Specialist HR Solutions and Commercial Software Development

OSCAR is Computer Aided Data Entry (CADE) software which speeds data entry and increases accuracy. Using an optical scanner and forms designed for automated recognition, OSCAR reads data from forms and prepares it for use with any database or WP package. An OSCAR-based data entry system can process data faster and more accurately than an unaided operator can.

OSCAR has the following recognition capabilities:

After recognition, data may be automatically validated against user-specified Checklists and Dependency Files and this, together with OSCAR's powerful on-screen verification assures high-quality data. In the case of uncertain words or characters both the original form image and the recognised data can be viewed together on screen for instant editing by the operator.

Computers generally have relied upon primitive and labour intensive methods of data capture. It is true that data capture has improved since the days of punched cards, but not much. Essentially most computers rely upon staff keyboarding the raw data; typing hasn't improved much since the Victorians invented the typewriter!

Any advertised vacancy will bring hundreds, even thousands, of applications. In those circumstances many recruiters are unable to capture more than the minimal data needed to send off an acknowledgement or instant reject letter, intending to go back at a later point and add further details such as those needed for monitoring Equal Opportunities and response analysis, etc.

Of course many users would like to harness our systems to take advantage of the preselection scores facility to automate rejection of candidates who are disqualified through poor results, or need a work permit, or are not mobile, or are seeking an opening in an area where they do not have vacancies. The price of being able to do this has been the necessity to type in the basic data, and for all the savings in the longer term that this might offer, it just hasn't been practical given the pressure. If that describes you then take heart.

PEAR would like to invite you to leave behind the dark ages of keyboarding data and step into the future with OSCAR

The real revolution is OSCAR’s ability to read conventional hand writing. If you have heard that can't be done, well it can now. No special ink, no special characters just reasonably neat hand print. Name and address, degree subject, degree level, OSCAR can read your Applicants' details and write them straight to the appropriate fields in your system. OSCAR can also read typed or printed material as well.

And we haven't stopped there. Upload files can be checked automatically against a series of validation tables. Numeric and date fields can be checked against user defined ranges to prevent, say, a £3000 payment instead of £30.00 because the form's author has missed out a crucial decimal point!

Oscar has been developed as a multi-purpose piece of software able to read any hand written form or printed document, so when you are not using it for recruitment you can win brownie points by lending it to other users.

Amongst the initial uses of the software, in the HR field are..-