Month: January 2013

How is document processing done?

document processing is the conversion of physical documents – whether already typed and printed, or hand-written – into electronic ones. This is done by a variety of means, including simple scanning and conversion to pdf, optical character recognition and intelligent character recognition, amongst others. The upside of this is that the files created as a result can be uploaded to a document management system, allowing for far greater flexibility in their future use, sharing and so on. It can also be used to transform invoice processing, so that instead of manual copies being made the whole system can be automated – with benefits in terms of efficiency, time scales and budgeting.

Document processing has come a long way in the last decade or so. Earlier, there was no realistic way for physical letters and memos to be saved to Word documents; instead the best that could be achieved was a scanned image. These took up a lot of disk space (at a time when storage was more dear and far more limited) and, of course, could not be edited. Now, optical character recognition (OCR) has come of age. Intelligent character recognition (ICR) is a development of this, and can even be used to read handwriting and turn it into an electronic file. This typically uses a neural network and ‘learns’ to understand handwriting as it goes along. This means that early results may be quite poor, although when the system is properly ‘taught’ it can result in 97 percent accuracy – with obvious efficiencies there, especially if such documents would usually be transcribed by staff.

The form and sophistication of document processing that you opt for will depend on your budget and needs of your business – obviously a smaller outfit with fewer documents will probably not benefit from the most expensive and extensive form of ICR. However, document management is an important step in bridging the gap between current practices and truly paperless offices. Although emails are easily the most popular form of written communication, plenty of people still use notes and letters, and many documents are sent through the post. These can all-too-easily be lost or mislaid if they are not carefully tracked. The same is true of invoices, but invoice processing can bring your procedures for postal invoices in line with those submitted by bacs and other electronic means. This makes for far greater efficiency and fewer mistakes.

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Integrating external louvres as part of an environmental strategy

The brise soleil, first invented by Le Corbusier in first part of the last century, is a fairly simple sun-shading structure that is added to buildings (or else integrated in the initial design and construction). Its purpose is to limit the amount of sunlight reaching a surface, often a big glass façade, thereby ensuring that temperatures keep within a comfortable range inside. They take various forms and degrees of complexity, with some of the more intricate versions providing architectural appeal to a building as well as a useful function. The commonest simple forms are horizontal projections that are attached to the vertical face of a building and prevent some sunlight from hitting the surface. Other similar approaches are glass louvres – with various types of finish and in different shapes – or other kinds of external louvres.

The huge variety of designs and materials used in the manufacture of louvres can make for some very intriguing approaches. For example, glass louvres can be coated with reflective material or tinted to refract light and lower glare within the building. However, these can also be combined with photovoltaic (PV) cells, a type of solar panel. This means that not only are you not distracted by the unpleasantly high levels of sunlight in the building, but that sunlight is turned into a useful form of energy. This makes the office space more comfortable, and reduces bills – as well as being more environmentally beneficial. There are therefore a range of reasons to opt for louvres as a climate-control choice. An increasing number of offices are being designed with these in mind from the start.

The brise soleil is the most basic of the choices you can get for controlling the amount of passive heating a room or face of a building enjoys. It is usually also the cheapest option as a result. It can be retro-fitted, although in some cases will be part of the design – some of the most celebrated buildings in the world include a brise soleil in their make-up. Glass louvres and other sorts of external louvres (such as aluminium) offer better flexibility and some truly imaginative design features. They also offer the opportunity to incorporate solar cells into them, allowing you to generate power as well as keep the building cooler. The variation you go for will depend on a number of things, including your budget and the size and nature of the space you want to cover. Some organisations specialise in fitting louvres to existing buildings, whereas if you are starting from scratch there is more scope for integrating them into the building’s appearance.

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Luxury coach hire: the low cost option?

Public transport is becoming an increasingly costly option, to the point where it is starting to price itself out of the market. Rail fares have risen every year for over a decade, often a lot above inflation. Since the start of the financial crisis in 2008, average train fares have gone up around 26 percent – three times faster than wages. Year-to-year, although wages are actually dropping on average, some fares have gone up as much as 10 percent. This makes travelling prohibitively expensive for some people. Unfortunately, taking the car can be just as expensive, since fuel costs are also at an all-time high. In these circumstances, transporting a large number of people can be a major (and costly) headache. Minibus hire is one of the options for accessing economies of scale. These economies should be available through the bus and rail network, but there often seems to be a reason for the ever-increasing fares. In any case, even luxury coach hire can be cheaper than the rail network, if you have twenty or more people. Coach hire London can get you to where you’re going, on time and under budget. In these uncertain times, there’s a lot to be said for that.

There are lots of other reasons why luxury coach hire might be a worthwhile choice. The alternatives are not promising: an expensive rail network, a sporadic bus system that is being reduced by cuts all the time, or the default of taking a convoy of cars. When you’re trying to organise a group of people to end up in the same place at the same time – whether for a holiday, a football match or some form of family gathering or party – none of these are highly satisfactory. With minibus hire, though, you can pick people up from their houses or from a central rendezvous point. Coach hire London offers more options and greater comfort; luxury coaches come equipped not only with their own drivers, to save you the trouble of driving yourself large distances, but also with entertainment and facilities you might not expect from a coach. TV, video and DVD players, a decent toilet and comfortable, clean seats. These are a far cry from the grimy coaches of yesteryear that used to carry you to outings at school. The really curious thing is that getting everyone together and pooling resources means that this is often a far cheaper option than taking public transport, too – as well as being far less hassle all round.

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