The pros and cons. switching to digital. Is it really all its cut out to be?
Are you still using analogue dictation and transcription equipment? Have you been thinking about upgrading to digital, but are not sure if it will work for you?
As digital voice recorders, dictaphones and transcribers become more common, you may feel that you need to upgrade to stay in the game. A big change like this can be scary, especially if you have been using analogue for many years. Fortunately, the transcription software that is available is very user friendly and will take no time at all for you to learn to navigate around. Our sales and support team are always on hand to guide you through it should you become unstuck at any point.
As digital dictation equipment becomes more commonplace, it is becoming more difficult to source spare parts to service and repair the Dictaphones and transcribers. With digital becoming the norm, and widely available, prices have come down, to a point where analogue voice recorders and transcribers have become more expensive than digital
Previously, digital recorders were much more expensive than their analogue counterparts, however, as technology evolves, the prices have dropped to a point where there is not such a vast difference in cost as before. Cassette recorders are still cheaper, however, analogue transcribers have increased drastically in price so the playing field in terms of price has really levelled out.

The advantages of having files recorded digitally makes life much simpler from a logistical point of view. Files can be downloaded by USB cable or docking station, directly to your computer, and can be shared easily via USB, or copied onto a flash drive as back up
Send voice files from a remote location. Given that digitally recorded dictation can be sent electronically to the transcriptionist, as opposed to having to deliver a physical cassette, one is able to work remotely, and as long as you have an internet connection, you are able to send files through to your transcriptionist.

New generation models such as the Philips SpeechAir even have wifi capability and one is able to email the dictation files directly from the device via wifi.