ICP Certification

Today, Jan/Feb 2006

Understanding MICR

MICR (Magnetic Ink Character Recognition) was developed to permit the effective processing of checks. Checks consist of a single line of numeric data, and the font used (E-13B or CMC7) is highly stylized and printed with special magnetically conducting ink. Check and remittance readers were equipped with a magnetic reader that analyzed the graph created from a stylized number font and was able to accurately interpret them.

Today, retail bank transaction-processing systems for checks routinely read the encoded data both optically (OCR) and magnetically (MICR). The highly stylized MICR characters can be read optically with a high degree of success. Such readers provide the best reading performance of both technologies simultaneously, resulting in exceptionally low rejection rates and high throughput rates. These computer-controlled systems read, endorse, cancel, and number each document before it is microfilmed and sorted into stacker pockets at rates of up to 2,400 documents per minute.

Whenever a system can employ redundant checks to verify the accuracy of conversion, the success rate will increase substantially leading to the widespread use of Voting technologies'.

MICR readers recognize the contents contained in this magnetic ink using a magnetic read head. MICR can also serve as a fraud detector because copied documents do not have the magnetic ink properties that can be detected immediately.

In addition to checks, many passports, remittance slips and printed tickets have a line of magnetic ink which embeds the information they contain.

On U.S. checks, there are five major fields on a MICR line:

1. Auxiliary "On Us" - contains check number if present; bracketed by on us symbols

2. EPC - one character located to the left of the transit field if present

3. Transit - 9 digits including check digit

4. On Us - variable length (19 digits maximum); between transit and amount fields

5. Amount - 10 digits zero filled; bracketed by two amount symbols

Two of these major fields are broken into multiple fields:

Transit (9 digits)

* Routing Number (digits 1-4)

* Bank Number (digits 5-8)

* Check Digit (1 digit)

On Us

* Account Number - Variable length; always followed by the On Us symbol

* Check number - Located in various places in the on us field

* TPC - max 6 characters; Located to right of account number

Jeepers Creepers, Give Your Peepers a Rest

Eye Strain is a Real Workplace Hazard

The average business professional spends 40-50 hours a week in front of a computer screen. Teachers are beginning to utilize the computer more in schools and even children are spending their time after-school in front of a monitor. It's difficult to find a business or home without a computer in it these days, but this much use can result in eye problems, such as eye strain and fatigue.

Dr. Wong, Medical Director and Chief of Lasik Surgery at TLC Laser Eye Centers in Torrance, California, has put together the following tips concerning this problem:

1. Be sure to give your eyes a break if you spend hours in front of a computer. Keeping your focus at the same distance for long periods of time is like holding your arms out for extended time ~ they will get exhausted. Fortunately our eyes adapt quickly, so either take a break from the screen or focus on some distant poster, photo or scene that will give your eyes' muscles of accommodation a change of focus.

2. Don't forget to blink your eyes! It seems we subconsciously fear that at any moment, our computer will crash and we will lose all our work. Thus computer users are more prone to dry eyes because they don't blink enough. Take a few moments to close or blink your eyes consciously and this will relieve the symptoms of dryness. You'll be surprised - your work will still be on the screen!

3. Many computer screens emit electromagnetic radiation that may prove harmful to your eyes if there is no ambient or background light. Try to avoid working on your computer in complete darkness or very low light conditions.

Note: This is part of an on-going series of articles designed to prepare readers for the Information Capture Professional certification test. Information is extracted from several sources including TAWPI's ICP Handbook and will cover topics from each of the sections. The next testing window is June 14 - 21, 2006 at the Laser Grade Testing Center and June 14, 2006 at TAWPI Forum & Expo in Chicago. For additional information visit www.tawpi.org/icp.html or call Melissa Comaeu at 617-426-1767 x11.