Digital Dictation Software

Edinburgh Law Firm Adopts Dictation-as-a-Service

noreply@blogger.com (nflow Digital Dictation) — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 09:06:00 +0000

Franks Macadam Brown implements nFlowLive.com for better work management; solution deployed within a day

nFlow, a leading supplier of digital dictation and voice productivity solutions, today announced that Franks Macadam Brown, a growing Edinburgh-based law firm, has implemented nFlowLive.com, a Cloud-based Dictation-as-a-Service (DaaS) solution. The firm has replaced the incumbent analogue tape-based dictation system in favour of a more efficient workflow and cost-effective hosted solution.

Franks Macadam Brown chose nFlowLive.com based on peer recommendation for its superior Cloud-based Digital Dictation technology, ease of deployment and suitability for a growing practice. The solution was implemented at the firm within 24 hours.

Since implementation, nFlowLive.com has greatly enhanced work management and utilisation of administrative staff at the firm. Previously, while fee-earners dictated complex information, which often could take up to a couple of hours per dictation, the administrative staff had to wait until the dictation had been completed before they could access the tapes for transcription. As a result they received blocks of work, meaning that there were periods of high activity during some parts of the day and relatively less at other times, making staff utilisation inefficient. However today, the work is evenly spread, and the embedded workflow within the solution makes it easy to prioritise urgent tasks. Further, the solution has enabled improved workload sharing amongst administrative staff, especially during employee absences due to holidays or sickness. The risk of losing data due to inadvertent deletion of recordings or deterioration in tape quality has been eliminated too.

Clive Franks, Partner, Franks Macadam Brown, commented, “Digital Dictation is a requisite in the legal business. For our firm, adopting the hosted model makes economic sense. Not only is it the most cost-effective way of adopting this technology, but it also offers us the potential to scale its scope in line with future business requirements.”

Rob Lancashire, Managing Director, nFlow, added, “As the legal sector slowly emerges from the recessionary economic conditions, whilst firms need to continue to carefully review expenditure, they also need to invest in technologies that will facilitate business efficiency to free up capacity and enable them to take advantage of new business opportunities. Dictation-as-a-Service is one such tool. Practices are able to derive almost instantaneous return on investment and immediate productivity gains. We are seeing a definite trend towards its adoption, especially in growing practices.”

Through nFlowLive.com, customers have access to nFlow DDS Version 5.0, the second generation enterprise-class digital dictation system. It offers industry benchmark 99% service availability, a rich client install, secure data backup, disaster recovery and free online user training. Further, customers can designate nFlow to undertake the complete system administration for them on a day-to-day basis.

nFlow Digital Dictation Gaining Pace in Scotland

noreply@blogger.com (nflow Digital Dictation) — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 14:54:00 +0000

Mellicks Solicitors selects nFlow for ease of use and deployment and functionality for future business needs

nFlow, a leading supplier of digital dictation and voice productivity solutions, today announced that Mellicks Solicitors, a Scottish legal practice, has implemented nFlow Version 5.0, a second generation, Microsoft .NET platform-based Digital Dictation System (DDS). The firm has replaced its traditional analogue dictation system in favour of the latest workflow-based Digital Dictation technology to increase operational efficiency and enhance customer service.

Mellicks chose nFlow for its ease of implementation and intuitive use. In addition, the solution has ample functionality that the firm will be able to gradually implement in the future, in line with new business requirements. For instance, nFlow offers the ability to remotely access the solution to facilitate mobile working.

nFlow has enabled better work management at the firm. Today, fee-earners are able to deliver specific instructions and guidance for every single dictation on a variety of client deliverables such as priority, urgency of task and type of documentation. Previously, a single tape often carried dictations pertaining to more than one client, making prioritisation and identification of urgent work difficult. Mellicks is also able to maximise resources as nFlow has enabled improved workload sharing amongst back-office staff, especially during employee absences due to holidays or sickness. The risk of losing data due to inadvertent deletion of recordings or deterioration in tape quality has been eliminated too.

Fiona Johnston, Partner, Mellicks Solicitors, commented, “In today’s business environment, firms have to strategically adopt technology systems for the day to day running of their business, if they are to deliver the high standard of customer care that clients expect of them. Digital Dictation is now indispensable in the legal business.

“We are delighted with our nFlow solution. It has been openly embraced by both fee-earners and administrative staff at our office not only because it is easy to use, but also because it delivers noticeable productivity benefits to individuals.”

Rob Lancashire, Managing Director, nFlow, added, “Digital Dictation represents an easy win towards firms’ drive for efficiency and productivity in the legal business. At a time when firms are carefully reviewing all forms of expenditure, the interest and investment in our DDS continues as it enhances their agility and response times to business situations cost-effectively. An enterprise-level, second generation DDS such as ours, not only enables them to overcome the intrinsic inefficiencies of a tape-based system, but also increases their competitiveness in a reduced market. In fact, it is now only a matter to time before firms are left with no option but to transition on to modern day DDSs – a number of the traditional dictation systems and tapes currently in use in the legal sector have come to the end of their lifecyle, with several manufacturers slowly ceasing production.”

nFlow DDS Version 5.0 is the only enterprise-class digital dictation solution of its kind on the market today. It has been completely re-designed from the ground up based on the Microsoft .NET framework, to deliver an unrivalled low cost of ownership, exceptional functionality and benefits to users and customers alike.

Growing Accountancy Practice Opts for Hosted Digital Dictation

noreply@blogger.com (nflow Digital Dictation) — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 12:08:00 +0000

James & Co selects nFlow solution for flexibility, mobility and customer service

nFlow, a leading supplier of digital dictation and voice productivity solutions to the accountancy sector, today announced that James & Co, a Kent-based accountancy practice, has implemented nFlowLive.com, a Cloud-based Dictation-as-a-Service (DaaS) solution. nFlowLive.com has replaced the incumbent analogue tape-based dictation system at the firm. James & Co chose nFlowLive.com for its superior Cloud-based Digital Dictation technology, ease of deployment, intuitive use and customer support. The firm undertook a rigorous trial of the solution prior to selecting nFlowLive.com.

Today, fee-earners and administrative staff at the firm are able to access transcriptions and dictations from any geographic location, greatly facilitating flexible and mobile working. The fee-earners are also able to use nFlowLive.com as an instructional messaging tool. For instance, dictations can be accompanied with express guidance on a variety of client deliverables. This, combined with the better workload sharing and work management capability offered by the solution, is contributing towards an enhanced customer service. Previously, all dictation tapes had to be brought in to the office for transcription and a single tape often carried dictations pertaining to more than one client, making prioritisation of work difficult. The possibility of inadvertently deleting recordings along with deterioration in the quality of tapes overtime meant that the firm ran the risk of losing important client records.

James Halligan, Accountant and Tax Specialist at James & Co, commented, “Cloud Computing-based Digital Dictation makes business sense for us. We now have a second generation, enterprise-class Digital Dictation solution, which has required practically no investment to implement. We simply needed a PC and an internet connection to deploy the solution firm-wide. More importantly, it is available to us at a very cost-effective monthly subscription, and we have the opportunity to easily scale the solution in tune with business requirements.

“nFlowLive.com has delivered almost immediate efficiency gains and overall operational flexibility to the business. We are very impressed by nFlow’s exceptional approach to customer service. nFlow treats all its customers alike, irrespective of size, which is refreshing.” Rob Lancashire, Managing Director, nFlow, added, “The accountancy sector has awakened to the benefits of Digital Dictation and opting for the hosted route is perhaps the fastest and most economical implementation for growing practices. nFlowLive.com can be up and running within 24 hours. Especially for fixed-fee businesses, the increased efficiency that it delivers almost instantaneously, positively impacts on their profitability. In addition, we are extending this offering by introducing a Speech Recognition solution within nFlowLive.com, later this year. This will give customers a very advanced Cloud-based Voice Productivity solutions suite, requiring minimal investment.”

Through nFlowLive.com, customers have access to nFlow DDS Version 5.0, the second generation enterprise-class digital dictation system. It offers industry benchmark 99% service availability, a rich client install, secure data backup, disaster recovery and free online user training. Further, customers can designate nFlow to undertake the complete system administration for them on a day-to-day basis.

nFlow to Demo Speech Recognition Technology at its 2010 Annual Conference

noreply@blogger.com (nflow Digital Dictation) — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 12:14:00 +0000

Company to visit Bristol, Birmingham, Glasgow and London as part of Conference Tour

nFlow, a leading supplier of digital dictation and voice productivity solutions, today announced the dates for its Annual Conference 2010. Adopting a different format for the event this year, nFlow will visit Bristol (11th March), London (16th March), Glasgow (17th March) and Birmingham (26th March), as part of its conference tour.

It is open to both customers and prospects from any business sector.In keeping with the company’s philosophy of ‘customer-led innovation’, nFlow will exclusively preview its Speech Recognition solution, at each of the conference locations. This will enable organisations to get a first-hand feel for its ease of deployment, usability and business benefits.

The conference is designed to be an informative event, bringing together professional services firms and industry professionals to discuss the role Voice Productivity technology – including Speech Recognition and Digital Dictation – can play in helping organisations boost their profitability and take advantage of the new business opportunities that an improving economy presents to them in 2010. This issue will be debated within the context of mobile working and Cloud Computing, a technology that is forecast to reach critical mass this year. Rob Lancashire, Managing Director, nFlow, explains, “2010 is expected to be the year of renewed growth. We are already seeing a marked increase in business confidence in our market. Cloud-based Voice Productivity solutions can enable businesses to maximise their technology investments, increase their productivity and in turn do more with the same level of resources by releasing hidden capacity to exploit new business opportunities.

More importantly, they can give themselves the ability to adopt new technologies as and when they become available, with minimal new investment. “Our upcoming Conference is an opportunity for an informal, but constructive discussion on the current state of play and future of Voice Productivity technology, both from the technical and business perspectives. We are looking forward to it.”

Leading Scottish Law Firm Implements nFlow Digital Dictation For Citrix

noreply@blogger.com (nflow Digital Dictation) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 11:38:00 +0000

Wright Johnston & Mackenzie chooses nFlow for easy integration in a Citrix environment, intuitive features; and to facilitate remote working

nFlow, a leading supplier of digital dictation and voice productivity solutions, announces that Wright Johnston & Mackenzie LLP (WJM), a leading Scotland-based independent law firm, has successfully implemented its Digital Dictation System (DDS), replacing the traditional analogue tape system for dictation. This solution has been rolled out across the firm’s offices in Glasgow and Edinburgh and is currently available to 80 users. The nFlow DDS is delivering significant efficiency and productivity gains to the firm.

Based on a thorough investigation of other market leading solutions, WJM chose nFlow for its suitability in a Citrix environment, intuitive usability and ability to facilitate remote and mobile working. For example, one of the firm’s fee-earners is based in Stornoway in the Western Isles. Access to the nFlow DDS means that the fee-earner is now able to digitally send client-related dictations to office-based staff for instantaneous execution and document production.

nFlow is enabling better work sharing and utilisation of back office staff resources across both offices. Because the nFlow DDS is a workflow-based solution, now digital dictations sent by fee-earners are accessible to the entire administrative pool. This ensures that client work is executed in a timely manner. Also, the dictations carry express guidance on the type of documentation required, priorities and urgency for transcription. Previously, secretarial staff received dictations on audio tapes, with no idea of how long the transcripts were. In addition, quite often a single tape carried dictations pertaining to more than one client. This made work sharing difficult amongst administrative staff.

Angus MacLeod, Partner, Wright Johnston & Mackenzie LLP, commented, “Digital dictation is an important efficiency enabling tool and has become indispensable for any legal practice. It made business sense for us to adopt this technology. The feedback from users including fee-earners and secretarial staff has been very positive. Compared to the previous analogue tape system, digital dictation has enabled a completely new way of working in the firm.”
MacLeod added, “We found nFlow to be the best fit for us. The solution is technically very sound. In fact, there aren’t many digital dictation solutions on the market that are so well suited to a Citrix environment. Also, we were very impressed by the company’s approach to customer service.”

Rob Lancashire, Managing Director at nFlow said, “nFlow DDS' ability to easily integrate in a thin client environment is unique. We have designed our DDS for Citrix based on an in-depth understanding of the rationale for adoption of this environment by customers in the first place, and then developed the solution so that it complements the benefits that thin client technology offers. We look forward to a mutually beneficial partnership with WJM.”

Recently, nFlow was awarded a medal in the ‘Best Small IT Supplier of the Year’ category at the prestigious BCS & Computing UK IT Industry Awards 2009 – Organisational Excellence.

Leeds Law Firm Implements .NET-based Digital Dictation

noreply@blogger.com (nflow Digital Dictation) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:21:00 +0000

Lee & Priestley selects nFlow for technical superiority, ease of use and integration capability

nFlow, a leading supplier of digital dictation solutions, today announced that Lee & Priestley LLP, a leading Leeds-based law firm, has successfully implemented nFlow Version 5.0, a second generation, Microsoft .NET platform-based Digital Dictation System (DDS). The firm has replaced its digital dictation software with a modern workflow-based DDS across 64 users.
Following a detailed examination of solutions from the leading digital dictation suppliers, Lee & Priestley chose nFlow Version 5.0 for its .NET technology, ease of use and ability to integrate with third party applications. In the near future, the firm is looking to integrate nFlow Version 5.0 with its Arista Accounting Software. This will deliver additional time savings to fee earners as they will be able to get client and matter descriptions directly from the financial database, eliminating the need to manually input these details into their documentation.

Since the solution’s deployment, Lee & Priestley has seen a distinct increase in productivity of fee earners and administrative staff. With nFlow Version 5.0, Lee & Priestley has not only eliminated the need to employ temporary staff, but today 16 secretaries are able to service the 48 fee earners in the practice.

Craig Towers, IT & Telecoms Manager, Lee & Priestley LLP, said, “nFlow has made a huge difference to the way our staff works today. We now have a single platform for digital dictation, which is delivering tremendous efficiency gains to users. Also, we have installed a .NET technology, which is going to be around for the foreseeable future. No other digital dictation supplier was able to offer the level of technical sophistication that nFlow has.”

“nFlow’s approach to customer service is commendable. This came through in our very first meeting and based on our experience of working with them, we know that it was not a sales pitch”, Craig Towers added.

Rob Lancashire, Sales and Marketing Director at nFlow, commented, “.NET is definitely the preferred technology in the market today. Solutions based on the .NET framework are future-proof, offer richer functionality and a greater level of accessibility options and easily integrate with other IT systems deployed within organisations to deliver a consistent and seamless business environment. This reduces IT administration and lowers the total cost of ownership, crucial in today’s difficult economic environment.”

nFlow DDS Version 5.0 is the only enterprise-class digital dictation solution of its kind on the market today. It has been completely re-designed from the ground up based on the Microsoft .NET framework, to deliver an unrivalled low cost of ownership, exceptional functionality and benefits to users and customers alike.

nFlow Scoops Medal at the UK’s Most Influential IT Industry Awards

noreply@blogger.com (nflow Digital Dictation) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:52:00 +0000

nFlow, a leading provider of voice productivity and digital dictation solutions, was presented with a Medal in the ‘Best Small IT Supplier of the Year’ category at the prestigious BCS & Computing UK IT Industry Awards 2009 – Organisational Excellence, held at a glittering event at the Battersea Parks Events Arena attended by over 1300 guests, last week. These Awards, the most highly celebrated and influential in the UK IT industry, are a platform for the entire IT profession to showcase best practice, innovation and excellence.

Rob Lancashire, Sales and Marketing Director at nFlow commented, “These awards are the epitome of recognition in the mainstream technology industry with the likes of IBM, Google and Rolls-Royce vying for the top position. For us to be recognised for innovation and excellence within our category at these awards is a very proud moment. We are truly honoured by this accolade.

“Our drive for customer-focussed technical innovation, which is undoubtedly the key to our success, will continue. We look forward to 2010 with renewed vigour. Based on our new product and service offerings introduced this year, we are well poised to take advantage of the opportunities that economic recovery will bring in the near future.”

David Clarke, Chief Executive Officer of BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, said: “This year’s Awards have been exceptional. I was delighted to take part in the judging day and witness firsthand the quality of the winners and medallists. To qualify as a finalist is terrific. and I offer my heartfelt congratulations to all those who took part. They not only provide examples of best practice, but also demonstrate how IT is enabling today’s information society.

During 2009, nFlow has further strengthened its presence in the traditional legal market, established itself as the leading provider of digital dictation technology to the accounting, loss adjusting and financial investment sector; and achieved tremendous success in international markets.

Congratulating nFlow on its success at the Awards, one of its longest standing customers, Julie Berry, IT Director at Reynolds Porter Chamberlain, added, “This is a very well deserved acknowledgement for nFlow. In our view, nFlow’s customer service focus and the quality and technical superiority of its products truly sets it apart in the industry.”

Customer-driven technical innovations this year from nFlow include its iPhone solution and nFlowLive.com, a Cloud-based Dictation-as-a-Service (DaaS) offering. Today, nFlow is the only voice productivity and digital dictation software vendor to offer organisations advanced integration of dictations recorded on iPhones into their systems’ workflows. Also, the company’s timely launch of its hosted solution nFlowLive.com, has been very well received by professional services organisations that recognise the business need for digital dictation technology, but are unable to incur capital expenditure on installing such a solution in the current economic climate.

nFlow Digital Dictation Version 5.0 is the only enterprise-class digital dictation solution of its kind on the market today. It has been completely re-designed from the ground up based on the Microsoft .NET framework, to deliver an unrivalled low cost of ownership, exceptional functionality and benefits to users and customers alike.

nFlow Achieves International Success

noreply@blogger.com (nflow Digital Dictation) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 12:44:00 +0000

Leading Norwegian law firm Wikborg Rein selects nFlow Digital Dictation, pioneers use of workflow-based digital dictation in Norway

nFlow, a leading supplier of digital dictation solutions, today announced that Wikborg Rein, one of Norway’s leading law firms, has selected nFlow Version 5.0, the second generation Digital Dictation System (DDS), along with nFlow Mobile for Windows, as its digital dictation solution of choice. Ranked number one in several business sectors in the Legal 500 EMEA listing, the firm has currently purchased licences for its Norwegian sites including Oslo and Bergen.

Prior to sanctioning the deal with nFlow, the firm simultaneously trialled another well established digital dictation solution at its Oslo site to benchmark the functionality and features delivered by Version 5.0. Wikborg Rein chose nFlow based on an overall assessment of the two systems. In addition to existing client support, nFlow has specially set up a Scandinavian and Central European support line to cover Central European office hours.

The solution will greatly enhance staff productivity through more effective remote and mobile working, allow better utilisation of staff resources, and facilitate work sharing amongst administrative staff at the firm. The full implementation will commence imminently.

Sigmund Solås-Johansen, Head of IT, Wikborg Rein, said, “We experienced first-hand the reasons for its widespread adoption during the trial period. nFlow was instantly embraced by both our fee earners and secretarial staff – not just for the immediate efficiency gains it delivered to them, but also for the workflow management part that could even out the workflow between the secretarial staff.”

Being an international law firm, often fee-earners travel abroad for client-related work. During the trial, users experienced the benefits of the nFlow DDS. They were able to turnaround documents such as meeting notes, legal paperwork and correspondence within hours as well as send instructional messages to office assistants instantly. They simply recorded their dictation from any geographical location and sent it to their office in Bergen for typing with express guidelines on level of urgency, type of documentation along with additional instructions as necessary to meet client deadlines and expectations. For instance, a solicitor visiting a client abroad was able to deliver notes from a meeting within an hour, in time for the next meeting with the same client for which the notes were required.

Rob Lancashire, Sales and Marketing Director at nFlow, commented, “We understand the legal business and the time pressures that fee-earners and secretarial staff have to deal with. These are universal, irrespective of region. Our solution is designed to enable firms to meet these administrative challenges, crucially freeing up valuable time for the more important fee earning activity. Further, internationally spread organisations can easily overcome issues caused by time differences across the geographies they conduct business in.

“We are delighted to be working with such a reputable firm. We look forward to a mutually beneficial partnership with Wikborg Rein.”

nFlow has been shortlisted for ‘Best Small IT Supplier of the Year’ category of the prestigious BCS & Computing UK IT Industry Awards 2009 – Organisational Excellence. It is the only digital dictation software developer ever to be shortlisted for this award.

nFlow Shortlisted For ‘Best Small IT Supplier of the Year’ in Prestigious IT Industry Awards

noreply@blogger.com (nflow Digital Dictation) — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 09:32:00 +0000

Chosen for technological innovation, approach to quality, professional excellence and ability to exceed customer expectations

nFlow, a leading provider of digital dictation solutions, has been shortlisted for ‘Best Small IT Supplier of the Year’ category of the prestigious BCS & Computing UK IT Industry Awards 2009 – Organisational Excellence. Entrants in this category are judged for their technological innovation, approach to quality, professional excellence and ability to exceed customer expectations.

Rob Lancashire, Sales and Marketing Director at nFlow commented, “We attribute our business success entirely to our customer-focussed technical innovation and dogged commitment to exceeding client expectations. Despite the difficult economic conditions, we have further strengthened our presence in our traditional legal market, established ourselves as the leading provider of digital dictation technology to the accounting, loss adjusting and financial investment sector; and achieved tremendous success in international markets. Our being shortlisted for this major IT industry award is testimony to these achievements. We are delighted.”

Customer-driven technical innovations this year from nFlow include its iPhone solution and nFlowLive.com, a Cloud-based Dictation-as-a-Service (DaaS) offering.

With the growing popularity of iPhone in business, nFlow offers fully supported enterprise-class digital dictation from iPhone devices. Users of the iPhone and iPod Touch devices at nFlow’s customer organisations are able to send digital dictation recordings to their offices, for integration into their enterprises’ nFlow Digital Dictation System’s (DDS) Version 5.0 workflow, with the click of a button. No other UK digital dictation software vendor is able to offer advanced integration of dictations recorded on iPhones into their systems’ workflows.

Organisations that recognise the business need for digital dictation technology, but are unable to incur capital expenditure on installing such a solution, through nFlowLive.com they have access to nFlow’s market leading, second generation enterprise-class Digital Dictation System (DDS) Version 5.0, based on the future-proof Microsoft .NET technology platform.

Leading Scottish Accountancy Advisory Implements nFlow Digital Dictation

noreply@blogger.com (nflow Digital Dictation) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 10:08:00 +0000

Top 60 UK accountancy firm French Duncan achieves better work management; benefits from enhanced remote working capability

nFlow, the leading supplier of digital dictation solutions to the accountancy sector, has announced that Scotland-based French Duncan LLP, ranked amongst the top 60 accountancy firms in the UK, has successfully deployed its Digital Dictation System (DDS) along with the nFlow Mobile for BlackBerry application. With the first phase of implementation complete in the firm’s Glasgow and Falkirk offices, French Duncan is seeing visible benefits of increased efficiency and productivity and improved work flow and work load management at these sites. Prior to this, French Duncan was using the traditional tape-based system for dictation.

The firm has plans to extend this implementation to its Edinburgh and Kirkintilloch offices shortly.

nFlow has facilitated better work management and greatly improved remote and mobile working at the firm. Fee-earners at French Duncan are now able to send dictations instantly from any geographical location with express guidance on type of document, priorities and urgency for transcription. Previously, secretarial staff received dictations on audio tapes, with no idea of how long the transcripts were. Also, quite often a single tape carried dictations pertaining to more than one client. This made work sharing difficult amongst administrative staff. Because the nFlow DDS is a workflow based solution, now digital dictations are automatically saved in the right place and accessible to the entire secretarial pool. This ensures that client work is executed in a timely manner even when the primary staff working on individual clients is away due to sickness or holidays.

Further, nFlow has customised the nFlow Mobile application for BlackBerry for French Duncan to deliver additional functionality. For instance, aside from just using their devices to record and send dictations, fee-earners are also able to send instructional messages (voice and email) to their respective offices such as requests for meeting room bookings or information of their whereabouts to arrange client meetings.

Robert Kerr, Managing Partner, French Duncan, said, “We are always on the lookout for technology that can help us become more efficient as an organisation, as efficiency positively impacts on the service we deliver to our customers. nFlow’s technology has delivered instant business benefits to us and we are very keen to extend the solution to our other sites.”
Rob Lancashire, Sales and Marketing Director at nFlow, added, “In fixed cost base organisations such as accountancy firms, operational efficiency can directly facilitate higher business margins. Especially in the current economic climate, and with increasing competitive pressure in the professional services sector, digital dictation technology can deliver significant operational cost savings. Some of our customers have seen productivity increases of up to 30% and reductions in operational costs of up to 10%. Here in lies the business case for digital dictation technology.”

nFlow’s Digital Dictation Technology Attracts Financial Investment Sector

noreply@blogger.com (nflow Digital Dictation) — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 12:27:00 +0000

JM Finn implements nFlow digital dictation system on Virtual Desktop Infrastructure for productivity gains

nFlow, a leading supplier of digital dictation solutions to the professional services industry, today announced that its Digital Dictation System (DDS) has been successfully deployed at JM Finn, a leading privately owned UK investment manager, facilitating remote working and delivering productivity benefits to the business. Currently implemented in the company’s Bristol office, there are plans for gradual deployment at its other sites in London, Leeds, Bury St. Edmunds and Ipswich. Prior to nFlow’s DDS, the company staff were using traditional portable voice recorders for dictation.

The nFlow DDS is enabling better utilisation of resources, faster turnaround of transcripts for client document development and improved management and control of dictation tasks, all of which are contributing towards an enhanced customer service.

Following an investigation of the available solutions, JM Finn chose the nFlow DDS over all other competing products for its easy compatibility with the company’s Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) and nFlow’s approach to business and customer service.

Investment advisors and fund managers are able to dictate customer-related information for documents from any geographic location and send dictations in electronic format to their office for transcription with guidance on priorities based on client imperatives. Previously, secretarial staff were simply handed the audio tapes by client facing staff with no idea of how long the transcripts were and what the level of urgency was. Now secretaries also receive Outlook-style alerts when tasks are due. Also, because dictations are allocated to administrative staff in real-time, they are better able to organise workload and deliver more speedily.

Jon Cosson, Head of IT at JM Finn, commented, “Our advisors and fund managers are spread across the country, so from an IT strategy viewpoint, we have adopted VDI technology. We saw the business need for digital dictation, but faced the challenge of finding a solution that was compatible with our virtualised environment. We considered a number of digital dictation solutions and chose nFlow for the solution’s ability to work in our environment, but also because it is a good company to do business with. They are knowledgeable, approachable and showed a real keenness to work with us.”

Rob Lancashire, Sales and Marketing Director at nFlow, added, “Virtual Desktop Infrastructure is soon going to be a default technology, certainly within the knowledge worker-led professional services sector given the need for flexible and mobile working along with the other business benefits it delivers including cost savings, better utilisation of resources, centralised administration and improved data integrity due to centralised back-up, to name just a few. Interestingly, these are some of the benefits that digital dictation technology also offers, which is the reason it is attracting interest from other industry sectors, aside from the technology’s traditional markets.”

Lancashire added, “We recognised the potential of digital dictation technology adoption across professional services sectors and have developed our solution so that it is compatible with any IT environment, be it Fat Client, Citrix, Terminal Services or virtual desktop infrastructure. And for those businesses looking to adopt SaaS, we offer hosted Dictation-as-a-Service too.”

nFlow DDS is a work-flow based solution that includes microphone and headphone-related hardware, and offers an intuitive Microsoft Outlook-style interface. The solution also supports a wide range of mobile devices including BlackBerry, Windows Mobile and iPhone.

Personal Injury Law Firm, Snipelaw, Upgrades to nFlow Digital Dictation System

noreply@blogger.com (nflow Digital Dictation) — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 09:51:00 +0000

nFlow’s flexible business model clinched the deal

nFlow, a leading supplier of digital dictation solutions, today announced that Snipelaw Solicitors, a Lancashire-based personal injury and accident claims law firm, has implemented nFlow’s Digital Dictation System (DDS) for its flexible business model, product quality and suitability for a thin client environment. The solution has been deployed at the firm’s Blackpool office, upgrading from the incumbent Dictaphone solution.

Snipelaw was looking for a DDS that would give the firm the flexibility to work with its choice of third party transcription provider. Whilst Snipelaw has in-house transcription facilities, it also uses a transcription agency. Contrary to common place business models in the industry, nFlow DDS uses a non-proprietary audio format allowing customers to send their dictations to any transcription provider using nFlow’s 360 degree integrated technology without the third party provider having to licence technology from nFlow.

Ian Snipe, Principal, Snipelaw Solicitors, commented, “In nFlow we have found a robust and flexible digital dictation solution that meets the day-to-day operational needs of our practice. Also, it allows us to take advantage of an agency service without nFlow restricting our choice of service provider or adding the latter’s costs of using nFlow on to our fees.”

nFlow’s suitability for a Thin Client IT environment was another reason for its selection. The nFlow DDS easily integrates with this infrastructure and is well supported by the company in this environment for the long term. This will allow Snipelaw to maximise its investment in Thin Client technology and the benefits that it offers.

Rob Lancashire, Sales and Marketing Director at nFlow, added, “A partnership-led approach for mutual benefit underpins our business philosophy, evident via our non-restrictive business model and technology offering to customers. This facilitates trust and a more productive way of working between both parties. Our policy of using non-proprietary audio formats ensures that there are no additional costs for our customers to use nFlow’s solution when working with other third party suppliers or indeed for services providers themselves wanting to work with our customers. This allows our customers to derive the best value from their investment in both nFlow and third party suppliers to maximise operational efficiency and business gains.”

To facilitate remote working in the firm, Snipelaw is also currently reviewing nFlow’s Mobile for BlackBerry application, which will deliver a professional digital dictation experience on the BlackBerry for users. The solution offers easy to use features such as pause recording, playback, rewind, forward, insert, overwrite, save as draft, title, mark as urgent or confidential, making remote working a truly efficient way of working.

Another London Firm Selects nFlow’s Second Generation Digital Dictation System Over Market Leading Solutions

noreply@blogger.com (nflow Digital Dictation) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 10:36:00 +0000

Financial savings gained from increased operational efficiencies pay for investment in nFlow

nFlow, a leading supplier of digital dictation solutions, today announced that Hunters Solicitors, a London law firm, has successfully deployed nFlow Version 5, its enterprise-class second generation, Microsoft .NET platform-based Digital Dictation System (DDS) across 74 users in its London and North Hampton offices.

Hunters Solicitors chose nFlow over other market leading solutions for its suitability in a thin client environment, comprehensive functionality, intuitive usability, easy deployment and system management, and ability to offer remote working capability.

As part of the DDS implementation, nFlow has installed a web upload portal, which allows fee-earners to remotely upload dictations via the Internet. This means that users can access the nFlow DDS from any Internet-enabled PC without the need for drivers or installed software.
Jean Newton, Office Manager, Hunters Solicitors, commented, “We have seen instantaneous operational efficiency benefits of this technology in our practice. Also, the return on investment in nFlow is exceptionally high compared to any other technology we have recently deployed. The financial savings we have made has already paid for our investment in this solution.”

From an IT management perspective, nFlow DDS Version 5 offers centralised administration of the solution. This means that the DDS does not require any client-side configuration. All user device and hardware driver configuration are served centrally from the server, further reducing operational costs. Theresa Fryer, IT Manager, Hunters Solicitors commented, “The IT department can now very easily roll out updates and upgrades centrally within minutes without the significant overhead of having to use third party technologies such as group policies or login scripts,” (typically required by users of competing DDSs).

For the future, Hunters Solicitors has the ability to integrate the nFlow DDS Version 5 with its Windows-based practice management system. This will deliver further operational efficiencies to the firm. Users will then not need to enter information into two separate systems, reducing duplication of data entry and ensuring accuracy of records in the firm. It will also help the firm automate document creation and management as well as time capture.

Rob Lancashire, Sales and Marketing Director at nFlow, added, “Since we began shipping Version 5 in October last year, we have already installed the DDS in over 20 practices and a significant percentage of our existing customers are now planning version upgrades. A key driver for this rate of adoption is that enterprises are able to realise immediate business efficiencies that positively impact the bottom line without requiring to make exceptionally large financial investments, especially in the current economic climate.”

nFlow Launches ‘nFlowLive.com’, Innovative New Dictation-as-a-Service Solution

noreply@blogger.com (nflow Digital Dictation) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 13:26:00 +0000

Makes digital dictation technology more accessible; offers flexible pricing and free disaster recovery

nFlow, a leading supplier of digital dictation solutions, today announced that it is launching nFlowLive.com, a Cloud-based Dictation-as-a-Service (DaaS) solution. The company has developed this solution directly in response to demand from organisations that recognise the business need to deploy digital dictation technology, but are unable to incur capital expenditure on installing such a solution in the current economic climate. Adoption of digital dictation technology is driven by the operational efficiency and productivity gains it delivers to firms. With nFlowLive.com, this technology will be easily available to organisations with minimal investment and setup costs.

nFlowLive.com will be available from July 2009. Through this service, customers will have access to nFlow’s market leading, second generation enterprise-class Digital Dictation System (DDS) Version 5.0, based on the future-proof Microsoft .NET technology platform. With industry benchmark 99% service availability, fully supported nFlowLive.com offers a rich client install; secure data backup; disaster recovery; free online user training; and an option to entrust nFlow with the complete administration of users, drivers and updates. In addition, customers will be able to opt for automatic updates, eliminating the need to incur additional deployment costs. This will ensure that customers are able to take advantage of all new functionality added to nFlowLive.com instantaneously.

A range of flexible pricing options will be available to customers including monthly or yearly contracts for the service. Additionally, the cost of nFlowLive.com can be directly aligned with practices’ fee income, further enabling organisations to minimise their costs.

Rob Lancashire, Sales and Marketing Director at nFlow, commented, “Through nFlowLive.com, we are driving down the cost of deploying a DDS further and making the significant efficiency gains from digital dictation workflow more accessible to all firms during these difficult economic times. Also, we are adding value to our offering by enhancing the remote working and disaster recovery capabilities, for both existing customers and prospects.

“Within just eight months since the successful launch of nFlow DDS Version 5.0, the launch of nFlowLive.com is yet another demonstration of our commitment to technological leadership and customer service. nFlowLive.com leverages the Service Oriented Architecture, crucial to any modern Cloud-based application. Rather than simply writing a separate application to deliver our DDS in a browser alongside a legacy client technology, we have developed a rich client solution built on a single core of code. This allows the solution to be delivered to users anywhere via multiple channels – be it in the Cloud or through customers’ internal infrastructure.”

nFlowLive.com will support hardware from all major vendors such as Philips and Olympus. For instance, customers upgrading from other digital dictation packages to nFlowLive.com will be able to continue using their existing USB microphones, digital pocket memos, foot pedals and headsets, eliminating the need to incur additional equipment purchase costs.

It will also support all existing integrations with applications such as case management, practice management and document management systems.

Lancashire, concluded, “nFlowLive.com in its current form represents the first phase of our Cloud-based DaaS solution. We will be adding more functionality, flexibility and services to the solution over the coming months.”

nFlow DDS Version 5.0 is the only enterprise-class digital dictation solution of its kind on the market today. It has been completely re-designed from the ground up based on the Microsoft .NET framework, to deliver low cost of ownership, exceptional functionality and benefits to users and customers alike.

nFlow First to Offer Fully Supported Digital Dictation From iPhone in the UK

noreply@blogger.com (nflow Digital Dictation) — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 10:46:00 +0000

"Innovative solution to further advance mobile working; deliver enhanced efficiency and productivity gains"

nFlow, a leading developer of digital dictation software, today announced that it has developed an innovative and cost-effective solution that fully supports enterprise-class digital dictation from iPhone devices. Users of the iPhone and iPod Touch devices at nFlow’s customer organisations will now be able to send digital dictation recordings to their offices, for integration into their enterprises’ nFlow Digital Dictation System’s (DDS) Version 5.0 workflow, with the click of a button. With the growing popularity of iPhone in business, this solution will further enhance remote working in professional services firms, delivering increased productivity and efficiency gains to organisations. Integration of dictation recordings into DDSs’ workflow is crucial as it gives administrative staff full visibility of the tasks at hand and allows them to take the necessary action to deliver the best possible service to clients.

This solution is the first of its kind to be offered in the UK. No other UK digital dictation software vendor is able to offer advanced integration of dictations recorded on iPhones into their systems’ workflows. Enterprises using other DDSs on the market are only able to receive dictations from an iPhone as audio files via emails. As a result, there is no facility to capture crucial information such as title of the dictation or urgency of action as guidance for secretarial staff. This diminishes the business benefit of a DDS as a facilitator of efficient remote working.
This nFlow solution is yet another demonstration of the company’s innovative approach to software development, to meet the fast changing business requirements of the professional services sector, including legal and accountancy. nFlow already supports the BlackBerry and Windows Mobile platforms. The nFlow Version 5.0 is a next generation DDS and the only enterprise-class solution, completely based on the Microsoft .NET platform. It has been re-designed from the ground up and represents a significant technological advancement in digital dictation technology.

nFlow has closely worked with iPhone application developer, JOTOMI GmbH, to develop this solution. JOTOMI GmbH has modified its product, JMDictate (www.jotomi.com/jmdictate), a professional recording system, so that it fully integrates with the workflow in nFlow DDS Version 5.0, to deliver all the benefits of the DDS workflow to customers. For instance, irrespective of the mobile device used for the recordings, administrators and resource managers at nFlow customer organisations can have complete visibility of workloads per client, allowing them to manage and assign tasks based on their level of urgency and importance.

nFlow Sales & Marketing Director, Rob Lancashire, commented, “Similar to BlackBerry and Windows Mobile devices, the iPhone is fast gaining adoption as a business tool. We have developed this solution directly in response to customer demand. We are in talks with a number of organisations who are keen to give their fee-earners the ability to use their iPhone devices for digital dictation, allowing them to maximise their use as a remote working tool for business.
“In today’s web-based and geographically spread business environment, allowing remote working greatly contributes towards increasing staff productivity. We are finding that a key driver for the adoption of digital dictation in the professional services sector, particularly in the current economic climate, is its ability to facilitate effective remote working for fee-earners and administrative staff alike.”

iPhone users at customer organisations wishing to use their devices for digital dictation can very simply and cost-effectively download the professional version of JMDictate from the iTunes App Store for £5.99. Once recorded, by clicking ‘send to workflow’, the dictations are imported into the workflow of nFlow DDS Version 5.0 via an integration software deployed at their respective enterprises. nFlow DDS Version 5.0 is a Microsoft .NET work-flow based digital dictation solution that includes USB dictation and transcription hardware and provides a familiar Microsoft Outlook interface for users.

Leading UK Law Firm Improves Efficiency and Customer Service with BlackBerry Solution and Digital Dictation from nFlow

noreply@blogger.com (nflow Digital Dictation) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 08:11:00 +0000

Freeth Cartwright LLP is one of the UK’s leading regional law firms, serving both commercial and private clients. Based in the East Midlands, with offices in Nottingham, Derby, Leicester, Manchester and Birmingham, the firm has a wide range of clients throughout the UK, many of which have international connections. Its 500-person staff, including 260 fee earners, serve clients both regionally and nationally. The firm has a tradition of embracing technology to improve efficiency. Its Applications Development team developed an award-winning bespoke workflow system called Case Viewer, which provides a comprehensive electronic work environment for lawyers. The firm was also an early adopter of the BlackBerry® solution. It uses a BlackBerry®Enterprise Server for Microsoft® Exchange.

THE CHALLENGE
Freeth Cartwright’s fee earners are frequently away from the office visiting clients, and rely heavily on dictation to get work moving and instructions actioned. The cassette tape recorders being used were impractically heavy and it was difficult to edit recordings. Critically, the tapes had to be physically delivered back to the support team in the office which led to delays in workflow and billing. Moreover, if the tapes were lost, anyone could listen to the recordings, which was a security concern for the firm. The success of the BlackBerry solution for email inspired the firm to see if it could be used for mobile dictation. Chris Nicholson, IT Manager at Freeth Carthwright, knew what he was looking for: a system that would allow fee earners to dictate on case matters from their BlackBerry® smartphones when working from locations where it was not possible or convenient to use their laptops.

THE SOLUTION
After market investigation, Chris Nicholson decided to test the nFlow Mobile for BlackBerry digital dictation solution. His research also showed that it would be straightforward for his team to integrate the application into Case Viewer. In addition, the solution was licensed on a per-device basis, instead of being monthly or subscription-based, and didn’t require costly consultancy fees or additional infrastructure costs.“Using nFlow Mobile on the BlackBerry smartphone, the fee earner can record multiple dictations when they are travelling and out of the office. When they’re finished, they simply hit the send button. The dictation is instantly sent to the nFlow Gateway installed on the Exchange server where it is routed to the desired recipient, most often a secretary for transcription and filing in Case Viewer,”says Nicholson.
The BlackBerry application provides features such as pause recording, playback,rewind, forward, insert, overwrite, save as draft, title and mark as urgent. Nicholson organised a pilot of the solution with a handful of the firm’s fee earners. The pilot began in September 2008 and was a resounding success. “The feedback from the pilot was very good. It met the needs of the fee earners in what they expected from a digital dictation system.”Based on these results, Nicholson began rolling out the solution across the firm’s five sites. Each user receives a short training session that explains the key functionality of the solution.“ As we’d already made the original investment in the BlackBerry solution, the addition of nFlow was a small incremental cost compared to the time it would save the fee earners.”Chris Nicholson, IT Manager at Freeth Cartwright

THE BENEFITS
Freeth Cartwright is committed to excellence in client service and efficient business processes that optimise productivity. Dictation is a key function within the firm. nFlow Mobile for BlackBerry smartphones has sped up and secured the dictation workflow. “Within a minute of a fee earner completing a transcription, say, on the train, the secretary can have it on the screen, ready to transcribe. It’s just as immediate as if the fee earner was sitting next to them in the office.”With analogue cassettes, it would take 24 hours on average for a dictation to arrive back in the office and be transcribed. The new solution also “means better service for our clients because we’re turning these dictations around much faster,” says Nicholson. This in turn also leads to timelier billing. According to Nicholson’s calculations, the nFlow Mobile for BlackBerry pays for itself with the first dictation. The one-time fee for nFlow is the equivalent of a few minutes of a fee earner’s time.

“One hour of a standard associate’s charge-out rate buys at least five one-time licences.” He goes on to add that, “as we’d already made the original investment in the BlackBerry solution, the addition of nFlow was a small incremental cost compared to the time it would save the fee earners.”

The sound quality on the nFlow solution is good, the feedback from the secretaries who do the transcription has been excellent. In addition, the sound files are compressed, so they don’t put pressure on the Exchange server. “The average file size is around 2MB, which is very manageable,”says Nicholson. In addition, if a BlackBerry smartphone goes missing, there’s no risk that someone will be able to listen to the recordings. Like the rest of the data stored on the smartphones, draft dictations are protected by the smartphone’s built-in password authentication and encryption. Completed dictations are encrypted during transmission between the BlackBerry Enterprise Server and the BlackBerry smartphone before being erased from the smartphone’s memory. Finally, the BlackBerry solution with nFlow Mobile has improved time recording.

“Effectively, a digital dictation is time captured as a file. So if the recording is 20 minutes long, that can be apportioned against the fee earners charge-out rate. Whereas when you’ve got an analogue tape, you can’t really make a good judgement about how long that recording is, unless you sit there with a stopwatch,” explains Nicholson.Within just a few months of the pilot, the nFlow Mobile for BlackBerry solution has proved to be a simple-to-implement solution with a rapid ROI, that provides value-added functionality and increases the productivity of Freeth Cartwright’s fee earners.

Newly Merged UK Law Firm Consolidates Digital Dictation Deployment With nFlow

noreply@blogger.com (nflow Digital Dictation) — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 09:17:00 +0000

Cullimore Dutton reduces IT administration with nFlow Version 5.0

nFlow, a leading supplier of digital dictation solutions, today announced that Cullimore Dutton, recently formed by the merger of reputed law firms Birch Cullimore and Mason & Moore Dutton, has successfully upgraded to and consolidated the deployment of nFlow Version 5.0 to 53 users across the new enterprise. nFlow Version 5.0 is a second generation, Microsoft .NET platform-based Digital Dictation System (DDS). Prior to the merger, Birch Cullimore was already using nFlow Version 4.0.

Cullimore Dutton chose nFlow Version 5.0 as its enterprise DDS because it offers centralised administration of the solution. nFlow Version 5.0 does not require any client-side configuration. All user device and hardware driver configuration are served centrally from the server, reducing operational costs. This was a key consideration for the firm as the newly merged entity is split between two office sites.

Further, Cullimore Dutton has significantly invested in creating a virtualised IT environment. Therefore, any solution that the firm deploys must be able to leverage virtualisation technology. nFlow Version 5.0 easily integrates into a virtualised environment, allowing Cullimore Dutton to maximise its IT investment.

With firm-wide access to nFlow Version 5.0, Cullimore Dutton will be able to maximise staff resources, increase productivity and achieve cost savings as a result of reduced operational and IT management costs.

Stephen Roberts, IT Manager, Cullimore Dutton, commented, “The business benefits of digital dictation technology to law firms is a no-brainer, especially in today’s web-based environment. We have been using nFlow’s digital dictation in the Birch Cullimore part of the business for four years now.
“However, in this instance, our decision to upgrade to nFlow Version 5.0 as opposed to opt for another digital dictation system across our newly merged entity, has been based purely on the solution’s technical merits. The solution has very smoothly integrated into our virtual environment, it is very easy to administer and it can also be seamlessly integrated with other third party platforms. In fact, it is by far the quickest implementation we have ever done. We could not have asked for more from nFlow.”

Contrary to industry norm for major solution upgrades, nFlow has provided Version 5.0 software free of charge to existing nFlow users at Cullimore Dutton.

In addition to the existing implementation, Cullimore Dutton is planning to integrate nFlow Version 5.0 with its new case management system, IRIS Law Business, in the immediate future.
Rob Lancashire, Sales and Marketing Director at nFlow, added, “Version 5.0 truly represents a major technological advancement in digital dictation technology – it is not an incremental upgrade to an existing solution, simply to make it “current”. Enterprises recognise this. Further, they are interested in it because in comparison to competitive systems, it is a future-proof technology that can enable them to maximise their IT investments whilst reducing IT administration costs – especially at a time when budgets are under intense scrutiny. We look forward to continuing our long standing and mutually rewarding partnership with Cullimore Dutton.”

nFlow DDS Version 5.0 is the only enterprise-class digital dictation solution of its kind on the market today. It has been completely re-designed from the ground up based on the Microsoft .NET framework, to deliver an unrivalled low cost of ownership, exceptional functionality and benefits to users and customers alike.

Adoption of nFlow Digital Dictation Continues at a Rapid Pace in UK Accountancy Sector

noreply@blogger.com (nflow Digital Dictation) — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 10:35:00 +0000

Greenstones Limited realises efficiency gains with nFlow solution; nFlow provides cost savings calculator

nFlow (http://www.nflow.com/), the market leading supplier of digital dictation workflow solutions to the accountancy market, today announced that Greenstones Limited, a Cambridgeshire-based accountancy firm, has become the latest accountancy practice to implement its nFlow Digital Dictation Software (DDS) solution, replacing the incumbent traditional tape-based dictation system. Greenstones chose nFlow for the solution’s proven ability to deliver immediate efficiency improvements to the firm, especially in the current difficult economic climate.

The nFlow DDS solution is facilitating greater business efficiency through better utilisation of staff resources and faster turnaround time of transcripts. In addition, fee-earners and secretaries alike at the firm are able to prioritise tasks based on client imperatives, greatly improving client service.

nFlow is seeing an accelerated adoption of its DDS in the accountancy sector, primarily driven by firms’ needs to reduce operational costs, increase staff productivity and business efficiency as well as enable mobile working. Some high profile firms that have recently implemented nFlow’s solution include PKF LLP, Scott-Moncrieff, and Johnston Carmichael, to name a few.

Simon Chaplin, Managing Director, Greenstones Limited, said, “We have been using analogue tape technology for dictation for many years, but in today’s web-based business environment, moving to digital dictation is crucial and perhaps an obvious thing to do. For us, adopting technology that improves business efficiency and productivity is critical to meeting our business goals.

“nFlow has been brilliant – the company has delivered exactly what we bought, both from the technology and customer service perspectives. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend nFlow to anyone”

Rob Lancashire, Sales and Marketing Director at nFlow, added, “The fixed fee nature of accountancy work means that any increases in business efficiency and productivity directly impact the bottom line of a firm, making adoption of digital dictation workflow technology an easy choice to make.

“In fact, to enable practices to quantify the savings they can make as a result of using digital dictation workflow software, we have developed a cost savings calculator to help them make the business case for this technology within their firms.”

The nFlow Digital Dictation Cost Saving Calculator is available free of charge on www.nflow.com/cost-reduction-calculator.php. Alternatively, practices can contact nFlow directly on info@nFlow.com for access to the tool.

nFlow DDS is a work-flow based solution that includes microphone and headphone-related hardware, and offers an intuitive Microsoft Outlook-style interface. The solution can be deployed in both, Terminal Services or Citrix environments and utilises the industry standard Microsoft SQL Server. It also supports a wide range of mobile devices including BlackBerry and Windows Mobile.

London City Law Firm Consolidates Digital Dictation Deployment With nFlow

noreply@blogger.com (nflow Digital Dictation) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 13:24:00 +0000

Devonshires Solicitors to benefit from increased productivity and flexible working practices

nFlow, a leading supplier of digital dictation solutions, today announced that Devonshires Solicitors, a leading London City law firm, has successfully consolidated the deployment of nFlow Version 5.0, its second generation, Microsoft .NET platform-based Digital Dictation System (DDS). Driven by the business need to adopt industry best practises, the firm has replaced its traditional tape-based and incumbent digital dictation systems with nFlow Version 5.0 for 120 users across its social housing, projects/PFI/PPP, employment, property, corporate/finance and litigation (including fraud) departments. In addition, the firm has also installed the nFlow Mobile for BlackBerry application, to facilitate remote working and offer employees greater flexibility.
The firm chose nFlow Version 5.0 for the solution’s balance between good product functionality and simplicity, .NET-based infrastructure, very low overhead systems management capability, competitive pricing and proven company track record. Further, the company’s non-intrusive approach to customer service and product support was very appealing to the firm.

With firm-wide access to digital dictation technology, Devonshires Solicitors will benefit from increased productivity, ability to extend remote working practices, and capability to devise creative ways to maximise staff resources in the long term.

Andrew Cowan, Chief Executive at Devonshires Solicitors, commented, “Working practices in the legal sector are changing rapidly, and given the competitive nature of this business especially in the current climate, we are committed to adopting technology that aids productivity in the firm to give us a distinct advantage – not just from a client perspective, but also for recruiting and retaining talent. Digital dictation is one such technology.

“We considered all the major digital dictation solution suppliers, but chose nFlow as it was able to meet all our selection criteria – right from technology compatibility to product functionality through to understanding our needs and approach to customer service.”Users of nFlow Version 5.0 at the firm include fee earners and secretarial staff. A standard unified system across the firm will facilitate more efficient workload sharing and task management. The clarity of dictation recording delivered by nFlow Version 5.0 will considerably reduce the time spent by staff in creating and reworking transcribed documents. Further, the remote access offered by the solution means that fee earners will now be able to send their dictations to their office for typing from any physical location, resulting in faster turnaround times on deliverables to clients.
Rob Lancashire, Sales and Marketing Director at nFlow, added, “We are very encouraged by the interest we are continuing to see for Version 5.0, despite the current economic conditions in the UK. We believe this is because we offer pure bred .NET-based, future-proof technology that easily integrates with existing IT infrastructures, enabling firms to maximise their investment; whilst achieving proven and instantaneous operational efficiencies of anything between 15 – 30 per cent.”

In addition to the existing installation, Devonshires Solicitors is planning to use technology available from nFlow to integrate Version 5.0 with its Interwoven document management system to deliver a holistic system that will manage the complete document production lifecycle.
nFlow DDS Version 5.0 is the only enterprise-class digital dictation solution of its kind on the market today. It has been completely re-designed from the ground up based on the Microsoft .NET framework, to deliver low cost of ownership, exceptional functionality and benefits to users and customers alike.

New training initiative from nFlow aims to help reduce document production costs for firms

noreply@blogger.com (nflow Digital Dictation) — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 10:15:00 +0000

nFlow has announced a new workshop training concept for firms wishing to reduce costs by training staff on dictation skills to make sure they are producing text as efficiently as possible. This follows their successful online dictation skills seminar last year and the feedback they have received on their training support website – www.dictationskills.com. nFlow say that focused dictation skills training can provide considerable savings, particularly if a firm outsources typing, by significantly reducing the retyping of documents due to incomprehensible or poor dictation and potentially delivering even higher fee earner to secretary ratios.As a workshop the training sessions can be tailored to meet the needs of any firm and can cater for a number of people at once making it very cost effective. In the current climate nFlow suggest that a small investment in training can ensure that firms are getting the very best use of their digital dictation system irrespective of whether it is nFlow, Winscribe or Bighand further enhancing the productivity gains the technology is well known for.

First new customer installation of nFlow’s next generation digital dictation software version 5.0 an unequivocal success

noreply@blogger.com (nflow Digital Dictation) — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 09:11:00 +0000

nFlow, a leading developer of digital dictation software solutions for professional service firms, today announced that an installation of its widely reported next generation DDS 2.0 digital dictation system has been successfully completed for 100 users at leading top 50 accountancy firm Johnston Carmichael. nFlow DDS Version 5.0 has been deployed to users across 3 offices in Elgin, Inverurie and Huntly in just 2 weeks. A second phase will see the solution rolled out to an additional 90 users in December. In addition to rolling out nFlow DDS Version 5.0 Johnston Carmichael have also deployed nFlow Mobile for Blackberry to deliver remote dictation for users. The accountancy firm report that the software’s innovative web service architecture and modern Outlook 2007 .NET design has been a great success and delivered an excellent response from users.

Commenting on the project Johnston Carmichael IT Partner, Douglas Rintoul said, ‘Prior to selecting nFlow’s new Version 5.0 product we were already using a small installation of Winscribe over Citrix with our IFA team however there was interest in widening the use of DD so we decided to review the market. This led to a trial of both nFlow and Bighand in our Citrix environment as a comparison to Winscribe. Following this trial we decided to carry out a second trial of nFlow and Bighand with our executive team. Both suppliers were offering new versions so we started with a trial of Bighand however when we saw the nFlow Version 5.0 product we were completely blown away. We felt the excellent opportunities nFlow’s complete .NET design offered us in reducing administration of the application and the simple yet intuitive functionality combined with the modern Outlook 2007 look and feel meant it offered the best solution for us. It was also apparent during meetings that nFlow’s outstanding reputation for customer focus and technical capability was backed with very real passion and commitment, a reputation we saw reinforced during the installation. I can honestly say that nFlow have done an excellent job and that our choice of nFlow version 5.0 has been a great success.’

nFlow deployed the version 5.0 SQL databases and the .NET web services at Johnston Carmichael’s Aberdeen office. Plus they installed audio file repositories on local servers at each remote site. To complete the first phase of the installation the .NET component and driver management service was automatically deployed to all desktops and laptops with the servers prepared for the second phase of the rollout to a further 90 users in 6 offices, including Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness and Perth. The result of this was a fast and low cost implementation that saw the solution deployed to 100 users in just 2 weeks.

Tony Moxham, nFlow’s Technical Operations Director commented, ‘I believe the administration and maintenance functions in nFlow deliver an unbeatably low support overhead. Johnston Carmichael have a number of offices spread across Scotland so when they saw that the centralised .NET component and driver management service gave them centralised control of application maintenance at either a global and granular level they were very impressed. It means they don’t have the overhead of any 3rd party technologies such as SMS to achieve this. When you add to this the on demand service delivery of user configuration without needing additional technology like roaming profiles it all adds up to a very neat solution that suits mobility and hot desking across offices extremely well.’

nFlow DDS Version 5.0 provides a complete service orientated architecture that delivers everything a user needs to the PC when they log in. This is particularly relevant to user experience as rather than use registry keys to configure the experience as older technologies do, nFlow delivers all settings via the service to whichever PC the user logs on. It also delivers the specific dictation and transcription hardware drivers a user needs but is clever enough to automatically switch a user to an alternative device if it is available delivering complete flexibility in terms of hardware used.

nFlow Sales & Marketing Director, Rob Lancashire commented, ‘This project is significant as it not only represents a highly successful early adoption of our new generation DDS solution but it has been achieved in direct comparison with other leading technologies. This reinforces our belief that Version 5.0 represents a new generation of DDS system and validates the comments we have made in support of the DDS 2.0 concept. The success of this first installation is the result of a thoroughbred .Net solution designed in conjunction with Application Development Consultants from Microsoft and an nFlow team with an award winning commitment to customer focus and a deep understanding of customer requirements. We are very pleased the market reaction as it’s already resulted in competitive customer wins totalling nearly 500 users in just the first 2 months If there is a must have for Christmas then I believe nFlow version 5.0 is the DDS equivalent of the iPod.

nFlow Enables Digital Dictation via BlackBerry at Leading Regional UK Law Firm

noreply@blogger.com (nflow Digital Dictation) — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 09:06:00 +0000

nFlow, a leading supplier of digital dictation solutions, announces that Freeth Cartwright LLP, one of the UK's leading regional law firms, has chosen to deploy nFlow Mobile for BlackBerry application to allow fee-earners to dictate on case matters from their Blackberry devices when working from locations where it is not possible or convenient to use their laptops. This solution will be rolled-out across the firm’s five sites including Nottingham, Birmingham, Derby, Leicester, and Manchester, imminently.

Based on a very successful pilot, Freeth Cartwright has selected nFlow for the solutions flexibility and easy integration with ‘Case Viewer’, its award winning case management portal; and its simplicity. The implementation and integration of nFlow Mobile for BlackBerry application is straightforward and does not require expensive consultancy or additional investment in technology on the part of firms deploying the solution. In addition, as this solution is licensed per device instead of being monthly or yearly subscription-based, it is an inexpensive solution compared to similar other BlackBerry solutions or portable voice recorders available on the market.

Once fully implemented, all fee-earners at Freeth Cartwright will be able to better utilise their time when working remotely or on the move. Also, they will be able to expedite urgent client matters quickly and more efficiently. For example, fee-earners will be able to record a digital dictation on their BlackBerry through the installed nFlow Mobile and send to it the nFlow email gateway, where it will be imported into the firm’s case management system and automatically routed to the appropriate secretary for immediate typing.

The nFlow Mobile for BlackBerry application will deliver a professional digital dictation experience on the BlackBerry with features such as pause recording, playback, rewind, forward, insert, overwrite, save as draft, title and mark as urgent, making it very convenient, intuitive and easy to use.

Chris Nicholson, IT Manager at Freeth Cartwright LLP, commented, “Whilst we have a digital dictation system already in place, to facilitate further improved work efficiencies for our fee-earners with BlackBerry devices, who very often are away from the office, we were keen to explore if the BlackBerry could be used for digital dictation. On market investigation, we found nFlow to be competitively priced, straightforward and simple to implement along with comprehensive functionality to deliver increased productivity in a fee-earning environment. Also, we were able to see the company’s attention to detail when it came to customer support. They have been fantastic.”

Rob Lancashire, Sales and Marketing Director at nFlow, added, “We are always looking for ways to enable customers to extend the scope of their existing technology and in doing so, maximise their investment. Our solution’s open architecture allows it to seamlessly integrate with third party applications, facilitating improved workflow and therefore operational efficiencies for firms.

“Like us, Freeth Cartwright has a reputation for innovation and customer focus, which makes us a great partnership.”

nFlow Strengthens Leading Position in the Accountancy Sector With Another Customer Win

noreply@blogger.com (nflow Digital Dictation) — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 09:00:00 +0000

nFlow, a leading supplier of digital dictation solutions, today announced that Edmund Carr LLP, a leading South East based accountancy firm, has implemented nFlow as its Digital Dictation Software (DDS) solution of choice, replacing its traditional tape-based dictation system. Edmund Carr LLP chose nFlow for the solution’s ability to deliver immediate productivity benefits to the firm. In addition, the proven feedback from current users of nFlow’s DDS in the accountancy sector significantly contributed to Edmund Carr’s selection of nFlow.

The nFlow DDS solution is facilitating greater business efficiency and reducing operational costs due to better utilisation of staff resources, faster turnaround time of transcripts, and better management and control of dictation tasks, all of which is contributing to an enhanced customer service from Edmund Carr LLP.

Edmund Carr follows close on the heels PKF LLP, ranked amongst the UK’s top 10 accountants and business advisors; and Scott-Moncrieff, one of the leading Scotland-based firms, to deploy nFlow’s digital dictation technology.

Stewart Martin, Partner at Edmund Carr LLP, said, “Given the volume of transcripts that are generated in the firm, it made huge business sense for us to take advantage of modern digital dictation workflow technology to realise improved efficiency gains. We are already seeing a greater utilisation of our secretarial staff and are now able to use the extra resource for other important business activities such as business development and marketing. In fact, this is the best software we have taken on recently - it has delivered instant productivity benefits to the firm, which will give us a definite advantage in the current economic climate.

“When we started looking for a digital dictation solution, based on our market survey and dialogue with innovative technology users in the accountancy sector such as PKF, it became amply evident that nFlow is the leading choice of solution in this sector. However, during our interactions with the company, we were very impressed by nFlow’s understanding of the unique challenges in our industry, and the company’s articulation of its strategic focus on the accountancy sector for the long term. All this combined made nFlow the best choice for our business.”

The nFlow DDS solution is delivering significant efficiencies for fee-earners and secretaries alike at the firm. Fee-earners are able to prioritise tasks for secretaries based on client imperatives. Previously, secretarial staff were simply handed tapes with no idea of how long the transcripts were and what the level of urgency was. Now secretaries are able to view detailed information about the dictations provided and also receive Outlook-style alerts when tasks are due, significantly aiding efficiency and productivity. Also, because dictations are allocated in real-time, they are better able to organise workload and deliver more speedily, enabling fee-earners to offer an improved service to their clients.

These benefits will be even more pronounced during busy seasons such as January when tax returns are due. The bulk of dictations at Edmund Carr LLP are for letters and fee notes. nFlow will enable fee-earners to deliver personalised correspondence as opposed to standard letters, demonstrating attention to detail and a high level of customer care.

Rob Lancashire, Sales and Marketing Director at nFlow, commented, “There is a compelling business case for the adoption of digital dictation workflow technology in the accountancy sector, especially at this time when the pressure to reduce costs is at its greatest. In fact, the fixed fee nature of accountancy work makes the productivity gains from DDS solutions even more beneficial for accountancy firms than it does for law firms, where digital dictation technology is already mainstream. This is driving the adoption of DDS solutions in the accountancy sector.

“We understand the working practices of the professional accountancy sector, and will continue to evolve our solution to meet its changing business requirements. We are committed to this sector for the long term. This along with our attention to detail when it comes to exceeding client expectations is what differentiates us and is the key reason for our growing success in this sector.”

nFlow DDS is a work-flow based solution that includes microphone and headphone-related hardware, and offers an intuitive Microsoft Outlook-style interface. The solution can be deployed in both, Terminal Services or Citrix environments and utilises the industry standard Microsoft SQL Server. It also supports a wide range of mobile devices including BlackBerry and Windows Mobile.

nFlow Version 5.0 very positively received by legal sector, shipping to commence in October 2008

noreply@blogger.com (nflow Digital Dictation) — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 16:38:00 +0000

nFlow, a leading supplier of digital dictation solutions today announced that nFlow Version 5.0, its second generation Digital Dictation System (DDS), has received an overwhelmingly positive response from the legal sector. Shipping of the product will commence in October this year.

nFlow is already in discussions with a number of law firms currently using competing solutions, who are considering migrating to nFlow Version 5.0. In fact, one such leading UK law firm has already signed an agreement with nFlow for this new solution.

Through beta tests and road shows, nFlow has successfully demonstrated the business benefits of this solution for law firms including reduced Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), enhanced mobility and a future-proof technology.

Since August this year, nFlow Version 5.0 is being beta tested by a number of leading UK law firms, including Burges Salmon. In addition, nFlow is currently conducting a series of road shows across 13 cities in the UK, which are being very well attended by both customers and prospects.

nFlow Version 5.0 has been completely re-designed based on Microsoft Best Practice and the .NET platform. It truly represents a new industry standard in DDS and is the only enterprise-class solution in the market today.

Rob Lancashire, nFlow Sales and Marketing Director, commented, "We are extremely pleased with the performance of this product. Unlike most new product releases, nFlow Version 5.0 has required very few major fixes during beta testing. This clearly shows that our solution is well designed and stable."

"Also, we have had very interesting discussions with law firms on what they consider to be a second generation solution. We are delighted that there has been an unequivocal agreement that nFlow Version 5.0’s functionality is far superior to what the industry is currently using. Despite the current economic uncertainty, firms are looking to invest in technology that will enhance productivity, reduce costs and equip them for future growth. We are very confident of a successful year ahead."

nFlow Strengthens Foothold in Accountancy Sector

noreply@blogger.com (nflow Digital Dictation) — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 11:33:00 +0000

nFlow, a leading supplier of digital dictation solutions, today announced that it has successfully implemented its nFlow Digital Dictation System (DDS) at two of the UK’s leading professional accountancy firms including – PKF LLP, which is ranked amongst the UK’s top 10 accountants and business advisors; and Scott-Moncrieff, one of the leading Scotland-based firms. Since deployment, fee-earners, secretaries and administrators at these firms are benefiting from significantly reduced transcription and document turnaround time, increased support when working offsite from client offices, better management and control, increased client confidentiality and improved disaster recovery.

nFlow is seeing a definite demand in the professional accountancy sector for its digital dictation workflow solution, which is primarily driven by the need for increased support of staff at client sites, greater business efficiency, delivery of superior customer service and reduced operational costs.

nFlow DDS is a work-flow based solution that includes microphone and headphone-based hardware, and offers an intuitive Microsoft Outlook-style interface. The solution can be deployed in both, Terminal Services or Citrix environments and utilises the industry standard Microsoft SQL Server. It also supports a wide range of mobile devices including BlackBerry and Windows Mobile.

Rob Lancashire, Sales and Marketing Director at nFlow, commented, “Closely following the legal profession where digital dictation workflow has gained tremendous success to rapidly become a fairly well established technology, the accountancy profession is awakening to its benefits. For any professional services consultancy, the strength of client relationships depends greatly on the level and quality of service delivered. And especially in economically challenging times, speed and cost of service delivery become critical. We are seeing a lot of interest in digital dictation technology from the accountancy sector as it looks to explore digital technologies with a view to adopting industry best practices for enhanced business efficiencies and brand reputation whilst reducing and controlling overheads to become more competitive.

“Our solution has been expressly designed for fee-earning environments where time quite literally is money. We understand the business challenges faced by the professional services sector and coupled with our proven technical expertise, we are very well placed to provide innovative solutions to the accountancy sector. We look forward to long and mutually satisfactory relationships with PKF and Scott-Moncrieff.”

PKF has implemented nFlow DDS to replace its previous analogue dictation system for 455 users across the firms network of 23 offices in the UK. Now fee-earners are able to send their dictation for immediate transcription with the click of a mouse to a designated secretary, irrespective of either party’s geographic location. On the other hand, secretaries are able to share work load and grade jobs in order of urgency. This has enabled the firm to create a single secretarial resource, radically simplifying the administrative structure and reducing overheads in a multi-site firm.

In addition, users of the nFlow DDS are greatly benefiting from the mobility offered by the solution. They can easily submit dictations from anywhere, giving them tremendous flexibility whilst at the same time enabling them to speedily expedite client deliverables.

Scott-Moncrieff was previously using traditional analogue dictation systems. Faced with inefficiencies in the transcription process and the growth of flexible and mobile working practices within the firm, Scott-Moncrieff has implemented nFlow DDS. The most visible benefits of the solution are accuracy of transcription as a result of superior audio quality of dictation recordings, greatly improved secretarial efficiency, and fast turnaround of client documentation and correspondence. This is enabling more efficient utilisation of fee-earners’ chargeable time, whilst delivering more value for the money for its clients.

These firms chose nFlow DDS for its rich functionality, ease of use, scalability, ease of integration in thin client environments, robustness, nFlow’s reputation for service excellence and the solution’s affordability.