Features for Professional OMR Software Speed

At one hand Addmen OMR Reader Allows editing of error filled data at the time of reading in Alert and Manual modes. On the other hand speed is the most important directive for some projects.

Some of the extra judgement and error and exception handling features involve extra logical judgement and processes that consume additional processing time.

Based on the size and requirements of the project, a classified approach can be used to optimize the time consumed in reading and error solving.

There are various arrangements in OMR Software that take care of reading speed.
One of which is to use the most appropriate reading mode.

There are 4 reading modes:

1. Auto Mode- In this mode the software does not stop on a sheet with faults. It moves forward to the next sheet by tagging the previous sheet with appropriate Sort Code.

Auto mode is suitable for large lots of scanned image majority of which are likely to be okay. So instead of the operator sitting idle in front of the computer screen waiting for rare alerts to appear for faulty sheets, the human effort and investment can be minimized by running on Auto mode.

So in large size professional projects, the reading on Auto mode is started simultaneously with scanning. So that by the time scanning is over majority of the straight forward reading is also over.

Then remains only the task of solving the issues rejected sheets on Alert or Manual mode reading

2. Alert Mode- In alert mode the software will prompt for every erroneous sheet one by one whenever it encounters any such sheet.

Alert Mode is suggested for coaching classes or schools when the scanned lot is small and relatively more number of issues or filling mistakes from the candidates is expected. In such a case it is better to resolve issue as soon as it is encountered rather than first running on auto mode then again solving on alert mode.

3. Manual Mode- This mode is a further extension of the alert mode, where the software essentially stops after reading every sheet, even if the sheet does not have any issue. The software displays the data it has read and proceeds to the next sheet only when the operator manually presses the Next button.

Manual mode finds its major use in case of some faulty planned or blunder prone OMR process, where it is likely that the test has been conducted without issuing proper unique ID or the where the sheet design is defective.

4. Background Mode- This mode is a further enhancement of the Auto mode, where the display on the software interface is totally bypassed. Background mode maximizes the reading speed by minimizing the resource consumption and avoiding extra processes.

• It does not display sheet.
• It does not display reading progress.
• Background mode assumes essentially Auto mode reading with no reading color indicators, no progress bars, no read timer, no reading log.
• Background mode overrides Alert and Manual modes to set them as Auto mode.

Speed enhancement features to improve any of the basic reading modes

Speed Booster Feature- Any of the above mentioned 4 modes of OMR reading can be run on speed Booster enhancement.
This mode maximizes the reading speed by taking advantage of the policy of the OMR reading.

The Booster speed enhancement feature assumes the input shall follow certain minimum basic guidelines.

• The OMR sheet should be a colored design or it should have larger bubbles such that either no outline remains during color dropping or is the outline distant enough from the center of the bubble.
• The policy of filling demands that the bubble is filled completely and properly. So the booster mode does not check for all the possibilities. It does not attend to cases which have marginal filling on the edges and outside the edges.
• The booster feature checks whether a certain minimum mark exists in the center of the bubble, only then it proceeds further to read that bubble.

Continuous Reading Features- This enhancement method facilitates reading of OMR sheet in sync with scanner. The sheet is accepted by the software and read as soon as the image appears in the designate folder where the scanner is putting all images after scanning.

This mode provides opportunity for absolute no human intervention.

Sub Folder Reading Features- This speed enhancement method helps to avoid the time lost in manually selecting the folders.
Not only it changes the folder automatically while reading, but it is also possible to perform cross-folder operations like solving all exceptions and issues within an parent project folder without changing into subfolders.

This feature becomes a boon in Olympiad type of examination or large University examination where sheets from multiple centres are received segregated in different folders.

Sheet Design for High Speed Reading

There can be two variants of sheet: Coloured and black / white. The B/w is for temporary use or small volume use or SoS work when colored prints are not available. But if volumes are high the user desires to adopt booster mode then sheets must essentially be colored and well printed that they lead to 100% color dropping. Now your sheets are already colored printed so no problem. If you are changing your color printing method that is likely to change printing quality, you may just send us a few blank scans just for a cross check to be doubly sure.

Further it is important to understand that speed is achieved when reading policy is straight forward as per the correct filling method instructed on the sheet. Sometimes the examination body knowingly decides to deviate from the instructions. For example the Instruction says to fill bubble with Pen and fill completely. Sometimes the examination body voluntarily chooses to allow deviation and even consider small marks. At this point it must be aware that he is knowingly increasing the sensitivity and adding to the process.

Overview is given on the following pages.

There are no fixed set of instructions that apply in all cases that we should give them separately. It is important for the user to understand the background, and relativity of each parameter to fully understand the process.