Two leading Scottish firms switch from Winscribe to BigHand

Leading Scottish law firms MacRoberts and Simpson & Marwick have selected BigHand technology to replace their incumbent Winscribe digital dictation systems

BigHand, the leading voice productivity specialist for the global legal community, has today announced that leading Scottish law firms MacRoberts and Simpson & Marwick, ranked in the UK Top-250 as numbers 121 and 206 respectively, have replaced their existing Winscribe digital dictation systems with BigHand software. MacRoberts is currently in the process of implementing BigHand to 300 users across Edinburgh and Glasgow, and Simpson & Marwick has already completed its implementation to 175 users across 7 offices.

Robert Crichton, Network Manager at MacRoberts commented:

“The replacement of our Winscribe dictation system with BigHand incorporates 300 users across Edinburgh and Glasgow, plus up to 100 users of the BigHand for BlackBerry® mobile dictation application. Administration of the Winscribe system had become an irritation for the IT team; each time a dictation needed changing, for example reallocating or escalating, IT had to manually intervene.

Having researched providers in detail I am now delighted to be rolling out BigHand. Technology wise BigHand is the most advanced system we saw and we are excited to be implementing their BlackBerry dictation module, as well as integrations with WorkSite and LawSoft. BigHand’s integration with WorkSite is particularly impressive and demonstrates why they are way ahead of the competition.”

Graham Herd, IT Manager at Simpson & Marwick commented:

‘’Simpson & Marwick operates a Citrix infrastructure for all remote offices and this was fundamental in our decision to replace Winscribe with BigHand software. The performance of the Winscribe system was extremely problematic in a thin client environment, something now emphasised by the excellent functioning of the BigHand system on the same infrastructure. We also found the administration of Winscribe cumbersome, to the extent that system admin was so difficult it had become a manual process. In contrast BigHand administration hooks well into Active Directory making BigHand a far easier system to administer. BigHand also integrates with the Visualfiles system and their experience in delivering this was attractive to us.

The final component in our decision to switch was the lack of support we received for Winscribe; it was very awkward to get a resolution as we had no direct access to the developer. BigHand’s implementation and support have been first class. Users prefer the BigHand interface and we have had such positive feedback, it is really great to deliver an IT project that makes such a difference to users’ lives – it’s not often that you receive such a positive response to an IT project. The final piece of the jigsaw is that we will be deploying BigHand for BlackBerry and Windows Mobile in the next couple of months.’’

BigHand chosen as preferred supplier of digital dictation at Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Foundation Trust

BigHand awarded tender contract at Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Foundation Trust

 London, UK, 7 July, 2009 – BigHand has today announced that it has been selected by Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Foundation Trust as their preferred supplier of digital dictation technology. After a successful pilot and subsequent public tender process, the Trust will now roll out BigHand software trust-wide to over 400 users across 4 sites with the intention of improving document turnaround times, reducing administrative costs and providing an easy to use interface for staff involved in the dictation and transcription process.

 Digital dictation facilitates the instant submission of dictations containing crucial patient data, coupled with report tracking and turnaround alerts, and enhanced sound quality. These factors eliminate the administrative delays caused by analogue tape equipment and supports Trusts in meeting key national health targets. BigHand technology itself is renowned for offering the network resilience required when moving thousands of sizable digital voice files around a Trust infrastructure, and for the ease-of-use that quickly ensures staff buy-in.

 Pam Green, IM&T Project Manager commented:

 ‘‘BigHand will allow us to eradicate the costs of our current analogue tape equipment and provide the ability to transfer work across sites and between secretaries electronically, thus allowing quick turnaround typing times to meet Trust targets.”

 BigHand digital dictation has enabled many Trusts to enhance the level of patient care they are able to provide to their local communities, and has been identified as a key tool in assisting Trusts trim costs and increase the efficiency of consultants, doctors and medical secretaries. Other NHS Trusts currently using BigHand software Trust-wide include Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Guys and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust and Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust.

 -ENDS-

 Contact:

Chris Bell, BigHand. Email: chris.bell@bighand.com Tel: +44 (0)20 7940 5907

 About BigHand
BigHand is based out of Chicago, London, Sydney and Toronto. BigHand is the leading digital dictation vendor in the global professional services sector. BigHand3 was awarded ‘Best of Breed System of the Year’ at the Legal Technology Awards for 2008, and BigHand Mobile (BlackBerry Edition) was voted ‘Mobile Product of the Year’ at the CNET Business Technology Awards 2008. BigHand has also been nominated in the Sixth Annual Law Technology News (LTN) Awards for 2009 as ‘Dictation System of the Year’ and ‘Mobile Tool of the Year’. Further information is available at http://www.bighand.com

 

 

University Health Service, Edinburgh expedites patient referrals via BigHand software

London, UK, June 19th 2009 – BigHand has today announced that University Health Service; an independent National Health Service partnership, has implemented BigHand digital dictation workflow software.

BigHand allows General Practitioners the ability to facilitate instant submission of dictations containing crucial patient data, to their secretaries for immediate transcription.

 Anne-Marie Fraser, I.T. Manager at University Health Service commented:

 “The ability to prioritise dictations makes life a lot easier, secretaries are alerted when an urgent dictation is added  to the system and can get to work on it immediately. At a glance, secretaries can see the status of each individual dictation and therefore provide accurate timescales to patients requiring further information.”

BigHand technology has enabled doctors to instantly submit dictations into the practice workflow allowing secretaries to identify and expedite urgent patient reports and letters.

BigHand, one of the leading providers of digital dictation and voice technology to NHS Trusts, has now deployed Trust-wide voice software solutions to multiple NHS Trusts incorporating over 1000 users at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, 700 users at The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust and over 300 users at Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust. Other NHS Trusts using BigHand software include The University Hospitals of Leicester, Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust.

 -ENDS-

 Contact:

Chris Bell, BigHand. Email: chris.bell@bighand.com Tel: +44 (0)20 7940 5907

 About BigHand
BigHand is based out of Chicago, London, Sydney and Toronto. BigHand is the leading digital dictation vendor in the global professional services sector. BigHand3 was awarded ‘Best of Breed System of the Year’ at the Legal Technology Awards for 2008, and BigHand Mobile (BlackBerry Edition) was voted ‘Mobile Product of the Year’ at the CNET Business Technology Awards 2008. BigHand has also been nominated in the Sixth Annual Law Technology News (LTN) Awards for 2009 as ‘Dictation System of the Year’ and ‘Mobile Tool of the Year’. Further information is available at http://www.bighand.com

Financial services firm Matrix Group implements BigHand to improve efficiency

London, UK, 12 May, 2009 – BigHand, the leading digital dictation workflow provider for the professional services community, has today announced that financial services firm Matrix Group has implemented BigHand technology to improve working practices and enhance the efficiency of its in-house legal service. The introduction of BigHand for BlackBerry® Smartphones has enabled authors to record and submit verbal instructions or dictated documents to secretaries from any location. As a result, the firm has increased the number of documents being transcribed each day, reduced document turnaround times and improved levels of service.

Matrix Group had found that tape dictation methods were becoming increasingly unreliable, impractical and restrictive, and as such led the firm to research & assess both BigHand and Winscribe systems. Following assessment of the two offerings, Matrix Group found BigHand technology and in particular the BlackBerry application to be the most suitable.

Katie Clay, PA at Matrix Group commented:

“The project was smooth from start to finish and since the implementation of BigHand our lives have been made so much easier. Authors are now able to send dictations to secretaries without having to leave their desk to do so. Additionally BigHand’s BlackBerry application has enabled our Group Legal Adviser, who works 3 days a week, to record and submit dictations at any time and instantly submit back to the office via her BlackBerry, increasing the efficiency with which secretaries are able to action instructions or complete documentation.’’

Matrix Group joins over 760 professional services firms that have implemented BigHand digital dictation technology to streamline processes, increase productivity and reduce overheads.

-ENDS-

Contact:
Chris Bell, BigHand. Email: chris.bell@bighand.com Tel: +44 (0)20 7940 5907

About BigHand
BigHand is based out of London, Chicago, Sydney and Toronto. BigHand is the leading digital dictation vendor in the global professional services sector. BigHand3 was awarded ‘Best of Breed System of the Year’ at the Legal Technology Awards for 2008, and BigHand Mobile (BlackBerry Edition) was voted ‘Mobile Product of the Year’ at the CNET Business Technology Awards 2008. BigHand has also been nominated in the Sixth Annual Law Technology News (LTN) Awards for 2009 as ‘Dictation System of the Year’ and ‘Mobile Tool of the Year’. Further information is available at http://www.bighand.com

Top-100 law firm Thomas Eggar LLP upgrades to BigHand and eliminates temporary cover costs

Top 100 law firm Thomas Eggar LLP has upgraded its digital dictation system to BigHand’s service orientated dictation workflow technology and increases operational efficiency

BigHand, the leading voice productivity vendor in the global legal community, has today announced that Top 100 law firm Thomas Eggar LLP has replaced its ‘standalone’ dictation system with BigHand’s award-winning digital dictation workflow technology. Replacement of the standalone digital system with BigHand’s 3-tier technology for 500 users across 6 offices has brought immediate benefits to the firm including the elimination of temporary cover costs; on this basis alone, the firm expects to return its investment within just 12 to 18 months.

Neil Renfrew, IT Director at Thomas Eggar commented: ‘‘The firm had been using a homemade digital dictation system for a number of years, however the aging system did not support modern devices and had increasingly become a burden on our support team. Additionally, the system did not allow for the sharing of work across the firm, forcing offices to operate as individual islands of activity and employ temporary cover when secretaries were on annual or sick leave.

It was important that we evaluated the leading providers within the digital dictation arena before investing in a firm-wide system. Thomas Eggar had recently acquired an office that was already using BigHand however it was vital that we investigated all options rather than simply rolling out the BigHand system. Our criteria were simple: we needed to move to a system that offered resiliency and was technologically future proof, and it was on this basis that I selected BigHand for the firm-wide implementation.

The implementation was seamless; the professionalism of BigHand’s project management team is a credit to their organisation. I have received very positive user feedback following completion and experienced a huge reduction in IT support calls which is indicative of the popular acceptance. We are also piloting BigHand’s BlackBerry application to enhance remote working functionality for partners, and in due course, I anticipate integrating BigHand with our Interwoven WorkSite system.’’

BigHand technology and global support model confirmed ‘best fit’ for Bird & Bird

International law firm Bird & Bird has selected voice productivity specialist BigHand to implement its digital dictation workflow system

 

BigHand, the leading voice productivity specialist for the global legal community, has today announced that international law firm Bird & Bird has selected the BigHand digital dictation workflow system to replace antiquated tape dictation equipment. Following evaluation of BigHand, SRC Winscribe, nFlow, SPS and G2, Bird & Bird concluded that the combination of BigHand’s market-leading technology and its global support model was the best fit strategically. BigHand has support personnel located across the UK, North America and the Asia-Pacific region, providing Bird & Bird’s offices with a single point of contact for 24 hour accessibility.

 

Karen Jacks, Head of IT at Bird & Bird, commented: “The firm does not have a history of dictating, and our lawyer to secretary ratios are good; lawyers do not have designated secretaries, and in many cases we are operating at about 4:1. There has historically been discussion around digital dictation and the operational benefits associated with the technology, and we thought it was the right time to re-evaluate the potential benefits that a digital dictation system could provide.

 

We surveyed lawyers’ methods of creating documents and the issues support staff were having with existing technology, and tried to establish why lawyers were not using dictation as a business process. During the review, Bird & Bird merged with a London firm where lawyers were already using a digital dictation system. This confirmed the need to move forward with this project as secretaries used to transcribing digital voice files were being handed analogue tapes and vice versa. Analogue equipment is very costly to replace and maintain, and coupled with its incumbent inefficiency, the potential ROI became increasingly visible in addition to resolving the many issues we had with our analogue based system.

 

With the powerful workflow capabilities of this technology, the potential for work to be moved between departments, and our geographic spread, the international support component was not to be taken lightly. Having reviewed a number of providers we felt that the global support offered by BigHand was the best fit for our firm. BigHand’s global presence is significant when considering the requirements of an international law firm. We are now fully implementing BigHand within our London office following our recent successful pilot, and have over 80 users now live with a further 130 to follow in the coming weeks. The London project has progressed quickly and very easily, and therefore we will shortly be extending the pilot to Germany and will continue to review the requirements of our other international offices. In addition to the core implementation, BigHand offers impressive Interwoven WorkSite integration, and as users of the system, we will certainly be looking to integrate the two.’’

Worthing & Southlands Hospitals NHS Trust achieves 10-minute referral turnaround via BigHand Digital Dictation Software

NHS Trust improves patient care through the delivery of same day referral letters facilitated by BigHand digital dictation workflow system

 

London, UK, 2 April, 2009 –Worthing & Southlands Hospitals NHS Trust has today announced that it has delivered same day referral letters for patients and in urgent cases within just 10 minutes, as a result of implementing the BigHand digital dictation workflow system. Prior to implementing the award-winning BigHand system consultants were using analogue tape dictation equipment, however broken tapes and poor sound quality were becoming more frequent and increasingly costly prompting a Trust wide review of the dictation and transcription process. Worthing & Southlands Hospitals NHS Trust now has over 300 users of the BigHand technology across the Trust.

 

The Trust wide review exposed disparities in document turnaround times between departments, ranging from 1 day to 6 weeks. The transparency of workflow via BigHand enables consultants and secretaries to work far more efficiently and as a result, departments are able to respond to patient needs much faster.

 

Alison Byatt, Project Manager at Worthing & Southlands NHS Trust commented on the benefits experienced across the Trust:

 

“An ENT consultant who runs the Head and Neck Cancer Clinic now dictates his urgent letters and they are immediately typed and signed off by the consultant the same day.

 

Within the Diabetes department a consultant saw a patient who needed to go to another clinic and required a letter of referral to take with them. The consultant was able to dictate the letter there and then, mark it as an “urgent dictation”, and specified a time within 10 minutes for completion. The message was received by the secretaries instantly and the letter was typed and down in the clinic to be signed before the patient had left.

 

BigHand is also being used for non clinical dictation: the secretary for the department of Medicine for the Elderly is able to take down the minutes of the departmental meetings using BigHand to record the meeting and is then able to directly type up the notes and circulate them back to the attendees”.

 

BigHand digital dictation enables consultants to record and instantly submit dictations into their Trust’s workflow allowing immediate access for secretaries to begin transcribing. Importantly, secretaries are able to identify and expedite urgent patient referral letters, transcribing as soon as they are submitted, rather than trawling through hours of tape dictation and instructions.

 

Earlier this month Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust announced that it is to extend its use of the BigHand digital dictation workflow system across the Trust, further enhancing the Trust’s ability to deliver first class patient care across a number of specialties. The success of replacing tape dictation equipment with the BigHand system within Oncology and Renal has led the Trust to extend into Cardiothoracic, Sleep Unit, Diabetes & Endocrinology, Speech and Language Therapy, and Nutrition and Dietetics.

 

In January 2009 Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust announced it implemented BigHand software incorporating over 1000 users spanning 5 hospitals over 2 campuses, in one of the largest rollouts of digital dictation technology in the NHS.

NHS body Welsh Health Legal Services cuts £16k per annum via BigHand

Voice productivity specialist BigHand delivers NHS cost savings and efficiency improvements

BigHand has today announced that Welsh Health Legal Services, the NHS body that acts for all the Trusts and Local Health Boards in Wales, has cut its annual secretarial cover costs by up to £16,000 per annum as a result of replacing tape equipment with BigHand digital dictation workflow technology.

 

Much of WHLS’s correspondence is time sensitive, and therefore the continued use of tape dictation equipment meant that temporary secretarial staff had to be employed to cover holiday and sickness leave. The inability to share dictations recorded on to analogue tapes amongst existing secretarial resource ensured that annual temporary cover costs remained consistently high.

 

Ruth Baillie, Business Manager at Welsh Health Legal Services commented:

 

‘’The move to digital dictation was driven by four key forces: the increasing cost of temporary secretarial staff, the need to improve work sharing, the desire to improve sound quality of dictation and the requirement to replace the outdated analogue equipment. Tape equipment makes it very difficult to share work amongst secretaries because of the number of dictations on each tape; we were unable to see exactly what work was outstanding and could not easily prioritise urgent work. The sound quality of tape dictations was sometimes poor, and therefore transcribing was often time consuming and stressful. In addition to poor sound, tapes were occasionally lost or dictated over resulting in fee earners having to re-dictate.

 

As a result of implementing BigHand we have experienced many benefits across the organisation, however the largest impact has been within our support function; most notably, our annual temporary cover cost has been greatly reduced. BigHand is a considerable help to team working and it is very easy for all to see exactly how much work is outstanding. The ability to set the priority of a dictation as urgent has made workloads much easier to manage and prioritise, which in turn, has led to a reduction in stress levels. There is no longer any chance of cutting off instructions or changes at the end of a letter as secretaries can clearly see the point they have reached within a dictation, ensuring they listen on to the end.

 

I have been delighted by the results of our BigHand project; morale and work sharing have improved over and above expectations.’’

 

 

Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust extends patient care benefits of BigHand Digital Dictation

London, UK, 10 March, 2009 – BigHand has today announced that Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust is to extend its use of the BigHand digital dictation workflow system, further enhancing the Trust’s ability to deliver first class patient care across a number of specialties. The success of replacing tape dictation equipment with the award winning BigHand system within Oncology and Renal has led the Trust to extend into Cardiothoracic, Sleep Unit, Diabetes & Endocrinology, Speech and Language Therapy, and Nutrition and Dietetics.

 

Over 400 dictations are created every day within Oncology alone, therefore by replacing tape equipment with the BigHand system, consultants are now able to submit dictations as soon as they are created to a pool of secretaries for transcription, regardless of which site they are at, or which floor they sit on. The instant submission of dictations coupled with improved workflow via BigHand eliminates the administrative delays caused by tape equipment, enabling Trusts to meet key national health targets.

 

Teresa Dardis, Service Manager, Cardiothoracic, commented:

 

‘‘Replacing tapes with the BigHand system will enable consultants to dictate their notes there and then during clinic and submit directly to secretaries for immediate action, resulting in the swifter turnaround of work. We will no longer have to worry about delays created by clunky tape dictation processes and with the added advantage of a visible workload, the management of work will be more efficient and controlled. I am confident that BigHand will enhance the level of service we provide to our patients.’’

 

BigHand digital dictation has enabled many Trusts to enhance the level of patient care they are able to provide to their local communities, and has been identified as a key tool in assisting Trusts trim costs and increase the efficiency of consultants, doctors and medical secretaries. BigHand has recently delivered one of the largest implementations of digital dictation technology within the NHS at the Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, resulting in same day patient discharge in some specialties.

 

-ENDS-

 

Contact:

Chris Bell, BigHand. Email: chris.bell@bighand.com Tel: +44 (0)20 7940 5907

 

About BigHand
BigHand is based out of Chicago, London, Sydney and Toronto. BigHand is the leading digital dictation vendor in the global professional services sector. BigHand3 was awarded ‘Best of Breed System of the Year’ at the Legal Technology Awards for 2008, and BigHand Mobile (BlackBerry Edition) was voted ‘Mobile Product of the Year’ at the CNET Business Technology Awards 2008. BigHand has also been nominated in the Sixth Annual Law Technology News (LTN) Awards for 2009 as ‘Dictation System of the Year’ and ‘Mobile Tool of the Year’. Further information is available at http://www.bighand.com

Channel Islands Niche Commercial Law Firm Gets ‘BigHand Boost’

Channel Islands based commercial law firm AO Hall has replaced its tape dictation equipment with BigHand’s Digital Dictation workflow system, plus BlackBerry® Edition for mobile working, increasing the productivity of lawyers and secretaries

 

AO Hall has today announced completion of its project to implement the BigHand Digital Dictation workflow system, the market leading digital dictation system for the global legal community. The Guernsey based firm has enabled digital dictation for all its lawyers and secretaries, replacing outdated tape recording equipment which was increasingly expensive to run.

 

AO Hall has also increased its provision for remote and flexible working by providing all lawyers with BigHand’s BlackBerry® Edition. AO Hall’s lawyers regularly travel abroad, and are therefore now able to record and submit dictation back to the office instantly via their BlackBerry® smartphones, increasing the efficiency with which secretaries are able to action instructions or complete documentation.

 

Elaine Gray, Group Partner at AO Hall, had previously used the BigHand system at another Channel Islands firm and so was familiar with the efficiency benefits attributed to the leading workflow technology. Elaine commented on the specific day to day drivers that led AO Hall to replace its tape equipment with the digital dictation system:

 

‘’We had found that tapes and tape equipment were becoming increasingly difficult and expensive to obtain.  Additionally, lots of time was wasted finding tapes, erasing tapes and delivering these back to the lawyers for use again. The higher sound quality, ease of use, speed of process and security of BigHand digital dictation has enabled the firm to significantly increase efficiency and therefore better service our clients. Although our lawyers have dedicated secretaries, they are now able to share work where needed, which was simply not possible using tapes. It is now much easier to manage and share workflow- now even our receptionist picks up and works on dictations in her quiet moments to help out.

 

Our lawyers regularly travel abroad and therefore the ability to dictate and instantly submit work back to the office via BlackBerry is incredibly useful. Flexibility to work from home is becoming increasingly important for firms and we have found BigHand’s remote access invaluable. I am extremely happy with the way in which the project has been delivered and managed by BigHand and in terms of our return, the results have been a real boost.  I would have no hesitation in recommending BigHand to anyone looking to make the swap to digital dictation.’’

 

Over 720 law firms internationally have replaced outdated dictation equipment with BigHand Digital Dictation, streamlining processes, increasing productivity and reducing overheads; benefits that help firms withstand toughening economic conditions.