Nuance OmniPage Professional 17 helps push OCR to the next level, and was awarded a BLI Fall 2009 “Pick” as “Outstanding OCR Solution.” This OCR and document-conversion solution takes scanned documents and static image files and converts them into text-searchable documents. OmniPage Professional helps to streamline workflow processes in an organization, allowing end users to capture, recognize and send searchable documents all from within one solution. The program is designed for offices of any size, making it a good fit for smaller companies as well as departments and branch offices within larger organizations.

“OmniPage Professional 17 was the top performer in BLI’s OCR and speed tests,” said BLI Research Editor Lisa Reider. “For example, our four-page document was OCRed with 100 percent accuracy when imported as a PDF, which is significantly higher than the competitive solutions tested. In addition, the program is very easy to use, even for users unfamiliar with OCR software.”

OmniPage Professional includes a wealth of features including barcode recognition, batch separation and zonal OCR. Its Easy Loader tool allows users to have quick access to any folders on the PC or network, and users can import and OCR images from a connected scanner or digital camera. Unlike some competing OCR solutions, OmniPage Professional offers redact (black out) and highlight functionality, which is especially valuable for legal or educational markets as it eliminates the need to make such changes by hand. Users can easily format scanned documents to be read on a smart phone or Amazon Kindle device, and the program offers a handy text-to-speech tool to turn any document into an audio file for burning to a CD or downloading to a portable music player. OmniPage also allows users to save frequently used workflows, batch jobs, OCR zone templates and image enhancement templates.

OmniPage Professional 17 earned top ratings in the majority of categories BLI evaluated such as feature set, ease of setup, ease of use, accuracy, speed and security. In addition to the Professional edition, Nuance offers OmniPage 17 Standard for customers with basic OCR needs and OmniPage Professional 17 Enterprise for organizations that need to deploy a solution across an enterprise. The solutions are available through Nuance authorized resellers and retail outlets.

“BLI selecting Nuance OmniPage Professional 17 for a ‘Pick’ award reinforces why it is the world’s best-selling document conversion and scanning application for Microsoft Windows,” said Robert Weideman, general manager and senior vice president of the Nuance Document Imaging Division. He added, “OmniPage 17 makes it easier than ever to turn paper and PDFs into fully formatted documents complete with text, columns, tables and graphics, from within today’s popular desktop applications. The software enables an easy transition from paper to paperless—at home, in the office and on-the-go.”

Twice a year with its “Pick” awards, BLI gives special recognition to the hardware and software products that provided the most outstanding performances in BLI’s exhaustive lab tests. For MFPs, printers, scanners, wide-format devices and digital duplicators, BLI’s awards stand alone in that they are based on a rigorous battery of lab tests that includes an extensive durability test, which uniquely qualifies BLI to assess reliability, which is a critical factor for buyers and IT directors.

Software solutions undergo an in-depth hands-on review that focuses on key attributes for a solution’s target market and compares how well the product stacks up against leading competitors. Pick winners rise above the competition in key areas such as value, feature set, ease of use, ease of administration, hardware compatibility, software integration, security and support.

Software solutions earn an overall rating based on a Five-Star scale, and “Pick” contenders are culled from those that earn the highest ratings. Consequently, a BLI “Pick” is a hard-earned award that buyers and IT directors can trust to better guide them in their acquisition decisions.