Voice Recorders and Dictation - How do they work?

Streamline Office Dictation With Digital Transcription Workflow Solutions

Many medical and legal practices in Australia have made the switch to digital transcription equipment and hardware to speed up their operations and to produce more accurate and lower cost transcription.

However, this transition to digital transcription is not always easy or smooth because it is hard to get good advice about what equipment works best. That's because each business has different dictation requirements and different transcription workflow needs. We can help you with this transition.

For years, audio tape cassettes and recorders were essential items in the legal and medical profession. Doctors used these recorders for dictation of medical procedures, note-taking and to update patient records. Attorneys relied on tapes to record depositions and judicial proceedings to use the information to help build their cases. These tapes were later sent to a transcriptionist who either worked in the office or locally, and they would listen to the recording and manually update files and records.

While these recording devices greatly improved the accuracy of information, there were numerous disadvantages. Sound recording was subpar. A transcriptionist struggled to decipher the person's recorded words due to the poor sound quality. Tape audio recorders were also bulky to carry around to every meeting. In addition, the cassette tape itself wasn't always reliable as it could loosen from the spool or tear.

Medical and legal professionals need a better way to improve their transcription workflow that doesn't resort to old-fashioned tape recording. Today, the digital voice recorder and transcription kit provide the business solutions they are looking for in their daily office operations.

Digital voice recorders no longer rely on a cassette tape. Instead, a voice becomes digitally recorded on the internal memory inside the recorder or on a removable memory card. The recorder or flash drive is then connected to a computer as the voice recording is made into a media file. This audio file is placed on a network server or sent via email which the transcriptionist can access from anywhere in the world.

The benefits of a digital voice recorder and digital transcription kit are enormous. Playback quality is cleaner and crisper, allowing the transcriptionist to understand the recorded voice as this increases general workflow and output production. In addition, there are numerous choices of sound file formats to choose from that offers editing to the files and changes to the sampling rate. Other benefits of digital transcription solutions include:

- Send files over the Internet or network eliminating shipping costs
- Digital voice recorders can be used numerous times without lessening recording quality through  wear-and-tear
- Doesn't need cassette tapes that break or tear
- Digital transcription kit has organizational tools for easier file management
- Expandable memory options offer unlimited audio recording time
- Digital files can be secured by encryption - safely storing client information.
- Digital voice recorders can be used with Dragon Naturally Speaking speech recognition software.

High-end digital voice recorders and transcription kits are not hard to come by. The equipment has been available for years, becoming more advanced and easier to operate. Olympus has been the pioneer of digital recorders as they created the baseline that other companies in the industry followed. Two of the top Olympus transcription equipment packages to consider are the Olympus
DS9500 Digital Voice Recorder and the Olympus AS9000 Digital Transcription Kit.

The Olympus DS-9500 digital voice recorder offers the latest in workflow integration. The available software works with different speech recognition applications including the popular Dragon NaturallySpeaking to offer superior sound quality. The digital voice recorder comes with a 256-bit file encryption to keep sensitive information secure as well as customizable functions to suit the office environment.

The Olympus AS9000 digital transcription kit works with a variety of digital voice recorders - including the DS 7000 recorder - as a professional transcriptionist can streamline their dictation services. Dictation files can be received through network servers or email. There are several playback options available for different media file formats as files can be easily managed. The included footswitch give hands-free control and data sharing between users and transcriptionists happens in real-time.

Digital voice recorders and transcription kits will only benefit the office when setting up at an optimal level. Every legal office and medical practice is different, so the setup must encompass the needs of the people who will be utilizing transcription workflow in daily tasks. Basic equipment and software for the office includes:
- Digital voice recorder and docking station (DS9500)
- PC connected to the voice recorder via USB
- An internet connection
- Transcription management software (included with the AS9000)
- Secure Internet file delivery service (FTP for medical practices)
- Playback software and equipment - headset & foot pedals  (included with the AS9000)
- Word processing software or medical/legal practice records management software

Using the digital transcription kit and recorder is a simple process. Typical workflow scenarios will consist of:

1) Recording the information on the digital recorder.

2) Docking the digital voice recorder to the PC or using a USB cable to connect the recorder to the PC. The docking station charges the recorder and automatically uploads to the network location that is set during installation. We can help you with this step.

3) Files are automatically downloaded to the PC as the files are removed from the digital voice recorder. Then the files are moved directly to a network server or through a virtual private network if it is an office with multiple PC connections. Files may also be sent via email or secure FTP to the transcriptionist's computer.

4) The transcriptionist receives a notification about files being available as they can select the voice file and move it to their work queue. They then transcribe the recording into text.

5) The file is flagged as complete in the transcription management software and is sent on for a final check.

Voice Recognition Australia has over 18 years experience helping medical and legal practices transition from older tape dictation systems to modern digital voice recorder transcription systems. We can also supply the latest in digital transcription equipment. Technical support, onsite training, and equipment installation are also available by quotation.

Please call us to discuss your digital transcription needs on 1300 255 900.