Method of detecting data entry errors by sorting amounts and verifying

Abstract

An improved method and system for verifying the correctness of data entered from document images. Images are sorted according to their entered values, and are then presented to an adjudication operator, who verifies that the values shown in the images are correctly ordered. Images violating the sorted order are marked for correction. The marking of images is ergonomically advantageous in requiring only a simple pointing device used infrequently. Input can be by voice command. In one preferred embodiment, images are presented in rows and columns upon a video screen, and the operator uses controls similar to the 'forward' and 'back' buttons of a web browser to navigate through a set of images. In another preferred embodiment, images scroll automatically upwards through an attention zone, within which the operator verifies correct pairwise ordering. The adjudication method can operate with or without information used in previous systems, such as target values, recognition confidence, balancing information, and the like. Variants are described using such information to disambiguate mis-ordered pairs of images; to select images to participate in amount order adjudication; to determine when to accept a second-choice recognition result; and to bypass initial data entry altogether. The method provides for non-intrusive monitoring of its own performance and of the accuracy of the initial data entry module, by measuring results on items whose ordering has been intentionally manipulated.