Is the Smart Phone app the best choice for a lawyers dictation needs?

The New digital smart line of Dictation equipment, are the most cost effective tool in a lawyers tool chest. 

The comparison between smartphones for dictation and a dedicated professional dictation machine recorder is amazing!

Using a smartphone or iPhone for a efficient recording option may seem a convenient option at first glance. However, we you look closely to your daily dictation use the phone doesn't stand up to your voice demands. Most lawyers quickly release the sound quality is very deficient in the phones, and the features such as rewind are non-existent. The dedicated dictation reordering device is designed with numerous time saving functions that help benefit a busy lawyer.

I will outline the 6 biggest benefits for a lawyer to use a professional dictation recorder for their law practice over a smartphone.

1. High quality voice recording

Smartphone is only made to record sounds when a person is within 3 feet (0.91 m) of the iPhone. In contrast, dedicate dictation machines are designed to capture the spoken word in .mp3 high-quality stereo in a number of settings and distances from the voices in the room or conference table. For example, a lawyer or doctor often use a voice recorder to record an interview between them and a second person. It is at the utmost importance that every spoken word is captured accurately to later be transcribed for a document to be created. The smartphones microphones are not made to record meetings or interviews, let alone a large room full of speakers set around a table. A digital recorder on the other hand is only made for this purpose but tested to capture every word, even when there are multiple voices in the room. This high capability allows a resulting listener to accurately distinguish voices.

Note: the better the sound quality the easier it is to transcribe and the more accurate document will be. Superior sound quality ensures the legal transcriptionist will be able to understand the spoken words.

2. Overwhelming Storage capabilities

Over the years as smartphones have more capabilities hey how consumed tomorrow Storage. A typical iPhone user runs out of storage at least once a month. The professional dictation machines recorders offer removable storage that can be changed like a tape. A 32 gig SD card can hold up to 350 hours high quality Voice recording. In addition to this the dictation recorder clearly shows its display screen how much time is left to record, and how much battery life was left. The amount of memory left is clearly displayed on the dictation recorders Front panel. In contrast, comment the iPhone is continually storing and deleting data apps in the background with its operating system. Since the iPhones memory is changing all the time on the device it is impossible for a lawyer to judge how much recording time he has left on the phone.

3. Larger battery life

The iPhones main battery is draining continuously buy a Wi-Fi connections and voice telephone calling. This is the main reason why smart phone batteries only last eight hours of continuous recording on a full charge. Professional dictation recorders now use of lithium ion rechargeable batteries that only have one dedicated job to save energy and record voices. This is the main reason why a dictation recorder can record 50 hours or more without needing to be recharged. Next, most of these recorders automatically adjust the power consumption based on if the devices in use or not, minimizing its energy usage. Lawyers cannot afford to be stopped by a Dead battery on an iPhone or smartphone.

Lawyers daily activities are dedicated to document creation and multiple Voice recordings that need to be routed to two different secretaries or personnel. Or delay in a document being delivered to a client or court could cost a case.

4. Advanced dictation recording features

Professional lawyer dictation machine recorders have advanced functions and features that are not found on iPhones or smartphones or apps. For example the Philips dictation recorder DPM 8000 and Olympus dictation machine contain a motion sensor that can detect when a recorder has been set down and automatically switches to the recorders meeting microphone to pick up a larger room. The dedicated recorders also allows the speaker to easily prioritize recording and edit them on the fly. Typically a professional dictation recorder will come with voice management software which in turn routes the audio dictation files to the correct secretary or transcriptionist for that document to be created. This automation is a big part of meeting the lawyers need to be efficient with his time.

5. Essential security encryption

In law, health care, insurance and other industries, confidentiality of information is of utmost importance, that includes voice recordings. Professional dictation recorders, unlike most smartphones, lock recordings with the highest level of encryption to date—256 bit—compliant with the AES (Advanced Encryption Standard). Files are encrypted in real-time, which means even if the recorder is lost or stolen and its memory card removed, the recordings would still be protected. Data confidentiality is further protected on professional dedicated recorders through a four-digit PIN code required to access files or play recordings. In the past couple of years hockey of smart phones has become a science in the loss of crucial data cannot be overestimated. If the law firm is working on important case it could be upwards of billions of dollars are at stake, so why would they allow a lawyer to record is important client dictation on a smart phone which is easily accessible to hackers.

6. Convenient thumb slide control for rewinding and easing

The last couple of years research and surveys have shown the thing #1 feature that lawyers enjoy on a dictation recorder is a thumb slide control. 

So what is the Dictation Machine thumb slide control? The lawyer's slides the thumb Control up to the top to start recording you can cook it back wants to stop and if you hold it back again it rewinds the voice recording to a spot of his choosing. Next, he can start recording again and correct his mistakes on-the-fly. This allows him to make it better dictation file and his secretary will have an easier time creating, Transcribing the voice into text with transcription software.

Lawyers require professional-grade dictation tools

Smart phones have become an important part of our lives. The advantages the dictation recorder offers are in voice quality, battery life, more memory for recording, security, and productivity enabled functions. The demands on the lawyer are too great for a smartphone and are better suited for a professional grade dictation recorder.

Lawyers require professional-grade tools. Like to learn more about legal dictation machine option read this blog.

Smartphones have become inextricable from our daily personal and professional lives, but are inadequate for recordings. What these devices offer in voice recording convenience, however, they often lack in quality, power, memory, security and productivity-enabling features.

29th Mar 2023 Carl Williams

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