Information technology has been growing at such a rapid pace that it is difficult to keep up with all of the information available. Although computers have made most of our lives easier, some would say that there has been more work created in the process. Computers have been around for a long time, and yet will be here for a long time to come.
Data input can be a tedious job for anyone involved. It can take countless hours to keep records up-to-date and accurate. This is the main reason that computers have been implemented with most all data entry systems. Printed questionnaires, telephone surveys, bank checks, retail tags, and long documents all can be made simpler, and with more accuracy by implementing the right kind of computer and hardware to do the job. Both printed questionnaires and long documents could benefit by converting these forms into a type of document that could have circles filled in order to be scanned by a computer. This could reduce the amount of time that is needed to compile the data, and reduce the amount of human error that is usually involved in this type of data input. A telephone survey could benefit by utilizing voice recognition software. This could free up manpower, and reduce either human error and/or biased opinions. Bank checks have already utilized a form of data input to make their jobs easier and more accurate. This is done by the use of magnetic scanning which is referred to as "Magnetic Ink Character Recognition" (MICR). Most of the characters are already pre-printed on banking checks, and the amounts are printed on them when they are received by the bank. Banks have an extreme need for accuracy, and have a unique data input system that is used primarily in their industry. The best method to improve accuracy on retail tags would be to utilize a bar code reader that would read a Universal Product Code (UPC) for each product. All of these methods will help improve accuracy and efficiency for their data input methods.
