ePC provide consultancy and support for data capture and forms processing solutions

The minimum system specification for a TeleForm workstation running Scan Station, Verifier or Designer is stated as:

Pentium 3 1Ghz CPU
512MB Ram
Windows 2000 SP4
500MB+ free hard drive space
100 Mb/s network card
32MB VGA graphics card
17” Monitor (19” Monitor recommended for Verifier workstation)

Additionally, the recommended minimum specification for a workstation running the Reader module is stated as:

Pentium 4 2Ghz
1GB Ram
Windows 2000 SP4
500MB+ free hard drive space
1 Gb/s network card
32MB VGA graphics card

It is worth considering however whether your critical form processing environment should be running on just the bare minimum specification. This article will describe the key hardware recommendations for your PC hardware to help you make the most of your new or existing TeleForm system and minimise the possibility of problems in the future.

PC Form Factor

If you are using a scanner as part of your TeleForm system then you will need a PC capable of taking full size PCI cards as a SCSI based scanner will be required. Many computer manufacturers are driving towards smaller and smaller PC’s and although they have their advantages you will need to keep in mind that internal interface cards that allow for expansion such as USB 2 cards and SCSI cards are generally still manufactured for the standard ATX compliant sized PC’s and will not fit into ultra small form factor units.

Monitor Size

Computer screens are often the last thing that are considered when purchasing a new PC or upgrading an existing one and yet they represent probably the most important function a computer can fulfil – Providing you with information. The size and quality of screen is primarily dependent on what information you need to see at any given time. If a Verifier operator works on a very basic form where only a small number of fields or characters are reviewed then a 17” monitor should provide enough screen “real estate” to cope. However some of the more complex forms and systems may require additional “pop up” windows or operators may need to see information from other sources while verifying certain fields. In this case running the TeleForm system at a higher resolution will enable more information to be viewed at once but in turn will shrink the details to scale and become harder to read. As a result a 19” or larger monitor should be considered. People are often surprised at the relative value of larger monitors now. An organisation that took the plunge to be the first to buy 15” flat screen monitors 2 years ago would have paid around Ł300 each for them whereas now a good 19” TFT screen costs a little over Ł200 and can be extremely advantageous to Verifier operators having to view lots of information for long periods of time during the day. Please be aware that employers now have growing responsibilities for the welfare of computer operators in its care and can be found liable if an employee suffers eye strain or other problems as a result of insufficient or faulty VDU equipment.

Memory

As a rule modern PC’s, especially those running Windows XP in a business environment are expected to have at least 512MB of RAM. Although the minimum required by Windows XP is 128MB this is regarded as the minimum Windows itself needs to run without any other applications running. A typical business PC will have the following running concurrently all requiring their own share of the system RAM:

Windows
Outlook
Word
Memory resident virus scanning software
Internet Explorer

TeleForm V9’s minimum recommended memory size of 512MB assumes that nothing else will be making demands on the memory other than Windows and TeleForm itself. So, if Verifier for instance was to be run on a user’s everyday PC which would reasonably have to have Outlook and other applications running then you may want (depending on the volume of verification being undertaken) to consider upgrading the RAM to 1GB, especially if the user is experiencing system slowness during high loads.

1GB of RAM is recommended for PC’s running the TeleForm Reader module. This module is perhaps the most resource hungry of the system as it is where all the various recognition engines read and convert text and pass the information onto the Verifier. The more forms (and the more complex the forms) passed through the Reader will have a direct impact on the amount of memory and CPU resources required. Although other factors apply on a heavily loaded Reader machine you would generally expect to see an increase in throughput on a PC with higher RAM than one with the minimum specified. Please also bear in mind that in a TeleForm V8 Enterprise or a V9 Workgroup environment the reader PC should not be used for any other function where possible.

Hard Drives

In a distributed TeleForm environment such as V9 Workgroup, specific tasks are carried out on different PC’s. Hard drive space requirements are different dependent on what function is being performed.

Verifier – Generally images processed through the Verifier are only downloaded a few at a time form the TeleForm server, therefore free hard drive space is not crucial above the minimum recommended 500MB.
Scan Station – Images scanned are held on the PC connected to the scanner only until the last page of the batch has been scanned, then the whole lot are moved directly to the TeleForm server. Therefore hard drive space is not generally an issue above the minimum 500MB free.
Reader – This loads and processes images one at a time directly from the TeleForm server and therefore does not have a heavy requirement for hard drive space over and above the 500MB free already specified.
Server – The TeleForm server is where all images are stored during the scan/read/verify process. Depending on your system set up it may also be used for long time archival of the extracted data and images. Therefore the hard drive capacity of the server is of critical importance. The average TIFF image of a scanned A4 form at 200dpi is around 35-50K, therefore for every 1000 forms scanned and stored the server will need 34MB of hard drive storage. This requirement rises dramatically if you have a requirement to scan and store high resolution.

Hard drive performance also makes a massive difference to system performance as it is one of the last remaining components of a PC with physically moving parts, therefore is inherently slower that RAM or a processor. Have a look at our Hard Drive FAQ form more information.

Graphics Cards

Generally most modern PC’s capable of running Windows 2000 or XP will have a graphics card which meets the minimum requirements for TeleForm. It is worth bearing in mind however that visual quality is not only determined by the size and quality of the monitor used but also the refresh rate and resolution output by the graphics card. Generally speaking on a Designer or Verifier station you should be looking at a PC capable of outputting a minimum of 1024 X 768 resolution at a refresh rate of at least 70hz. The refresh rate determines the amount of time it takes to “draw” the screen. The faster the refresh rate the less noticeable flicker on the screen will be and the less likely the user will suffer from eye strain.