McCabe Terrill had already adopted digital transcription technology but found that their current platform did not lend itself to the current overall goals of the firm. Professionals wanted a reliable, easy to learn transcription system with a key driver being the ability to “dictate on the go.”
McCabe Terrill is a specialist law firm providing innovative solutions for organisations since 1991. The firm services a diverse range of clients in the commercial, insurance and government spheres. Known for providing high quality and timely advice, the firm prides itself on an assertive and pragmatic approach to outstanding client care through innovative approaches.
Paul Jacobs, Word Processing Manager at McCabe Terrill, explains the difficulties: “Our old system, although digital did have its limitations. We were not able to dock portable devices to upload dictations and had no central management features to enable staff to see where the job was in the production queue, redirect jobs or amend priorities.”
McCabe Terrill utilises offsite typists to handle their dictation workload rather than the traditional onsite model. This centralised approach to transcription has created efficiencies by transferring the transcription burden from the secretaries to the WP Pool and thereby allowing the secretaries to fully focus on the core business responsibilities. The missing ingredient was the workflow tools that would allow WP to respond quickly to the growing demand for its services.
The Winscribe Solution
By early 2009, McCabe Terrill began to look elsewhere for a system that could alleviate these issues.
After carefully researching the Digital Dictation market, McCabe Terrill decided that the Winscribe solution best suited their requirements and goals. “We looked at a couple of different solutions but ultimately Winscribe had a really attractive pricing and licensing model in place. The product was incredibly easy to use which is so important – if the users can’t pick it up very quickly you might as well not bother implementing it. We were very pleased with Winscribe in that respect.” Paul said.
Aided by the Winscribe’s support team, McCabe Terrill rolled out the system to their users in March 2009, with professionals using a mixture of tethered SpeechMikes and handheld digital recorders to manage their dictations. Paul applauds the installation of the system: “Winscribe did a very professional job with the rollout. They communicated seamlessly with the managers, IT team and the staff. The installation was one of the smoothest of all of our internal systems rollouts and the training provided was excellent.”
Since the installation of the Winscribe system, all transcription work is sent automatically to typists within transcriptionist pools. These typists work remotely and log into the Winscribe System to type dictations, creating a process which is now more effective. Paul highlights that for McCabe Terrill “being able to do this with our dictation system was paramount and Winscribe’s workflow capabilities means our typists can do work from their homes.”
Bottom Line Results
Greater Staff Satisfaction and Ease of Use
Since it was first implemented, Winscribe has dramatically improved the issues the law firm faced previously.
Easier system management and greater visibility
The significant time and effort spent by Paul maintaining and supporting secretaries and professionals has all but diminished after the Winscribe system was installed. Paul is very impressed with the Winscribe system: “The system tends to run itself to a large degree, which has alleviated a lot of back and forth between myself, the secretary and the professionals. The system is very robust and stable, so much so that in the last 12 months or more we haven’t had any issues.” He continues: “It has taken a lot of the pressure off in terms of system maintenance, as now I can log on to the Winscribe system from anywhere and manage the workload through their management dashboard. It gives me an at-a-glance view of all jobs and where they are at in the system, and I’m able to easily identify backlogs quickly and easily, as well as view a range of reports on productivity.”
The dictations are being returned quicker using dedicated typists. “We have set up different turnaround times for urgent and standard dictations. Urgent jobs account for 70% of our work and they are returned within 4 hours, and all standard work is returned within 24 hours.”
One major benefit McCabe Terrill has experienced is that professionals are now able to log in and see where their dictations are at in the transcription process. “With the previous system, they had no visibility at all and it was coming back to me to check the status if jobs became urgent. Now, they can go into the Winscribe system and view that status themselves quickly and easily,” Paul commented.
Greater staff flexibility
The Winscribe system has allowed professionals to become a lot more mobile as they can dictate while out of the office. Stuart Windybank, Insurance Principal at McCabe Terrill agrees: “The ability to dictate and transcribe offsite has had a huge impact, not only on improving service to our clients but also allowing flexible work practices for our staff. It is a win-win for us.”
Professionals no longer need to be in the office to dictate, and typists are no longer bound to the workplace to transcribe. This has given staff the option of a more flexible working environment and also supports the McCabe Terrill vision of work-life balance.
Improved audio quality
The quality of the audio files is a huge improvement on the previous system, as Paul clarifies: “Improved audio quality means better quality transcription and faster turnaround times. Winscribe audio quality is second to none.”
Paul sums up the Winscribe implementation by saying, “Overall, the Winscribe product has had a very positive impact on our dictation process. It has ultimately allowed us to achieve the goals we set out to achieve and much more. We are extremely happy with the system and the results.”
Contact Powerhouse Dictation | Winscribe SA to find out more about Winscribe and how it can help your document workflow process
011 887 1056
info@winscribe.co.za
www.winscribe.co.za
