JPH08221502A - Forms processing system for facsimile - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To deal with the image of forms, which is inputted without using the line on the side of facsimile communication, equally to forms processing by a facsimile. CONSTITUTION: When a fund transfer request note 15 is read by a scanner 23 provided on the side of reception, that signal is inputted through a work station 22 or the like to a main controller 6. The signal constitution of this image of the forms received to the main controller 6 is made equivalent to that of the image of forms received through a facsimile controller 5. Therefore, following character recognizing processing or the like can be performed by an existent system. When the output destination of documents for data correction or confirmation is the work station 22 to which the scanner 23 is connected, those documents are transferred to there. An output destination controller 25 controls the output destination while previously recognizing the destination where the image of the forms is received.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is a system for recognizing characters written on a form from a form image received by a facsimile and executing a predetermined transaction processing without using a line for facsimile communication. The present invention relates to a facsimile form processing system capable of handling an input form image in the same manner as a facsimile form process.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, when a financial institution such as a bank receives a notification such as a transfer from its business office and executes a transfer process, a form process in which a facsimile and a character recognition device are combined for efficient processing. The system is being developed. Further, the same system is also used when receiving a transfer destination list such as a salary transfer from a customer such as a company and performing a transfer registration process or the like.

In such a system, a handwritten transfer request form or the like is transmitted to a center for form management using a facsimile device. The image of this form is received by the facsimile control device of the center via the telephone network or a dedicated communication line. A character recognition device is connected to the facsimile control device via a main control device. The character recognition device cuts out an image of necessary information from a handwritten form image according to a predetermined procedure, executes character recognition, and converts it into character data. The recognition result is displayed on the workstation connected to the system, and the operator visually corrects the recognition error or verifies the validity. In some cases, a recognition result confirmation notice is sent to the sender to obtain approval. When the recognition result is confirmed, the data is transmitted to the host computer. Thereafter, the host computer proceeds with business such as transfer processing.

[0004]

By the way, in the system as described above, in addition to the method of transmitting the form by facsimile, the form is directly sent by mail to the center which is the receiving side of the facsimile, and the receiving side can see the form. There is a way for the operator to enter data. This method is called proxy input, but it is to reduce the burden on the operator of the transfer request company by delegating all the work up to the final confirmation of the transfer request to the receiving operator. To aim. However, if the number of such clients increases, the burden on the operation of the receiving side will increase and the management cost including the securing of personnel will increase.

On the other hand, in order to reduce the burden on the receiving side operator, just as with the transmitting side operator who is the requester, a facsimile machine is used to send the image of the form to the character recognition apparatus via the communication line. , There is a way to proceed with the process. As a result, the existing form processing system by facsimile can be used as it is. However, in this case, since the purpose is to go through the communication line,
Useless line usage charges result in increased costs. Also, if both the image of the form is directly received from the requester and the operator on the receiving side acts on its behalf, when the same requester code is used, the destination of the notification for content correction and confirmation is not correct. Be clear. Therefore, whether to use only one method of making a direct request or making a substitute request,
Alternatively, there is a problem that a complicated procedure of setting and processing two types of codes for the same client is required.

[0006]

The present invention adopts the following constitution in order to solve the above points. A facsimile control device for receiving an image of a form by facsimile, a character recognition device for recognizing characters written on the form from the image of the form received by the facsimile control device, and a recognition result of the character recognition device. Based on the main control device, a confirmation note or a correction notice is automatically generated based on the confirmation note. Further, a scanner for reading another form on the receiving side of the facsimile and obtaining an image of the form having a signal structure equivalent to the output of the facsimile control device, and whether the image of the form is output from the facsimile control device or from the scanner An output destination control device is provided for determining whether the output destination is an output destination and controlling the output destination so as to output the confirmation note or the correction notice to the receiving side workstation in the case of the output from the scanner.

When the sender sends a confirmation note or a correction notice to the workstation using a push button signal, when the confirmation note or the correction notice is output to the workstation, the workstation pushes the push button. A control signal equivalent to that obtained by signal control can be generated.

[0008]

When the transfer request form is read by the scanner provided on the receiving side, the signal is input to the main control unit via the workstation or the like. The image of the form accepted by the main controller has a signal configuration equivalent to that of the form accepted by the facsimile controller. Therefore, the subsequent character recognition can be processed by the existing system. Documents for data correction and confirmation are transferred to the output destination of the workstation to which the scanner is connected. The output destination control device recognizes the destination from which the image of the form is received in advance and controls the output destination.

When the sender sends a response to the confirmation or correction notice, the existing system uses the PB signal of the telephone. When the image of the form is input using the scanner at the workstation, the telephone is not used and the workstation generates a control signal equivalent to the PB signal. Therefore, the system after the main controller operates as it is. The correction notice is issued when it is necessary to correct the contents of the form based on the recognition result of the form, and the confirmation is a document sent to the transmitting side to confirm the recognition result, and its name is arbitrary. If no correction is necessary, the correction notice is not issued, so either or both images are generated by the main controller.

The output signal of the scanner has a signal structure equivalent to the image data of the form sent by the facsimile controller to the main controller so that the character recognition process can be performed by the existing system. In this case, the case in which the scanner itself outputs such a signal and the case in which the workstation or the like which processes the signal between the scanner and the main control device perform the conversion processing so as to have the equivalent signal configuration are included. Whether the image of the form is output from the facsimile controller or the scanner is determined by additional information or the like input to the main controller together with the image data of the form. The workstation on the receiving side includes a terminal device operated by an operator on the receiving side and is arranged together with the scanner. The control signal equivalent to the push-button signal control means that the push-button signal in the existing system is equivalent to the signal input to the main control device as it is or after undergoing some processing. This also includes the case where a device provided immediately before the main control device performs conversion processing into an appropriate signal form.

[0011]

The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system embodiment of the present invention. Before explaining this figure, first, the configuration and operation of the entire system for processing a form by facsimile to which the system of the present invention is applied will be explained. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the entire form processing system by facsimile. This system has a configuration in which a company requests processing to a bank center 4 via a communication line 3 when, for example, a company transfers a salary. The company 1 is provided with a facsimile device 2 for this purpose. In addition, in the center 4,
Facsimile control device 5, main control device 6, character recognition device 7 connected thereto, and correction workstation 9 connected to main control device 6 through internal bus 8.
And a verification workstation 10 is provided.
A disk device 12 for storing processing results and the like is connected to the main controller 6. A host computer 20 is connected to the main control device 6 via a communication line such as a local area network.

The above system is used as follows. First, the company 1 creates a request form 11 for the transfer of employee salary, etc., and sends it to the center 4 using the facsimile device 2 (step S1). Upon receiving such a signal, the facsimile control unit (FCU) 5 stores the entire image in a storage device (not shown) and transmits it to the main control unit (MCU) 6. Main controller (MC
U) 6 and the character recognition device 7 cut out a preset portion from the image of the form and automatically recognize the character of the portion. The recognition result is stored in the disk device 12 (steps S2 and S3).

Thereafter, the recognition result is displayed on the display of the correction workstation 9 and the correction is carried out by the correction staff (step S4). Then, step S5
At, the correction result is sent to the verification workstation 10. When the verification is completed, in step S6,
The verification result is sent to the facsimile control device 5, and a confirmation note for confirming the content is sent to the company 1 through the communication line 3 (step S7). The company 1 confirms the contents by comparing the request form 11 and the confirmation form 13. As a result of the content confirmation, for example, in step S8, P
Contact by B (push button) signal. When the confirmation of the company is completed in this way, the main control unit 6 performs step S
The recognition result is transmitted to the host computer 20 in 9 and the reception notice 14 is transmitted to the company 1 in step S10.

FIG. 3 shows an explanatory view of an example of a fax transfer request form. The form transmitted as the transfer request form 11 from the company is specifically configured as shown in FIG. That is, for example, the name of the client, the code for identifying the company, the designated transfer date for performing the transfer, the transfer destination, the transfer amount, etc. are written on the form. In this form, the transfer destination and the transfer amount are continuously written for each transfer destination.

When such a transfer request is made,
A transfer request confirmation letter as shown in FIG. 4 is transmitted to the company. In the confirmation note 13 shown in FIG. 4, items requested by the client, the name of the transfer bank, the name of the recipient, the amount, etc. are entered.
This confirmation note is compared with the request note 11, and if there is an error, it is corrected and the request note 11 is retransmitted.

Returning again to FIG. 1, this figure illustrates the major parts of the previously described existing system and the equipment used in the system of the present invention. Therefore, the parts indicated by the same reference numerals as those of the parts described in FIG. In the present invention, as shown in the figure, the workstation 22, the scanner 23, and the printer are provided in order to perform the proxy input of the transfer request form on the receiving side, that is, on the side of the center where the facsimile control device 5, the main control device 6 and the like are provided. 24 etc. are provided. Workstation 22 and main controller 6
Are connected to each other via an internal bus 8-1 or the like. The internal bus 8-1 is a dedicated communication line installed on the premises of the center or the like. This communication line is owned by the center and unlike the public line, the usage fee is free. In addition to the main controller 6, the workstation 2 is also connected via an internal bus 8-2.
1 is connected. This workstation 21 is used for correction and verification.

In the system having such a configuration, the requester sends a direct transfer request form 15 by facsimile using the facsimile apparatus 2 shown in this figure, and the image of the facsimile input to the center via the communication line 3 is as follows. Characters are recognized and processed in the same manner as described in. On the other hand, it is assumed that the requester can separately send the transfer request form 15 shown in the figure to the operator of the center to request the proxy input. The center operator uses the scanner 23 to make a transfer request form 1
5 images are read and processed, and the workstation 22
The image of the form is transferred to the main control unit 6 via. The image of the form in this case has the same signal configuration as the image input to the main controller 6 via the facsimile controller 5.

That is, the workstation 22 receives the read signal from the scanner 23, and converts the signal into a signal structure equivalent to the image of the form just received by the facsimile controller 5 and output to the main controller 6. In particular,
The resolution of the form read by the facsimile device 2 and the resolution of the form read by the scanner 23 are selected to be the same. The workstation 22 receives various control signals added when the image is transferred from the facsimile controller 5 to the main controller 6.
Generated and added in. As a result, the main controller 6
Treats the image of the form received from the facsimile control device 5 and the image of the form received from the workstation 22 in exactly the same manner, and the character recognition device 7 can perform the character recognition processing.

When the main control unit 6 receives the image of such a form, the main recognition unit 6 causes the character recognition unit 7 to perform a recognition process, issues a correction notice if correction is necessary, and finally confirms the recognition result. Issue a confirmation letter. When the output destination is input via the facsimile control device 5, the output destination is sent to the transmitting side facsimile device 2. On the other hand, when input from the workstation 22, it is sent to the workstation 22 and printed out by the printer 24. Therefore, a process for determining such an output destination is required. The output destination control device 25 executes this. For example,
This requires additional information, which is an index for determining the output destination, in addition to the image of the form.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the image data transfer operation of such a form. In the figure, the transfer request form 15 directly processed by the customer is read by the facsimile apparatus 2. The image data 26-1 is transferred to the main controller 6. On the other hand, the transfer request form 15 to be processed by the operator of the center is read by the scanner 23. The image data 26-2 is equivalent to the image data 26-1 of the facsimile apparatus 2 and is input to the main controller 6. At this time, the additional information 27 is added to the proxy processed information, and this is input to the output destination control device 25. This additional information may simply be composed of a flag or the like indicating that it has been transferred from the scanner 23. With this, when the main controller 6 sends back the correction notice or the confirmation note, the output destination can be determined.

FIG. 6 shows an operation explanatory diagram of the output destination control device. When the character recognition device 7 shown in FIG. 1 completes the character recognition in step S1, the main control device 6 generates a correction notice or a confirmation note in step S2. Then, in step S3, the output destination control device 2
It is determined whether 5 is input from the scanner or the facsimile control device. When it is determined that the input is from the scanner, in step S4,
Send a correction notice to the proxy workstation. If it is input from the facsimile controller, the correction notice is transferred to the facsimile controller in step S5, and this is sent to the transmitting side. The same process is performed for the confirmation note.

The main operation of the system of the present invention is as described above. Hereinafter, the operation of the entire system of the present invention will be described in order with reference to FIG. First, the operator on the center side uses the scanner 23 to read an image of the transfer request form 15 for the proxy processing (step S1). In this case, the scanner 23 is provided with an automatic reading mechanism,
By automatically reading a large number of forms, the burden on the operator on the center side can be reduced.

The operator on the center side operates the workstation 22 to transfer this image to the main controller 6 (step S2). The main controller 6 causes the character recognition device 7 to process the image and obtains a recognition result (step S3). A correction notice or the like is generated from the recognition result, and the correction notice is transferred to the workstation 22 by the processing of the output destination control device 25. Then, it is printed by the printer 24 (step S4). If the correction is completed or the correction is unnecessary, the recognition result is transmitted to the verification workstation 21 (step S
5) As a result, the confirmation letter is again sent to the workstation 22.
(Step S6 or S7).

Then, the confirmation note is printed by the printer 24. When the operator who has performed the proxy confirmation confirms the recognition result, the workstation 22 is operated to notify the main controller 6 of the confirmation and correction (step S).
8). In this case, from workstation 22 to PB
A control signal equivalent to the signal is sent to main controller 6. As a result, the operator who carries out the proxy processing can execute exactly the same processing as in the case where the facsimile apparatus 2 is operated and then a telephone or the like (not shown) is operated to perform the confirmation processing by the PB signal.

In the case of the above-mentioned configuration, in the existing system, the configuration and operation of the workstation 22 and the scanner 23 connected to the main control unit 6 are partially changed so that the present invention described above can be implemented. It only needs to be modified, and it is not necessary to modify other parts. Therefore, the system can be constructed at a relatively low cost. Moreover, with such a configuration, the scanner 23 can be used by the operator who performs processing on behalf of the customer using the facsimile device 2 directly.
There is no problem even if the completely same company code is used when processing is performed using the above. Therefore, there is no adverse effect such as complication of the system due to coexistence with the proxy processing.

Further, by doing so, the same processing as when the image of the form is transmitted by operating the facsimile can be executed without going through the communication line 3, so that the usage fee of the communication line can be saved.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. In the above embodiment, an example of using a transfer request form as a form has been shown, but the present invention can be widely applied to arbitrary transactions such as facsimile transmission of various forms to perform character recognition processing. Further, when the correction notice or confirmation is transmitted to the operator who performs the proxy processing, the output may be displayed only on the workstation regardless of the printer.

[0028]

In the above-described facsimile form processing system of the present invention, the scanner provided on the receiving side is used for obtaining the image of the form having the signal structure equivalent to the output of the facsimile controller, and this is mainly used. If it is output from the scanner by inputting to the control device, while determining whether the image of the form is output from the facsimile control device or the scanner,
Since the confirmation note and the correction notice are output to the workstation on the receiving side, there is no need to input the form on behalf of the pay communication line, and the cost can be reduced.

Further, since the correction notice and the confirmation note are automatically output to the substitute operator side by the operation of the output destination control device, the complexity of the process is prevented. Moreover, since the control signal equivalent to that obtained by the push button signal control can be generated by operating the work station on the substitute operator's side, the recognition result can be corrected and confirmed easily.
Further, since the main part of the existing system can be used as it is, the system cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a system embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an entire form processing system by facsimile of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a facsimile transfer request form.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a confirmation note example.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of an image data transfer operation.

FIG. 6 is an operation flowchart of the output destination control device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Facsimile device 3 Communication line 5 Facsimile control device 6 Main control device 7 Character recognition device 15 Transfer request form 21, 22 Workstation 23 Scanner 24 Printer 25 Output destination control device

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A facsimile control device for receiving an image of a form by facsimile, a character recognition device for recognizing characters written on the form from the image of the form received by the facsimile control device, and this character recognition. A main control unit that automatically generates a confirmation note or correction notice based on the recognition result of the device and automatically sends it to the sending side, and another form is read on the receiving side of the facsimile, and is equivalent to the output of the facsimile control device. A scanner for obtaining an image of a form having a different signal structure, and a case where the image of the form is output from the scanner by judging whether the image of the form is output from the facsimile controller or the scanner. The output destination to output the confirmation or correction notice to the receiving workstation. Form processing system according to a facsimile, characterized in capital with an output destination control device for controlling. 2. When a response to the confirmation or correction notice from the transmitting side is made using a push button signal,
2. The form processing by facsimile according to claim 1, wherein when the confirmation note or the correction notice is output to the workstation, the workstation generates a control signal equivalent to that under the push button signal control. system.