What is Intelligent Document Processing (IDP): Complete Overview

The development of the Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) technology has become possible due to the invention of optical character recognition (OCR). The ability of dedicated software to digitize images and transform them into text enables companies to extract and analyze all sorts of data and optimize internal processes by eliminating the possibility of errors. In this guide, we will explore the upsides of deploying IDP solutions and demonstrate how their performance could be augmented by their integration with products based on artificial intelligence (AI). Read on to discover the main applications of this technology and learn about its essential role in business process outsourcing (BPO).

Understanding Intelligent Document Processing

IDP is a technology that involves scanning, digitizing, and organizing insights from papers, contracts, and spreadsheets. Organizations that strive to achieve sustainable growth must learn how to handle expanding volumes of information and simplify workflows by reducing paperwork. The deployment of data intelligence solutions enables businesses to leverage the power of automation to decipher text and extract information without human input.

The deployment of intelligent document processing solutions allows companies to reduce the number of in-staff employees and expedite workflows. Modern firms work with the following types of data:

Structured: It can be read by humans without any difficulties;
Unstructured: Regular employees may find it challenging to analyze it;
Semi-structured: As it is not recorded in conventional ways, it is arduous to decipher it.

The support of natural language processing (NLP) technology allows professionals to interpret the meaning of the converted text. Initially, IDP tools were mostly used for BPO and managing emails. Nowadays, such solutions are widely deployed to enhance communication with clients, employees, and suppliers. Besides extracting info, they utilize large language models (LLMs) to streamline access to valuable insights, helping companies succeed.

We are confident that we have what it takes to help you get your platform from the idea throughout design and development phases, all the way to successful deployment in a production environment!

Benefits of IDP

Regardless of the industry, ventures strive to perform tasks faster while spending fewer resources. Improving revenue and retention rates requires integrating IDP software with legacy systems to achieve the following goals:

Save time and money: Robotic process automation (RPA) facilitates extracting data without delays while reducing errors.
Ensure compliance: Ventures use IDP to follow regulatory guidelines and industry standards.
Augment customer experience (CX): The usage of IDP solutions allows enterprises to handle tasks faster and provide relevant responses to queries.
Scale-up operations: IDP programs can be trained to work with invoices, financial statements, receipts, etc. It allows organizations to process thousands of texts quickly.

Intelligent document automation has demonstrated its efficiency across different sectors. Below, we have outlined the main reasons to implement such solutions:

Reduce errors and boost accuracy;
Minimize cost;
Achieve higher employee productivity;
Streamline search and validation.

After learning what is a data intelligence system and how to use it, employees solve tasks quickly. The usage of machine learning (ML) tools further improves the performance delivered by IDP software.

What is Intelligent Document Processing (IDP): Complete Overview

Main Stages of Intelligent Document Processing

The digitization process culminates in increased data accessibility. It allows businesses to convert unstructured or semi-structured docs into comprehensive insights that can be used to improve processes. NLP, ML, and GenAI technologies enable ventures to categorize and validate information. We have outlined all the key steps of IDP:

Pre-processing: Companies deploy various techniques to enhance the source image quality before using OCR and AI tools. It streamlines the extraction process, making it easier to avoid errors.
Classification: The usage of document intelligence tools, NLP, OCR, and other technologies enables ventures to organize sources depending on their type. When working with complex texts, employees use intelligent character recognition (ICR) solutions to detect glyphs and other elements.
Extraction: Algorithm-based tools help staff members to extract text, numeric values, or signatures.
Domain-specific validation: At this stage, RegEx rules, RPA, and complex scripts are used to check the collected information and ensure that it is suitable for a specific environment and strategic goals.
Human-in-the-loop (HITL) validation: This step is essential for enhancing the output data quality. Employees provide feedback and train AI models to improve their performance.

Increasing awareness of the various stages of the IDP process allows ventures to use AI-powered tools to work effectively.

Why Use IDP?

Leveraging automation tools is the only way to spend less time extracting information. By integrating IDP software with existing infrastructure, companies reduce manual interventions. However, the adoption of this technology is hindered due to the widespread concerns about its availability. Making procedures transparent fosters trust and allows clients to understand how their information is used. Here are the main reasons to deploy IDP:

Expedite data management procedures: Teams rely on algorithm-based tools to analyze information 5-10 times faster.
Reduce expenses: LLM-powered software analyzes feedback to learn how to perform data mining.
Implement intuitive tools: Algorithm-based software is easy to set up and use, allowing companies to make it an integral part of their workflows and use custom settings to handle different situations.
Customize existing software: Developers use specific scripts to customize IDP solutions depending on specific needs.
Expand a list of supported docs: IDP products enable firms to digitize and categorize sources in most formats.
Enhance security: The usage of modern enterprise technologies enables organizations to improve the safety of their daily operations and take the necessary precautions to ensure that client information won’t be accessed by unauthorized parties.
Deploy self-learning systems: LLM-based solutions utilize Generative AI technology to improve their performance over time.

Developers often create presets allowing companies to perform specific procedures automatically when managing inputs. A use-case library lets ventures customize software depending on the industry’s requirements.

Main IDP Use Cases Across Industries

Intelligent document processing products have demonstrated their applicability in various sectors. Ventures use them to optimize and speed up their workflows in such areas:

Finance: Companies automate invoice processing and adopt the best accounts payable practices. Banks expedite loan applications, digitize paper contracts, and extract information from financial statements;
Human resources (HR): Managers analyze resumes, perform pre-screening, extract information from surveys, streamline onboarding, and perform other tasks using AI document processing tools.
Insurance: Companies rely on IDP to manage claims, recognize possible signs of fraud, conduct a preliminary assessment of relevant policies, and streamline operations.
Healthcare: By converting patient records into digital files, staff members can quickly find the required info and organize medical forms.
Legal: Law firms handle legal data with improved precision.
Manufacturing: Implementing IDP programs enables firms to manage supply chains and maintain high product quality

IDP tools are essential for managing financial reports, preparing for audits, filing taxes, avoiding fees, and tracking expenses. In addition, advanced document processing models are widely used by governmental workers to handle applications, permits, and electronic files.

How to Choose IDP Software

When looking for reliable AI-driven tools, ventures should consider their needs and the types of data they typically work with. Full digital transformation requires businesses to analyze the format of the source, discover the workflows that can benefit from automation, and choose specific texts to process them. Finding a reliable service provider is the first step toward increasing efficiency.

The Global Cloud Team includes experts who specialize in intelligent document processing and know how to automate routine procedures. They identify areas that require intelligent automation and specify the requirements that a firm has to meet to follow the industry’s standards. Get in touch with our professionals today and discover what tools to deploy to speed up your workflows.