Camera Verification - Why Should You Care?

Camera data verification is becoming more and more a requirement when purchasing printing equipment, direct mail equipment, and packaging equipment. If you thought you wouldn't need it, think again. If your customers aren't asking for it, they will soon. If your competition doesn't offer it, they will soon. Why? Because some government regulations already require it... especially in the financial, insurance, and health industries. And if you want a piece of those industries, you'd better be able to provide it.

But what is camera verification? In the case of data verification (which is what we're talking about here), it is when a computer reads and confirms printed information. A digital camera looks at a name, number, address, etc., and verifies certain things. It might be the order and sequence in which the record shows up, according to the database the computer is matching the information with. It will also verify that each record (page) of a document is present, thus completing an entire job. And, of course, it might verify that barcodes, IMB, or 2D codes are present, correct, and readable.

Some of these things save money, some are absolute requirements. Here are a few examples of how camera and data verification is used with packaging, printing, and mailing equipment:

Matching: Banking and financial statements, health care records, insurance statements... all of these are filled with personal information. If there is a flaw somewhere in the printing, collating, and inserting of these records, camera verification can catch it. The computer will look at personalized information on each page (front and back) and make sure the right people are getting the right records. This could be barcodes, names, addresses, and/or record numbers. Without camera matching, a person could easily end up with someone else's statements-a severe violation of personal and corporate privacy.

Output Verification: With all the different direct mail equipment involved in putting together a mail piece, it's very easy for at least one link in the chain to weaken. This might mean missing pages, garbled print, or pages being out of order. Electronic output verification gives you, your customer, and government regulators proof that each package is complete, addressed properly, and in order. It also proves that the IMB and other barcodes were printed according to spec.

Read-Print or Read-Write: Other than matching and output verification, there's another easy way to make sure data printed in two different places match each other. In matching, both pieces are printed and then matched together. With a read-print setup, each printed record is based on a document or record that's already been printed. For example:

1. An insert with personal information is printed.
2. The camera reads that information as it runs through the machine.
3. The computer matches it with a record in the database.
4. The inserter puts the document in an envelope.
5. A printer prints the address for that envelope.

In this case, there is no need for output verification. The software has already guaranteed the information will match.

Bindery Applications (stitchers, polywrappers, booklet makers, folders, collators): In binding and packaging industries, data verification can make sure that signatures end up in the right places, that document sets get the proper covers (with the right signatures and personal information), and detect missing or duplicate pieces within a set.

Without camera verification, any number of things could go wrong in the examples above. Even if you can say for sure that each printed piece has the right information, checking and correcting mechanical malfunctions could be time consuming and costly without camera verification. What's more, in the customer's mind, the proof of accuracy and quality is what's important. Camera verification is the easiest way to provide that proof

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