Finalist: Tansa Systems LLC

Finalist: Tansa Systems LLC

By David Wexler

Associate Editor

Agravate or aggravate? Colour or color? Run it's course or run its course? Central Avenue or Central Ave.?

While common computer "spell checkers" are capable of finding the most basic mistakes, proofreaders and newspaper copy editors are faced with the constant struggle of keeping dozens of spelling and language errors out of the pages of their publications.

A Norwegian newspaper copy editor, Sigmund Fossum, thought there had to be a better way to eliminate embarrassing errors while doing his job more efficiently. In 1995, in Oslo, Norway, Fossum's son, Nils-Rune Fossum, co-founded the Tansa Text Proofing System, forming the company Tansa Systems.

He was obviously on to something. Today, more than 7,500 companies in Europe and North America use Tansa's system. About 90% of those customers are newspapers, including The Chronicle of Higher Education, The Washington Times, St. Cloud (Minn.) Times and The News-Gazette (Champaign, Ill.)

Robert Laszlo, a former newspaper copy editor, opened the company's U.S. headquarters last year, Tansa Systems LLC, from an office in the basement of his Lakewood Ranch home. A second employee handles sales.

Laszlo says Tansa users have documented up to a 90% reduction in the number of printed errors and as much as a 40% increase in efficiency.

"I remember back in journalism school at the University of Miami, learning to be a reporter and professors trying to beat the Associated Press stylebook and rules for how to write copy into our brains," Laszlo says. "I thought there's got to be some way that software could help us, not only with just simple spelling, but also how to remember some of these style rules better."

Laszlo, 36, joined Tansa in September 2004, when the company decided to expand its operations to North America. Laszlo previously worked on the copy desk of the Miami Herald, as well as newspapers in Waterbury, Conn. and southern Indiana. He first saw Tansa's system while working for Saxotech, a Tansa reseller.

"I was like, 'Finally, there is somebody who can do this and really help people,' " says Laszlo.

Tansa spent $150,000 in startup costs to launch its American facilities. Funding came from the owners of the Norwegian company, Tansa Systems AS. The company broke even in the first year, generating $200,000 in sales. It hopes to double that its second year.

A big help

Unlike most spell checkers, Tansa proofreads content in phrases of up to 10 words at a time, which enables it to look at words in context and pick up more errors than would otherwise be possible. It is capable of checking not only the spelling of words, but also the usage of words and the writing style.

What also makes Tansa's system unique is it is a server-based application.

This allows everyone in the company to use the same proofreader application; every person uses the same dictionaries, the same spelling rules and the same terminology. This ensures that every employee follows the same style rules.

Another Tansa advantage is that for every installation of the system, a highly customized set of dictionaries and style rules is created. Before installing the system, Laszlo says Tansa analyzes a publication's total output of text for the last year, which allows it to compile a custom-made dictionary that incorporates special terminology, proper names and a particular language style.

Tansa works from within most text editing applications, such as Microsoft Word, and page layout packages, such as QuarkXPress and Adobe InDesign.

Tech Time

Robert Laszlo, who runs Tansa Systems LLC, a company selling specialized proof reading software loves technology - as long as the gizmos work.

"I have to get the newest, coolest stuff. My thing is that technology needs to be simple. Every generation should get easier to use, more intuitive. So much of what is sold and put out there, it's not the case, and that's frustrating."

For those thinking about starting a technology business, he advises them to follow their passion, not the money.

"I worked for one of the tech companies right before the big dot-com boom, and it was all about trying to get rich quick," he says. "The company wasn't in the business to create great products and make customers happy or to fulfill a need.

"Of course, that company failed."