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When you upload a document to Signal, the AI can analyse it automatically — reading the contents, extracting text, and producing a clear summary. This saves you time and helps you quickly understand what a document contains, even if it is lengthy or hard to read.

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What document analysis does

Signal’s AI performs two key tasks when it analyses a document:
  • Text extraction — the AI reads the document and extracts all the text content. This works for typed PDFs, scanned documents, and even photographs of handwritten notes.
  • Automatic summarisation — the AI generates a summary highlighting the key information, making it easy to grasp the main points without reading the entire document.

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When analysis is especially useful

Document analysis is most valuable when you are dealing with:
  • Scanned handwritten notes — staff observation notes, handwritten letters from parents, or meeting notes that would take time to decipher.
  • Lengthy reports — multi-page reports from external agencies, educational psychologist assessments, or social services documentation.
  • External agency correspondence — letters and reports from social services, CAMHS, police, or other organisations that often contain dense, formal language.
  • Historical records — older documents that may be scanned copies or photocopies with reduced legibility.

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How to use document analysis

1

Upload a document

Upload a file to a student’s document library or attach it to an incident. Signal accepts PDFs, images, and common office formats.
2

Analysis runs automatically

Once the file is uploaded, Signal’s AI begins analysing it. This typically takes a few moments depending on the length and complexity of the document.
3

View the results

Open the document to see the analysis. The extracted text and summary appear alongside the original file, so you can reference both.

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Viewing analysis results

The analysis results include:
  • Summary — a concise overview of the document’s key points, findings, or recommendations.
  • Extracted content — the full text as read by the AI, which you can search, copy, and reference.
If a document is particularly hard to read (such as a faded photocopy or poor-quality scan), the AI will do its best to extract what it can. You can always refer to the original file alongside the extracted text.
AI analysis is a tool to help you work more efficiently. Always verify important details against the original document, especially when making safeguarding decisions.

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When analysis is not available

In some cases, document analysis may not produce results:
  • Unsupported document types — certain file types are not supported for analysis. If a document cannot be analysed, you will see a “Document type not supported for analysis” message. The original file remains accessible as normal.
  • Analysis failure — occasionally, analysis may fail due to the complexity or condition of the document. If this happens, you will see a “Summary generation failed” message. You can still view the original document and manually review its contents.