The Top Three Reasons Law Firms Are Not Using Digital Dictation Technology

In my profession, it is prevalent to ask a whole lot of issues. Certainly, it can be necessary. A Virtual Assistant is anyone who has to know as significantly as attainable about a distinct client’s units or way of performing factors in buy to greatest configure and make use of readily available know-how to assistance them do it superior, quicker, for significantly less charge — whatsoever the consumer is wanting to attain.

I begun my VA profession nearly 8 years back and restrict my follow to digital guidance to the legal business. In excess of the decades, I have asked numerous lawyers, legislation agency administrators, paralegals, HR administrators, non-public investigators, IT directors, controlling associates, office managers, secretaries and some others about the processes utilized at their firms. Some use document administration software, some don’t. Some have internet websites, some you should not. Almost without having fail, when asked what the attorneys use for dictation, the most typical response: a tape recorder.

Which is great, since dictating is a extremely effective course of action, even with a tape. According to Dictaphone, in 1952 recorded dictation was established as “a time saver above handwriting and stenography among the lawyers, medical professionals and other pros”. The very first mini-cassette recorder was marketed in 1973. Do you think it? That same tiny recorder nonetheless in use at most companies in the US these days is the technological equal of listening to audio on an 8 track!

In any party, if your firm utilizes tape dependent dictation, then it is currently comprehended that recording genuine agency operate solution is a very good way to get points completed and if your agency does not use dictation, probably you should really be starting up with digital so maintain reading through.

Why Upgrade To Digital Dictation?

Although not as outdated as dictation alone, electronic dictation has been all over for really some time. The professional medical profession has been using electronic dictation engineering (get in touch with in and portable recorders) for around a ten years. Why? Upgrading to a electronic dictation course of action provided hospitals, clinics, doctor’s offices and insurance policy organizations with:

o the skill for doctors to function remotely with absolutely nothing far more than a cellular phone or transportable recorder and net relationship

o centralization of document workflow for multiple person, many web site operations

o the potential to keep track of do the job in progress and in general productiveness

o the means to observe and report different metrics and criteria

o the ability to use distant transcriptionists and help you save on staff prices

The way I see it, any size business has as much to gain as a comparably sized health care apply by upgrading to a digital dictation method – so the concern continues to be, with so much to gain, Why have not they!? (Browse that record earlier mentioned all over again – with your organization in intellect.)

Why Are not Firms Using Electronic Dictation?

The primary motive, I believe, is no 1 has set 2%2B2 together still. Due to the fact digital dictation technological innovation isn’t “new”, not substantially focus has been paid out to it exterior the clinical business. Just not long ago, nevertheless, British and other European legislation companies have been in the news speaking about how upgrading to digital dictation has been less complicated and improved than anticipated.

What About In this article in the US?

Shown below (in reverse order) are the top three responses I have acquired around the a long time to the dilemma: “Why has not your agency upgraded to electronic dictation?”

Variety 3: “Digital dictation, is not that speech recognition?”

No, speech recognition is not digital dictation. Speech recognition is software. It normally takes the human voice and converts it to text. Speech recognition software necessitates coaching to each individual certain user – hours of teaching for most programs, creating the implementation of this technological innovation not functional in most business options.

Digital dictation is the recording of your voice with program or products that presents dictation functions – halt, rewind, insert and so forth. With electronic, nevertheless, the recording does not go onto a tape, it receives saved as an audio file (i.e., .wav, .dss). Compared with speech recognition, digital dictation requires a transcriptionist and application to form the recorded thoughts.

By the way, one particular reason why I firmly consider speech recognition software can in no way substitute a good lawful secretary/transcriptionist – no matter how much you teach it, it can hardly ever capture when you say “defendant’ and you ought to be stating “plaintiff”! )

So, though you may have heard or go through about the pitfalls of speech recognition technology, digital dictation is a unique animal altogether.

Amount 2: “If it ain’t broke…”

Indeed, it is accurate that tape dictation functions and has labored for a long time, but so does a typewriter, an abacus, even a compass for that issue. Upgrading to electronic dictation is not a resolve, it is an advancement to a identified approach. It is the pure evolution of dictation – from human remaining (secy), to recorded (tape), to electronic (audio file).

When upgrading to digital, what really should be highlighted is that all those creating the recording no longer need to be in the identical actual physical place as the individual accomplishing the transcribing – or in today’s lingo: can operate remotely! Depending on how the seize process is set up, so extended as firm’s dictators have obtain to a phone or the world-wide-web, they can generate billable time.

Because the dictation file created with digital is digital in nature, it can be manipulated a lot the exact as any other computer system file — saved, routed by way of networks and so on. This helps make the dictation file by itself a great deal much more easy and user helpful in modern digital ecosystem (networks, multiple offices, doc management computer software, retention prerequisites).

Together with remote do the job prospects for organization dictators, upgrading to electronic dictation supplies reporting and tracking on every file as it travels by the system or all of the metrics that a tape dependent dictation technique only cannot present. Hold up a tape and talk to an lawyer what is on it and see what s/he says! If it have been a electronic file, having said that, you constantly know the date and time a file was created, by whom, how prolonged it is, what customer it is for, what issue it pertains, and much more.

So, from an administrator’s as properly as dictator’s point of view, upgrading to digital dictation delivers really an advancement for how the do the job gets finished.

and… my all time favorite response to…

“Why has not your business upgraded to digital dictation?”

Selection 1: “We don’t like change.”

I am not kidding! I have read this actual phrase extra instances than I care to admit!

Other than, of study course, this response encouraging me to know that corporations can just take without end to attain a choice, it presents very a conundrum. Why? When upgrading to digital, not a great deal essentially alterations in the system for the dictator. In actuality, Olympus and other main manufacturers even have transportable electronic recorders in their skilled line that have a slide change. Actually, a electronic recorder which mimics an analog recorder’s features.

Hence, when adequately configured, other than the simple fact that an legal professional does not have to get up from his chair to hand a tape to his secretary (or leave on her chair), when upgrading to electronic, dictators do not “do” something unique.

Wrapping It All Up

At some issue, every business has to weigh the pros and downsides of any technologies up grade. With far more and additional devices and computer software needed to stay competitive, no wonder no 1 is on the lookout for one more “enhance”. Unlike so a great deal of the technology offered these days, however, electronic dictation technological know-how is not “new”. It is very stable and has been robustly tested, productively carried out and used in numerous sized environments for in excess of a 10 years.

This ought to, IMHO, make an enhance to electronic dictation a must for any firm’s 2009 technologies finances.