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New Technology Helps Mobile Workers Speed up Processing of Information
New technology from Accenture and FileNet Corporation enables insurance field agents and other mobile workers to quickly and electronically perform tasks that once required mounds of paperwork.
The technology, designed for use with low-cost, commercially available digital pens in conjunction with FileNet Enterprise Content Management (ECM) solutions, allows mobile workers to capture and transmit information to a central repository, where it can be immediately put to work to initiate business processes, circumventing traditional paper-based systems that are time-consuming and error-prone.
The Digital Pen Connector software - written by Accenture Technology Labs, the research and development organization of Accenture - captures the pen strokes, translates them into usable data, and delivers the data to the FileNet ECM system. FileNet ECM then integrates the data in a central content repository for sharing and launches business processes according to the requirements of the business.
"This technology allows a document to be converted to digital form at the point of origin," said Glover Ferguson, Accenture's chief scientist. "Once digitized, the content takes on new versatility, benefiting from a computer's ability to store, share and act upon content. What's more, the technology is cost-effective and easy to deploy because it's based on the time-tested practice of using a pen and paper."
The solution provides a low-cost alternative to equipping workers with costlier pen-based devices, such as tablet computers or personal digital assistants, and should benefit industries that rely heavily on paper-based processes.
Insurance carriers, for example, could use the technology to make quicker use of information gathered by field agents and adjusters, who would capture data using the digital pen and a pre-printed form. The pen precisely captures what's written and where it's entered on the form, enabling insurers to attach contextual intelligence to the captured data. The pen then stores the information for transmission to a central computer. The transmission can be completed wirelessly, via an Internet upload or by other common data-transfer methods. Once the data is captured, it is transmitted to a central application where it can be processed, stored and integrated with business processes using FileNet ECM.
Other industries could also benefit from the technology. In hospitals, for example, nursing staff could use digital pen and paper to record patient observations and then transmit the information to the hospital's central server, from where it could be easily accessed by attending physicians. In manufacturing, assembly line workers could use the technology to manage inventory.
"By empowering mobile workers to capture information electronically and initiate business processes immediately, this end-to-end solution enables enterprises to increase efficiency, improve service levels, and make better decisions, faster," said Martyn Christian, chief marketing officer for FileNet. "We look forward to working with Accenture to help our customers use this innovative technology to extract even greater value from their enterprise content management investments." 26.05.2004, FileNet Corp.
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