Professional Handheld Dictation

Handheld Dictation

Professionals moving from handheld microcassette dictation recorders will find that today’s digital dictation devices make the transition easier than ever before. The nation’s leading manufacturers offer excellent choices that can make your work much more productive and much more enjoyable, with reliability far exceeding fragile cassettes.

Digital vs Tape

Professional handheld dictation recorders work very much like the tape dictation machines you may be used to: slide up the side switch to record, slide down to playback, hold down to review.

Fortunately, that’s where much of the similarity ends:

Digital files sound better than tape, especially after cassettes have been recycled several times.
No tapes to break!
Digital voice files can be easily sent over a network or the Internet to a transcriptionist. Turnaround on dictation is faster.
No tape expense. And, with most professional models, rechargeable battery packs mean no more battery expense.

Recorder Brands

American Dictation carries the leading digital handheld recorder brands that meet the highest standards for quality, value and professional features.

Olympus DS Series

Olympus set the modern baseline for digital voice recorders with the introduction of the DS-4000 in 2005, upgrading to the Olympus DS-5000 in 2008, the DS-7000 in 2012 and now, Olympus raises the bar further with the WiFi powered Olympus DS-9500

Olympus Professional DS Recorders

Philips DPM Recorders

A worldwide leader in dictation for decades, Philips made a big splash in digital dictation with the DPM8000 digital dictation recorder. This is the first digital dictation device that can visually and functionally mimic the look and feel of the old cassette based recorders. Truly no learning curve!

Not to seem complacent, in 2017 came the announcement of the SpeechAir, a dictation recorder that is more like a smartphone and can send voice files using a WiFi signal.

Philips Professional DPM Recorders

Digital Work Flow

Of course, using a digital handheld voice recorder is not much good if it cannot help you maintain or improve your dictation workflow. While your actual workflow may differ, the following are some of the more popular scenarios we have encountered in the thousands of installations we have performed. American Dictation can customize your installation to meet your individual needs.

The following scenarios can apply to many different types of firms, as well, including legal, healthcare, engineering, corporate, etc.

Single Office Firm

The dictating author records one or more voice files on their handheld recorder.
The recorder is "docked" or connected to their desktop PC.
The digital voice files are automatically copied to the network File Server, and a back-up of each file is made on the attorney's PC. The recorder is then automatically erased and within a few seconds, the author is back at work.
The typist receives an alert that dictation files are now available on the server.
The typist selects the file they wish to transcribe from within their Transcription Software. By selecting a file, others who may be eligible to type are prevented from listening to the voice file, thereby eliminating an unnecessary duplication of work.
Once the voice file is typed, it is moved out of the work queue and archived or deleted at a later time.
The typed documents are stored and shared according to your existing workflow.

Multi-Office Firm

The main difference between a single office and a multi-office configuration is that if multiple offices wish to "pool" their transcription so that more than one typist can access the work regardless of the originating office, connections from each PC to a central server must be established via a VPN (Virtual Private Network). Other than that, the workflow remains much the same:

The dictating author records one or more voice files on their handheld recorder.
The recorder is "docked" or connected to their desktop PC.
The digital voice files are automatically copied to the network File Server, and a back-up of each file is made on the attorney's PC. The recorder is then automatically erased and within a few seconds, the author is back at work.
The typist receives an alert that dictation files are now available on the server.
The typist selects the file they wish to transcribe from within their Transcription Software. By selecting a file, others who may be eligible to type are prevented from listening to the voice file, thereby eliminating an unnecessary duplication of work.
Once the voice file is typed, it is moved out of the work queue and archived or deleted at a later time.
The typed documents are stored and shared according to your existing workflow.

Enterprise Solutions

You may need a more sophisticated configuration, however. If your operation uses Citrix or Virtual Terminal Services, American Dictation can easily help you configure and install an appropriate system. See our Enterprise Solutions section for more information, or call 866-408-1383 and ask to speak to an Enterprise Specialist.

Remote Dictation

If the author needs to send dictation from a remote location, such as a temporary office, home or hotel, the workflow changes only in the method by which the dictation is transferred to the central office:

The dictating author records one or more voice files on their handheld recorder.
The recorder is "docked" or connected to their desktop PC.
The digital voice files are automatically copied to the author's PC. The software will then send the files (encrypted for security purposes, if desired) via e-mail to a selected typist. Alternatively, the files can be transferred by FTP* to an FTP server* in the office. The recorder is then automatically erased and within a few seconds, the author is back at work.
The typist receives an alert that dictation files are now available
The typist selects the file they wish to transcribe from within their Transcription Software.
Once the voice file is typed, it is moved out of the work queue and archived or deleted at a later time.
The typed documents are stored and shared according to your existing workflow.

There are several considerations to make when choosing which Internet protocol ( FTP is far superior). Talk to an American Dictation Enterprise Specialist at 866-408-1383 for more information.

* American Dictation provides low-cost FTP services for its customers. For more information, contact American Dictation.

Remote Transcription

Most common in medical offices, a transcriptionist may be working from a remote office or home. Using the built-in Internet transfer functionality of the software, the voice files can be encrypted (for HIPAA compliance) and sent to the Transcriptionist via e-mail or FTP*.

Note: at this time, only the Olympus ODMS software system can allow the transcriptionist to return typed documents via the same encrypted method by which the voice files are sent.

The dictating author records one or more voice files on their handheld recorder.
The recorder is "docked" or connected to their desktop PC.
The digital voice files are automatically copied to the author's PC. The software will then send the files (encrypted for security purposes, if desired) via e-mail to a selected typist. Alternatively, the files can be transferred by FTP* to an FTP server*. The recorder is then automatically erased and within a few seconds, the author is back at work.
The transcriptionist retrieves the files from their e-mail or FTP server*.
The transcriptionist selects the file they wish to transcribe from within their Transcription Software.
Once the voice file is typed, it is moved out of the work queue and archived or deleted at a later time.
The typed documents may be returned to the author via the Internet (see not above).

There are several considerations to make when choosing which Internet protocol (e-mail or FTP) is best. Talk to an American Dictation Enterprise Specialist at 866-408-1383 for more information.

* American Dictation provides low-cost FTP services for its customers. For more information, contact American Dictation.