WinScribe

2006 Consensus Software Awards

Product Description

WinScribe is an easy-to-use digital dictation system, which has been developed with the requirements of the medical and legal professions in mind. With robust security, open architecture and integrations to many data systems, WinScribe is improving workflow management for organizations worldwide.

Physicians and Lawyers have traditionally used tape based dictation devices to record their dictation before submitting the tape to a typing pool. The tape based system was prone to problems; lost tapes; deterioration of tape quality, delays and editing challenges.

Using non-proprietary hardware including PC, a touch-tone telephone (both internal and external), hand-held digital recorders, or the internet, the WinScribe system enables professionals to record their dictation from wherever they are. These devices capture the dictation audio to a central server and manage the distribution to transcription. Within seconds of the “complete” button being pressed, the dictation is automatically delivered, ready for typing, to the correct person for transcription. Transcription may also be performed by WinScribe Speech Recognition and Auto Text formatting or more traditionally by a Typist pool(s).

Designated system managers can oversee the complete cycle from dictation to transcription and can thus easily monitor and control the dictation – transcription workflow. WinScribe supports workflow options that manage the business process between recording and transcription allowing for pre and post-type review, audio import, export and conversion and automated audio processing such as speech recognition. The system can monitor and manage the dictation and transcription cycle 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and report back as required.

WinScribe’s desktop client has a familiar Microsoft Outlook look and feel which is comfortable and easy for users, making recording a dictation seem the same as creating an outlook email, albeit audio instead of/as well as text. The user simply clicks the “Send” button in the same way as email to send their audio for transcription.

Innovation

WinScribe has always strived to provide the best product, the best service and the best support to our customers. Our Kiwi ‘can do’ approach has helped immensely in the US market. Our sales partners and our customers really enjoy working with us. We manage expectations carefully and we make sure we always deliver what we promise. The company has excellent people who are loyal, which has allowed a strong knowledge base to be built. In addition, WinScribe pursues a philosophy of technology investment for competitive advantage. Our customer management systems and internal development systems are second to none. The business model chosen where we do business through a network of sales partners has proven to be the right one, allowing us to quickly extend our reach into Australia, the USA and Europe. Many of our sales partners have access to customers with legacy dictation systems badly needing replacement with new technology. 

The business plan for WinScribe takes a long term view of the market and the business opportunity. A company called Dictaphone currently enjoys the largest share of the world market for dictation systems. This market state is due largely to the longevity (only just) and brand equity of the company rather than their technology advantage. Winscribe is easily the owner of the next biggest market share. Our medium term goal is to replace Dictaphone within two years and own the biggest market share. Our approach to this challenge is to choose, occupy and defend beachheads – one at a time. This means selecting specific sectors, namely Health, Legal and Law enforcement. These sectors are the highest users of dictation systems. Our tight focus means we have built the knowledge base needed to provide superior product and service to these sectors. Having captured the Australian market, the company has now handed responsibility to a national distributor that handles WinScribe interests there. A huge commitment was made some time ago to the US market, with five staff in a Chicago office plus two regional sales staff. This commitment will be built upon as the reseller partner network continues to grow rapidly. In the UK there is 13 staff in an office handling the UK and parts of Europe, also with a rapidly growing sales partner channel. The most recent WinScribe office to open is in Zurich, where our local manager is developing channels in Western Europe.

Performance

WinScribe has invested a considerable proportion of global revenues into developing more sophisticated technology to intelligently handle the allocation of work. The result is a system that automatically drives business process change by encouraging work sharing and team working practices, without disrupting existing staff relationships. Organisations report being able to grow without adding more secretarial resources and enjoying a visible return on their investment within shortened timeframes.

Success stories can be read at:

http://www.winscribe.com/about_winscribe/success_stories.asp

“The return on investment is in being more efficient and achieving quicker turnaround. And that’s not just good for the firm, it’s good for our clients as well.”

Sharline Fitzgerald, Practice Manager, Gawith Burridge

“The result has been a dramatic increase in the level of work sharing throughout the firm which makes life easier for both fee earners and secretaries and has meant our document turnaround times have fallen considerably.” 

Philip Rich, IT Director, Paris Smith and Randall

“A year on since WinScribe was installed, it has speeded up work turnaround and improved efficiency quite considerably and certainly eliminated the headaches of lost and damaged tapes”.

Pat Whitehorn, Office Manager, Cellular Pathology

“Being able to implement an enterprise wide solution without the added expenses of proprietary hardware, WinScribe was the only answer.” 

Jenny Grant, Office Manager, Marino Moller

“It just goes to show how taking advantage of new methods of working and new technologies can dramatically relieve pressures on the business. I’m delighted with the results.”

Anthony Hughes, Managing Partner, Ricksons Solicitors

“Not only did WinScribe exceed all of our requirements, but we are simply amazed by the improved report turnaround time. We are certainly singing WinScribe’s praises.”

Howard Sanford, Radiology Department Manager, Aiken Regional 

“Our transcriptionists appreciate the opportunity to work from home. They rave about how easy the system is to work with and how it has improved their work/family balance”

Michele Fish, CEO, Just the Type

Potential

Winscribe has deliberately ‘kept its light under a bushel’. It is a privately held company and has up until now been too focused on business growth and good technology development to enter into any business awards. In a relatively short space of time the company has made some remarkable achievements, including revenue growth and sustained profitability. There are now over 200,000 licensed users of the Winscribe dictation systems operating in over 2,200 independent sites. This means Winscribe has successfully exported New Zealand technology to 25 countries, reaching the position of second largest supplier in the world. The largest site has over 5,000 users. This represents revenues of over US$15 million since 2001 alone. 

These achievements are outstanding for a number of reasons, most of which have to do with the nature of the challenges that had to be overcome, rather than the size of the export earnings. Establishing a successful software export business in New Zealand is a difficult proposition and it had its share of challenges. The company has pursued a philosophy of reinvestment of earnings to R&D in order to ensure the best product possible is available to customers. There has also been a deliberate focus to attract and retain the right people to drive export development and to deal with the many challenges that arise when establishing a presence in offshore markets. The USA and UK are not for the faint hearted – local offices and the people to manage them are very expensive. But to successfully penetrate and wrestle market share from the incumbent the company has had to invest heavily in each location, making a very determined commitment to succeeding in each market, rather than testing the waters and extending the time for market penetration. The market has received this well in an environment where customers are increasingly sophisticated and wanting significant assurances about a supplier’s stability and commitment to their market. The company has managed to achieve these exceptional results without significant external investment, public funding or carrying significant debt.

Other information the judges should know

Website: http://www.winscribe.com

Attachment: Workflow diagram (ppt) Will open in new window, please be patient

Content2004Copyright©WinScribe Inc
Format2004Copyright©Consensus Pty Ltd

This web-site uses frames, click here for the full picture
End of page