Tangent Systems' New Spatial Pattern Intelligent Content Extraction ("Spice") Improves ICR

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Reduces Labor Costs, Increases Accuracy By Automatically Finding and Extracting Data Fields

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill., August 3, 2002 -- Tangent Systems Inc. today announced the availability of a new technology that enables document processing organizations to improve quality and service while lowering processing costs.

The new technology, called Spatial Pattern Intelligent Content Extraction, or SPICE™, is a significant enhancement to Tangent Systems' DocuTran® II flagship high-volume processing software. SPICE employs a suite of proprietary algorithms to identify critical content within document images while ignoring extraneous values. The software adapts to variants of a given document or form automatically, eliminating the need for training or setup on each one.

"Using SPICE, most mailroom presorting can be eliminated. The critical content can be accurately extracted from a variety of forms, even when those forms are intermixed," said Bruce Rennecker, Tangent Systems' vice president of sales and marketing.

"What this also means is that organizations have more freedom in document layout and design without losing processing efficiency. Marketing creativity no longer translates into operational headaches. Unexpected forms changes will have little or no effect on the operation, provided that the critical data content is printed properly somewhere on each form," Rennecker said.

SPICE can improve ICR-related operations for a wide variety of unstructured or loosely structured forms processing applications. SPICE can improve:

• Retail lock-box applications-locate and extract Optical Character Recognition (OCR) information regardless of where it is located on the document.
• "Whole-tail" standardized wholesale applications-extract invoice numbers and amounts from customer-generated check stubs.
• Fulfillment applications-locate and extract form identification codes and finder numbers.
• List payment processing-locate and extract individual transaction account and amount information. SPICE brings similar benefits to a host of other applications, including surveys, airline tickets, charitable donations and many others.
• Sophisticated technology

The SPICE extraction engine combines sophisticated heuristics and convenient setup tools with multiple high-power ICR engines to tackle unstructured and loosely structured forms capture problems. The SPICE validator applies ranges, table lookups, database queries and inter-field cross-checks to ensure the accuracy of the extracted data. The SPICE interactive image correction capability allows efficient review and correction of the extraction engine's results.

Before the SPICE extraction engine even operates, the SPICE image pre-processor makes even the poorest images suitable for content extraction. SPICE can deskew, despeckle, remove lines and even remove fixed-form overlay graphics from images. These features provide the speed and cost savings of automated recognition with the accuracy and intelligence of efficient human operation.

SPICE can also be applied to simpler problems, such as automatic correction of transport OCR and Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR) rejects. At the same time that ACH check conversion initiatives are making MICR read accuracy increasingly important, the industry is experiencing an unprecedented decline in MICR printing quality, primarily due to home and small-business check printing. SPICE fixes rejects and catches substitutions.

About Tangent Systems

Tangent Systems Inc., headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Ill., specializes in the development of unique and complex document and forms processing solutions designed to process high-volume paper-based transactions. Founded in 1984, Tangent is well known for its proven and flexible DocuTran software, which is used on more than 200 systems worldwide and has earned a reputation for quick and reliable implementation. In addition to software, the company also provides on-site training, application maintenance support and software customization tools. For more information on Tangent Systems Inc. or any of its solutions, call 847/882-3833 or visit our Web site at www.tangent-systems.com.