This is a post that I have been putting off writing for some time. I don’t want it to appear salesy but after a phone call to our office today I decided it was time to finish this post and to publish it. My business, Dictate Australia, is an Olympus Pro reseller and also a Nuance Certified Gold reseller. Sounds good but what does that really mean? Essentially with Olympus we have access to all of their range of audio products from the very basic VN series recorders to the top of the range Pro digital dictaphones. With Nuance we get access to all their voice recognition software for both Mac and Windows including site licences for education, government and commercial. The vast majority of these products, other than the specialised recorders and software, are available in your high street stores like Harvey Norman, Dick Smith and my personal favourite shopping location OfficeWorks.
So why should you buy from a specialist rather than one of these giant chains?
Knowledge
We are specialists meaning we know the products we sell intimately. We don’t sell hard disks, TVs, fridges we just sell digital voice related products. We run businesses solely around recording and transcribing digital voice, whether that be using a transcription typist or voice recognition software. You can ask us any question and we will have an answer for you. If on the rare occassion we do not we can call Olympus or Nuance direct and get the info you need. Next time you are in a high street store find an Olympus WS series voice recorder and ask the sales assistant these questions and see what answers you get?
- Is it Mac compatible? (yes, all Olympus recorder are)
- What audio format does it record in? (Olympus WS series will record in .mp3, .wma and .wav (PCM))
- Ask them what PCM format is? (very high quality uncompressed audio, creates .wav files)
- Can it be voice activated? (yes)
- Is it compatible with Dragon NaturallySpeaking? (yes, but only the Premium and Professional version, not Home edition)
- Is it compatible with Dragon for Mac? (yes, but only version 3)
Friendly, Impartial Advice
Ask before you buy. That is what we are here for, ask for our advice. We will always discuss your needs with you and what you require. We will always try to match you with the best product for your needs. Should you require a $150 recorder when you are looking at a $700 recorder, we will sell you the $150 recorder. Conversely, if you are looking at the cheap recorders and we know it won’t suit your needs, we will tell you. No point selling you something you will not be happy with.
Support Australian Business
I hate to harp on this one but to small Australian business owners it is a big deal. We work hard to maintain and build our businesses, we don’t have unlimited advertising dollars to grab your attention so we need to find other innovative ways to do so. In my case I write this blog, which provides information about all aspects of digital voice. We should all do our part to support Australian business, especially small business.
Price
With Olympus there is only one place to buy stock in Australia, Olympus Imaging in Sydney. This is the same for everyone, resellers like me and the big high street stores. Therefore we all buy stock at the same price. You will find most Olympus resellers are usually priced the same or below the price of the high streets. Case in point, one of our most popular digital voice recorders, great for small meetings and interviews, the Olympus WS-812:
- Officeworks Olympus WS-812 – $169
- Dictate Australia – Olympus WS-812 – $159 delivered.
So not only are we cheaper, we have them in stock and we know everything there is to know about the recorder and every voice recorder in the Olympus range. We use both Mac and Windows and we use voice recognition software. So, please ask, advice is always free.
This has been a digital voice public service announcement !