Fraser Brown rolls out Crescendo digital dictation system across its ten offices

Nottingham law firm reaps the benefits of mobile dictation and centralised transcription

Fraser Brown, a Nottingham-based general practice law firm, uses the DigiScribe-XL digital dictation suite to transfer dictation data within a LAN network. Having started with just a few authors in a trial period, the firm has gradually expanded its dictation system to encompass almost 80 users spread across ten offices. Many solicitors make use of the network solution's on-the-move options to dictate from home or a client's office and transcription work is now pooled among the firm's secretaries. As a result, the turnaround time of dictated documents has been reduced and organisational efficiency has increased significantly.

The history of Fraser Brown solicitors can be traced back to the 1770s. However, the firm began its major growth policy in 1990, acquiring several established and respected local practices. Fraser Brown serves both private and business clients through their offices in Nottingham and branch offices in Bingham and Radcliffe on Trent, all of which are connected via a Local Area Network (LAN). To reduce the turnaround time of dictated documents, Fraser Brown decided to move away from analogue dictation and implement a fully digital dictation system. "With 120 staff members in several offices across the region, we were particularly interested in connecting our offices using state-of-the-art network technology", explains Andy Hodges, Chief Executive Officer.

Gradual expansion

Fraser Brown first installed DigiScribe-XL in May 2003. The initial phase was a trial period with only five solicitors and their secretaries. "The trial phase was a big success", recalls Robin Davies, Senior IT Manager. "In a gradual rollout of the dictation solution within the last four years, we have given 45 authors and 32 secretaries access to the dictation system, including users working at the smaller branch offices." During the installation period, Crescendo gave the first users an initial training to become acquainted with the technology. As the digital solution is very easy to use, trainings for new users are now conducted by the firm's own staff and transcription training usually takes no more than ten minutes. "Even staff members that are not very technically adept do not have any difficulty transferring their transcription abilities to the digital format," confirms Robin Davies.

Most of the firm's solicitors use Philips and Olympus mobile dictation microphones for their recordings, and some work offline from home, using their laptops. Upon returning to the office, they simply put their mobile devices into the docking station or connect their laptop to the LAN and, thanks to the Crescendo Wide Area Service, their voice files are instantly streamed over to the next available secretary in their group. The transcription can thereby be started immediately and a solicitor may even be able to validate the typed report once he or she has returned from home or their appointments.

Using a Virtual Private Network, some solicitors even send their dictations directly to the office while they are working at home or at a client's office. "Last year, parts of the country suffered from extremely heavy snow fall," remembers Andy Hodges. "Some solicitors who lived farther away from offices were simply not able to get to work. With DigiScribe-XL, they could work from home dictating their letters and documents."

Increased availability


When the firm used tape machines, the availability of the recordings was often hampered as tapes would get lost or a solicitor would dictate from home over the weekend and forget to take the tape to the office the following Monday. Likewise, authors would usually wait until a tape was full before they gave it to their secretary. As a result, she could not start typing until several other documents had been recorded. "This could sometimes take a few days," recalls Robin Davies. "Now, the secretary starts typing as soon as the document has been recorded and made available via the LAN."

Safety has been enhanced as DigiScribe-XL keeps voice files safe from duplication and accidental deletion. With the Crescendo solution, dictations cannot be mistakenly lost or erased any more and solicitors don't have to repeat an hour's work because of a failure in the dictation process. Even if a job has been signed off and the respective document has not been printed properly, the staff can ask their IT colleagues to retrieve the electronic file from the system. "All files are stored in a case management system and we are now looking at integrating our electronic filing systems with the digital dictation solution," explains Robin Davies.

Facilitating team work


The firm-wide installation of Crescendo's digital dictation solution has had major effects on the organizational structure. When the firm used analogue dictation, each solicitor and legal executive had his or her own secretary. "As it was hard to manage their individual workloads, we decided to use so-called team secretaries," explains Andy Hodges. "No secretary is assigned to a certain individual anymore but instead, all secretaries work in teams for a specific group, e.g. Commercial Property." If a solicitor from that group has dictated an urgent letter, the group's secretaries can see all pending jobs in a job list and the new letter will be marked as a high-priority document. If there is a surplus or a backlog within the Commercial Property group, a human resource manager might ask the IT staff to give a secretary from another group temporary access to Commercial Property dictations.

Andy Hodges stresses that this new way of working has benefits beyond organisational efficiency: "As our secretaries now work for several solicitors within the same group, the team work approach has become an integral part of their everyday activities. We have increased our efficiency and taken good care of our staff at the same time. Our firm has definitely taken the utmost advantage of this state-of-the art technology."


Fraser Brown Solicitors

Key Figures
  • 10 branch offices
  • 45 solicitors (dictating)
  • 32 secretaries (transcribing)
The DigiScribe-XL Platform