WinScribe Digital Dictation System transforms Legal and Democratic Services at Rhondda Cynon Taff Council

Rhondda Cynon Taff Council’s Legal and Democratic Services department is a core service that provides support to its officers and members in the delivery of the Council’s services to the public.

The legal services section provides legal advice and assistance to all departments, and the democratic services section supports the democratic and support functions of the Council, including electoral registration and committee management. The department includes a team of 10 solicitors who produce a whole array of reports and letters.

Long distance relationship
Previously the Legal and Democratic Services team all worked on one site, so dictating with an analogue tape-based system didn’t prove too much of a problem. The problems started when the department needed to split, with solicitors from the legal services team moving to offices 10 miles away, in order for them to be closer to the courts. With solicitors now working at a remote office, they became reliant on couriers to transport dictation tapes to the secretaries at the head office.”

Anthony Mullins, senior administration officer explained, “It was a problem getting dictation tapes back and forth so we had to use a courier, which not only proved expensive but it also meant the tapes didn’t reach the office until the following morning. The gap was too long, delaying transcribed documents from getting back to the solicitors on time - urgent work went out of the window!”

Embracing the digital age
Rhondda Cynon Taff Council decided to search for alternative dictation solutions. After looking at various systems it opted for WinScribe Digital Dictation. Mullins says, “WinScribe came out on top. We selected it for its quality and cost – all in all it gave us the best value for money.”

WinScribe Digital Dictation streamlines the dictation, transcription and workflow management process, providing a cost-effective and time-efficient solution.
Mullins explains, “We needed a reliable, cost effective dictation solution that would enable us to manage documents more effectively. With the tape-based system it was difficult to keep track of documents waiting to be transcribed, and it was a nightmare to deal with urgent work. A tape would come in and the secretary would have no idea of what, or how much was on the tape, and which part was actually urgent. Tapes could easily be wiped or lost by mistake.

We needed something that would help us deliver a more reliable and efficient service, and WinScribe seemed to provide the answer.”

The dictation system was successfully installed in summer 2006. Thirteen members of staff, consisting of ten solicitors and three secretaries currently use the WinScribe system. The installation was straightforward and caused little disruption. “We had a few reluctant staff at first, but after initial training staff were delighted with the user friendly nature of the system and would not be without it now,” said Mullins

For those solicitors who spend the majority of their time based at court, the WinScribe system has proved invaluable. Previously they would dictate remotely using a hand held digital recorder and send the tapes to the office for secretaries to transcribe. However since the WinScribe system has been installed, solicitors can now dictate remotely using their hand held digital recorder and transfer the data to the Winscribe server via an individual docking station connected to their home PC or laptop. The encrypted dictation is automatically stored on the central server, awaiting transcription from the office based secretarial team.

The in-built flexibility of the WinScribe software gives solicitors the option of allocating the document or letter for transcription to a particular secretary according to their experience, or alternatively allowing the system to automatically allocate jobs to the next available transcriptionist.
Previously, an audiotape would have been sent to a specific secretary with multiple dictation jobs completed by the same person. With the introduction of the WinScribe system, multiple dictations can be spread amongst the available secretaries rather than an overwhelming workload building up for one individual.

Managing workloads
Secretaries can access the WinScribe system to view jobs that have been allocated to them, as well as the jobs waiting to be completed in the general typing queue. The system also allows them to see the length of each dictation and the deadline for its completion.

Dictation speed can also be altered to suit individual typing speeds, and by doing so can aid word recognition. Secretaries can also access business document templates, such as sample letters or reports, which are automatically downloaded from the WinScribe server, improving the efficiency of the transcription process.

After the Child Services Legal team relocated, it caused problems for one secretary in particular, who was visually impaired. When urgent tapes were sent for dictation, with written notes for instruction, it was difficult for this secretary to work out which tape and which part of the tape was in fact urgent work. This made it impossible for the secretary to manage his workload. With the WinScribe system and with the Braille screen reader in place, he can easily assess which dictation is urgent, how long it will take him and when it’s needed again by the solicitor. It has allowed him to manage his own workload successfully.

“As well as all the extra features which make transcription easier, the flexibility of the system means we can allocate resources effectively, ensuring we have enough staff to cover during peak times, and during quite periods I can allocate staff to other departments or issue alternative work,” concludes Mullins.

WinScribe has had a positive impact on Rhondda Cynon Taff Council, both in terms of costs and resource allocation across the department. It’s improved document turnaround time has significantly reduced the strain on employees and strengthened relationships between secretaries and solicitors.

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