Using Cognition

Whether processing hundreds of surveys or a small number of invoices, Cognition uses the same process automation to capture and collect data.

• Design and publish custom or template forms
• Scan or upload images from files
• Automatically match and recognize templates
• Automatically check business rules
• Verify data by an operator
• Export to external databases, text files or XML

Design and Publish

When using Cognition, you are able to design your own machine-readable forms that can be easily and directly imported into the program. The Form Designer component allows you to create the entire form from setting up reference marks to drawing text fields and checkboxes.

Unlike other form design editors, Form Designer was specifically developed for creating machine-readable forms. With its straightforward, user-friendly interface, Form Designer consists of easy-to-use yet powerful tools for producing standard elements that are commonly found on machine-readable forms.

The program will also check each completed form to ensure that it can be successfully recognized by the program. Once finished, you can also publish your form to a read-only format, which protects your form from accidental changes or edits.

The form can then be exported into Cognition. Your recognition setup process is also shortened since Cognition reuses any form designed in Form Designer as a template for forms processing.

Scan

You can collect information in several formats - forms, faxes and scanned images - and transform it into valuable business intelligence. Forms and faxes are useless unless the information is converted into workable data. Using an imaging scanner with an automatic document feeder, you can quickly scan paper forms into useable information. Cognition makes this simple by supporting both the standard TWAIN protocol as well as image file uploading.

Accurate information cannot be obtained from fuzzy, streaked and cut-off forms. This hinders the automated collection process by requiring human inspection. Cognition pre-processing deskews and despeckles scans to provide a clean, readable file.

Among its features, Cognition will perform the following when scanning:

• Adaptive threshold detection
• Automatic image deskew, noise removal, line and form removal
• Controlled distortion compensation
• Detection of image orientation
• Automatic image compression

Recognize

For optimal results, you need a powerful forms processing application that can be used with all of your business forms.

Cognition has the ability to accurately read forms filled in by machine as well as by hand. The technology of Optical Character Recognition (OCR) collects, interprets, verifies, validates and exports machine print information. Intelligent Character Recognition (ICR) recognizes handwritten characters and reads information forms with fields that have been completed by hand.

Among its recognition features, Cognition uses automatic text type sensing technology and automatic form type recognition to provide you with the highest level of accuracy. Multi-page forms intelligence enables Cognition to process forms that consist of more than one page. Cognition also allows you to create user-defined dictionaries and validation rules.

Verify

Inaccurate data will not only slow down processing, it can also create problems for your organization. You can set verification definitions and rules prior to recognition to fine-tune processing and minimize human intervention.

If by chance some results are not properly recognized, Cognition uses three different modes of verification to quickly and easily correct this data.

• Group verification is used for verifying digital data.
• Context verification works best for text field verification.
• Verification in form is used for correcting mistakes that are found by rules.

Validate

You require valid information to make educated business decisions. Rules can be set to automatically confirm the validity of scanned data by checking it against external databases or user-defined dictionaries. Date, currency and character-specific formatting validations help to verify certain types of data that may be incorrectly recognized without a given context. OLE-Automation allows you to create any necessary automatic validation rules.

The set validation rules are then applied during recognition as well as in the recognized text after corrected by an operator.

Export

You need a data processing solution that will allow you to make the most of the systems you currently use. Cognition offers you several export options to work with the most popular database programs, which include:

• File export (DBF, TXT, CSV, XLS, XML, etc.)
• Export into any ODBC-compatible database
• Export through the custom export module to any information system or database
• An option of images exporting

Administrative Functions

You need a means of tracking and checking your system to help you make the most of your investment. Cognition allows you to run various administrative functions that will help you monitor and manage your data processing solution.

• Unauthorized access protection
• Users' rights management
• Centralized control of all settings
• Batch and multi-page form design
• Template design
• Hardware and software failure recovery
• Current operations monitoring
• Reports and statistics for any period

Using Cognition Enterprise Edition

The Cognition Enterprise edition is specifically designed for organizations that process a high volume of forms with multi-processors on a distributed network. You will achieve the same accuracy of recognition results using a system that maximizes the data processing solution for a large organization.

Each stage of data processing is divided between different workstations, including:

• Scanning Station
• Recognition Station
• Verification Station
• Correction Station
• Export and Monitoring Station

The Administration Station allows you to control, manage and monitor the overall system as well as each individual workstation.

Cognition API Features

• Automation of forms processing
• Customization of user interface
• One-button embedded solutions
• Automatic batch processing and routing
• Events handling and auto-responding
• Adding new custom applications to the list of possible export options
• Wide selection of programming tools (Visual Basic, C++, VB Script, .NET, and more)