of demographic data. Deploying OMR to process these forms automatically helps to minimize the risk of human error and speeds up processing times. In addition to being able to read single or multiple marks, FormFix can also use OMR to detect the presence of a signature on a document. 

Creating Master Form Templates for Identification

Before FormFix can start identifying form images, it first needs FormSets to work with. A FormSet consists of several FormDefinitions, each of which represent a document form page. Every FormDefinition object contains compressed image data of a form template and indicates the fields from which data can be extracted. The individual fields can also have specific instructions associated with them that should be performed at the time of processing. This could include despeckling or other forms of image enhancement or clean-up. 

FormSets are created by the FormDirector API, which allows developers to designate what information needs to be extracted and where on a form it should be extracted from. Setting up a FormSet template for a IRS 1040 form, for instance, would involve designating which fields on an unfilled form will be matched and aligned so the information contained in them can be captured accurately. Developers can also create their FormSets using the FormAssist application, which is a graphical interface for FormDirector that allows them to easily upload blank form images and specify how each field should be handled during processing.

How FormFix Identifies Form Images

After a form image is uploaded and cleaned up (usually using the ScanFix Xpress SDK), it can be identified and aligned for data capture. FormFix uses its forms recognition processor to examine the input image and compare it to the available FormSets on file. It does this by looking at the FormDefinitions within the FormSets and matching their embedded template images to the current input image. Once a potential match is identified, FormFix selects the appropriate template and provides a confidence value for all identification candidates.

The FormFix alignment algorithm then takes over, placing the input image on the form template and making a series of adjustments to ensure that the field areas line up as precisely as possible. It can also perform form image drop-out, which removes pre-printed graphical elements, found in the template, like form field boxes and instructional text and leaves only the filled-in information behind. This helps improve recognition accuracy, whether the application is using SmartZone OCR/ICR or deploying FormFix’s OMR capabilities.

Improving FormFix Forms Recognition

Although FormFix is capable of quickly matching form images with the master forms the application has on file, there are a few steps developers can take to streamline the forms recognition process and improve workflow performance. For example, FormFix can be set to only compare images at 90, 180, and 270 degrees, or to only exert certain amounts of effort during forms identification. 

When setting up templates, developers can define what image operations need to be completed for each image input. These parameters can be set at different hierarchies, so some operations may be applied to all forms while others are only applied to specific FormDefinitions or form fields. This eliminates unnecessary image processing operations that may slow down workflows while still ensuring that consistent adjustments are being made where they’re needed.

If possible, barcodes can be affixed to different form types to quickly indicate which template needs to be referenced for the form alignment process. This allows FormFix to bypass the identification process and proceed directly to aligning the form images for dropout and recognition. 

Accelerate Your Forms Processing Workflow with FormFix

Accusoft’s FormFix SDK helps your forms processing application to quickly identify form images, prepare documents for zonal and full page OCR/ICR, and extract information with OMR functionality. Fully customizable to meet the needs of your forms workflow, FormFix also includes a variety of image cleanup tools that can remove imperfections and noise to improve recognition accuracy.

To learn more about the capabilities of the FormFix SDK and see how it fits into a broader forms processing solution, download our FormFix Fact Sheet today or contact one of our integration experts for more information.

Despite its reputation for being slow to adapt and held back by outdated, legacy technology, the insurance industry is undergoing a tremendous period of digital transformation. A new generation of InsurTech applications are helping insurers respond more quickly to a dynamic market and empowering customers to become more engaged with their policies. InsurTech digital collaboration is a key industry trend.

Digital collaboration tools are critical to this dramatic shift, which has created a unique opportunity for InsurTech developers. By deploying features that allow insurers to streamline workflows and improve communication both with internal stakeholders and customers, developers can capitalize on an emerging need and establish their applications as the “new standard” for digital collaboration in the insurance industry.

Creating Better Digital Collaboration Tools for InsurTech Software

Accessible Viewing

The ability to easily access and view insurance documents is increasingly important to insurance agents and customers alike. When assembling a policy bundle, insurance agents must reference multiple pieces of information about customers as well as detailed actuarial data from a variety of sources. By building HTML5 viewing capabilities into InsurTech applications, developers can help underwriters reference all relevant information within their existing workflow. Rather than ponderously requesting documents from other departments and receiving them via email, and opening them with an external program, they can simply request, search for, receive, or view files without ever exiting their secure application.  

Customers, meanwhile, expect to be able to access their insurance records quickly and easily. Whether it’s a detailed description of their policy or a copy of their proof of insurance, they want the ability to log into a web-based application that allows them to locate and view records related to their account. This can greatly improve communication with their insurer since they’re able to quickly reference different aspects of their policy and identify their needs more clearly. Developers can build viewing features into an InsurTech application so customers can access their essential documents without having to download anything or take any additional steps. Insurers can also use the same features to easily provide updates about policies or rates. 

Annotations

Building an insurance policy or evaluating claims can be a lengthy and confusing process without the right digital collaboration tools in place. Documents often need to be reviewed by people in different departments before bundled services and rates can be finalized. If an InsurTech application lacks collaboration features, insurers may need to resort to emailing documents back and forth along with their comments. There is ample space for miscommunication in this scenario, with vital comments potentially going unnoticed or the wrong document being sent as an attachment.

Built-in annotation tools allow insurers to leave comments, highlight areas of concern, and provide helpful notes directly on the files themselves. Developers can also make it possible to share and view those documents entirely within the application environment, which reduces the risk that someone will overlook important comments or compromise privacy by opening a file with poorly secured software. Annotation markups are stored separately from the original file until they need to be burned into a new copy. This protects the integrity of the source document throughout the collaboration process.

Version Control

One of the biggest challenges with digital collaboration is maintaining version control over documents. When multiple people are working on a file, it’s important to make sure that everyone is using the most up-to-date version of it. This is especially true of insurance documents because rates and risk adjustments can sometimes change quite rapidly. The last thing an organization (or their customers) want is to have inconsistencies spread across several documents due to poor version control.

Developers can combat version confusion by keeping every stage of document workflows within their InsurTech applications. Version problems are usually caused by people downloading documents, working on them in isolation with a separate program, and then uploading their changed versions back into the application. By making it possible to view and annotate content within the application, developers can help ensure that everyone is working from the most up-to-date version of every file. 

Conversion

InsurTech applications must be able to handle a wide range of file types if they’re going to effectively facilitate digital collaboration. Customers often need to upload images as part of their insurance claims and will often provide documents as scanned images that can’t be searched for key text. Without the ability to convert files into more manageable formats, collaboration can quickly become an exercise in frustration and confusion.

Conversion tools not only make files more accessible, but also make it easier to manage content. Several small documents, for instance, could be combined into a single file for faster access, review, and markup. Developers can also incorporate Optical Character Recognition (OCR) into their InsurTech application to extract the text from a document image and use it to create a searchable PDF for more convenient reference. These conversion tools provide a great deal of workflow customization that allows their customers to set up efficient processes that help them deliver better services.

Boost InsurTech Digital Collaboration with PrizmDoc Viewer

Accusoft’s PrizmDoc Viewer is an HTML5 that integrates smoothly into your InsurTech application to deliver a powerful array of digital collaboration tools. Using a sophisticated collection of REST APIs, PrizmDoc Viewer provides support for multiple file types and can easily convert between formats to simplify insurance workflows. It also features a full range of annotation and redaction tools as well as OCR text extraction and electronic signature features.

With three decades of experience developing imaging and document management technology, Accusoft offers a variety of software integrations that can support digital collaboration efforts. From document assembly to secure spreadsheet support, our collection of SDKs and APIs can provide the features your InsurTech application needs to meet the evolving demands of the insurance industry. Check out our InsurTech fact sheet to learn how you can turn our capabilities into your capabilities.