While OCR for Forms™ performs many valuable business services, probably none impact the average citizen as dramatically as OCR for Forms’ work with the Michigan Department of State Police in East Lansing, MI.

There, OCR for Forms facilitates the documenting and compiling of information on sex-motivated crime reports as documented by all law enforcement agencies in the state. The timely and accurate updating of criminal records with current reports is essential in helping Michigan's police officers do an effective job.

Prior to implementing OCR for Forms, all of these reports were manually entered via a mainframe key-to-disk operation. The manual system was error-prone; even more disturbing was the five to six month backlog. While these reports waited to be keyed in by human hands, a criminal could slip through police fingers because background information wasn’t readily available.

Delays Mean Danger

Realizing the dangers in delay, the Michigan State Police began a search for a system that could process the information quickly, increase the turnaround time of reports to the officers, and be within their budget. That hunt eventually led them to OCR for Forms by Microsystems Technology, Inc.

OCR for Forms provided a dramatic improvement. Accuracy rates shot up and the backlog fell from five to six months to no more than three weeks. As an added benefit, the unattended processing capabilities of OCR for Forms freed up staff for other vital tasks. With more efficient time usage, the anticipated need for additional personnel evaporated, saving the Michigan State Police money.

Sandy Chapman, Investigative Technician with the Michigan Department of State Police, says she was pleased and surprised at how easily the staff made the transition from old-fashioned data entry to this wave of the future. "OCR for Forms has caused our office to work more efficiently and reduce an intolerable backlog of forms. We now take pride in providing better service to the law enforcement community in Michigan," she concludes.

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