Law Technology Today From the ABA Legal Technology Resource Center
Related Articles
For attorneys in small firms, you likely have all the hardware you need – a smartphone and a computer — to start using your voice to be more productive. You may also have an assistant and software that allows you to share work with those assistants. All you need to add is an app like Dragon, Voice Dictation or BigHand and you will be ready to start improving efficiency, accuracy and the bottom line. All of this can be delivered in the cloud, eliminating expensive capital investment and IT burden, while allowing for a quicker impact.
Capture more billable hours
Many attorneys put off the task of recording billable hours until the end of the week or even the end of the month. By putting it off, you run the risk of forgetting what you did or how long you worked on a case. This can result in lost revenue.
With your smartphone and a dictation app, you can capture accurate, billable time. As soon as you leave a client meeting, you can open an app and record exactly how much time you spent in the meeting. You can also record expenses by taking pictures of your receipts and sending them to your assistants with voice directions on what to do with them, all in real time!
Better manage workload
With digital dictation, you can record voice files and then send your work – documents, emails, instructions, to-do lists – instantly to your assistant throughout the day. Some dictation apps allow you to prioritize and track the status of submitted work so you can see its process, and if deadlines are being met.
Improve client service with shorter turnaround times
You can create documents faster using digital dictation. If you add speech recognition, document turn around times are faster. No need to type out documents as speech recognition converts voice files into text files that require minimal review and corrections. You don’t need to be chained to your desk in order to produce a key document, correspondence, or response.
Using dictation apps on your phone and submitting your work throughout the day, your support staff can better manage its workload. They can address time-sensitive matters first and transfer work to other staff or your back-up typing pool in cases of bottlenecks or overload. The result is faster client service.
Delegate tasks so you can focus on your most valuable assets: intellectual capital and time
The time needed for administrative tasks – like time and billing entry, drafting short emails and letters and booking travel and meetings — adds up. Your time could be better applied to client matters and business development. When you are stuck in traffic or have a few minutes between meetings, you can make the most of it by dictating tasks and instructions.
The explosive growth of smartphones, voice-activated systems, and speech recognition applications make it easier than ever for you to turn talking into a time-saving activity. Digital dictation can help you be more productive and efficient– even when you’re on the go. You can do more than dictate documents – you can better manage your workload, cut costs, boost billable time, improve client service, and level the playing field between your firm and the competition.
