businessinfomag.uk
magazine
14
Dictation:
the case for co-sourcing
Cloud-based dictation solution
Driving down costs through the
outsourcing of back-office functions
is established practice, but with
modern business comes a unique
set of challenges and opportunities
that demands a different approach
involving less risk and even better
value for money.
Co-sourcing, where a business
function, such as digital dictation
and transcription, is performed by a
combination of internal staff and external
resources, is a cost-effective alternative
to traditional outsourcing arrangements.
A hybrid approach allows businesses to
draw on additional resources to cope
with increased workloads, without
recruitment or training costs or payroll
changes. Provision is seamless, co-
ordinated and available around the clock.
Compared to outsourcing, there
are also fewer data security and
confidentiality considerations. In the
case of dictation, experienced UK-based
secretaries are granted secure, remote
access to an organisation’s system to
undertake remote typing and other
support services, ensuring the client’s
data never leaves their servers.
As part of the service, typists
employed by the co-sourcing provider
spend time at the client’s offices to
ensure each member of the team is
familiar with, and trained in, the systems,
unique working methods and ethos of
the organisation concerned.
To ensure the security of data,
Nuance Communications has finally released the UK-
English version of its Dragon Anywhere iOS/Android
mobile dictation app.
Bringing the power of Dragon desktop speech
recognition to mobile devices for the first time, this
professional-grade solution lets you dictate documents
on a smartphone or tablet and then edit them using voice
commands. For consistency across all devices, including
desktop computers, key customisation features like auto-
texts and custom words can be synchronised automatically
with the new Dragon Professional Individual and Dragon for
Mac desktop products, and vice versa.
Running in the cloud, the app offers
continuous dictation with no time
or length limits and can be accessed
from multiple mobile devices with
a single subscription.Documents
can be shared via cloud-sharing
tools like Dropbox; emailed; saved to note-taking apps
like Evernote; or shared with other apps via the clipboard.
Dragon Anywhere is available as a subscription service,
with multiple options including a one-week free trial.
Subscriptions start at £14.99 per month.
organisations considering co-sourcing
should seek partners that have the
new ISO 27001:2013 certification,
which proves they operate an effective
Information Security Management
System and are registered with the
Information Commissioner’s Office.
Value for money
Co-sourcing is also cost-effective:
n
Clients only pay for the working time
of staff – not their National Insurance
contributions, holiday pay or sick days;
n
Evaluations of cost versus output
show co-sourced secretaries outperform
their in-house counterparts by a wide
margin; and
n
Co-sourcing makes evening and
weekend working possible, with all the
necessary security and compliance
measures in place, without having to
pay people overtime for working late.
The emergence of co-sourcing as
a more cost-effective solution gives
organisations the option to reduce their
in-house secretarial and support staff
and boost efficiency and profitability.
Implementing co-sourcing selectively
allows clients to benefit from crucial
administrative and management
efficiencies, while freeing up internal
teams to focus on their own jobs and
more strategic objectives. It also enables
clients to maintain control over the
staff, technology and workflows that
they develop and deploy and retain
important knowledge in-house.
When to co-source
The ability to engage your co-sourced
team for specific help, when it is needed,
makes co-sourcing particularly helpful
when there have been recent changes in
your organisation; when you need more
flexibility with audits; when new needs
arise that in-house staff don’t have time
to deal with; or when there are no funds
for hiring new staff.
Outsourcing still has a role to play,
but co-sourcing’s flexibility and value for
money means that it is particularly well
suited to the challenges businesses face
today.
Maxine Park launched DictateNow
to offer an enhanced transcription
service to businesses in a wide range
of sectors including legal, medical,
public sector, charity and Government.
DictateNow utilises home-based typists
across the UK to provide fast, reliable
and confidential digital dictation and
transcription services, including the
transcription of digital dictation files,
copy typing, file opening, data input and
document production.
Dictation
Maxine Park, solicitor and co-founder of transcription services provider
DictateNow, explains how co-sourcing is revolutionising business.
Co-sourcing
enables clients
to maintain
control
over staff,
technology and
workflows
