Sometimes the obvious ideas are the best. Here is a perfect example, Hugo-Dictation [ hugo-dictation.com ] out of the UK has done exactly that, make an iPhone voice recording app and make it compatible with the Olympus transcription module software .. brilliant!
Voice recording and dictation apps are two a penny on the app store (which we touched on back in 2011 with this post) ranging from free to extortionate in price. To create an app to record voice isn’t rocket science, the phone has the smarts. But when you add some functionality to it that makes it extremely useful when used with your office transcription software then it is worth a closer look. Hugo-Dictation is compatible with a small yet very popular range of transcription software used world wide like Express Scribe from NCH Software, StartStop, QuikScribe and our favourite Olympus Transcription Module (both R5 DSS Player Pro and R6 ODMS).
Hugo-Dictation solves a long standing bugbear with some digital dictaphone users, recording dictation away from the office that needs to be transcribed urgently. Sure, you can whip out your laptop or MacBook, join a wifi hotspot, USB connect your dictaphone and email the audio back, but most busy legal and medical professionals are not comfortable or have time for this option. We have looked for some time for a way to connect digital dictation on the Olympus digital voice recorders and dictaphones with an iPhone or Android phone. We have tried Eye-Fi and similar cards and also bluetooth connections to try and connect a dictaphone with a smart phone as a way to send recorded dictation and haven’t got very far.
The Hugo-Dictation app takes the pain away, simply dictate to your phone and email in your audio with your Author Id, any Worflow Id you want to use and set a priority. Your typist using the Olympus ODMS Transcription Module will receive the dictation and it will be auto-loaded (when configured) just as if the dictation had come from a standard digital dictaphone.
Configuring Hugo Dictation App To Send Dictation
Using Hugo to send dictation to your typist who uses Olympus ODMS R6 or DSS Player Pro R5 Transcription Module is simple. In the app click the settings icon which is the middle icon at the bottom of the screen on the initial app launch screen.
Here are the steps to follows:
- From the Settings menu enable dictation for Olympus software, this is done through the Third Party Integration option and is a simple Yes/No toggle, set it to Yes.
- Next, back in Settings select Author Id and set the same Author Id that you use with your Olympus dictaphone. The Author Id is how your dictations are identified as belonging to you in the Olympus transcription software.
- Next, back in Settings select Recipients. This is where you configure the email address to send your dictation to, so for example the email address of your typist or typing pool. Your default email configured in your iPhone will be used to send the dictation.
- {Optional} Back to Settings and select Work Types. You may or may not use Work Types in your business, this is a method of identifying dictations types like Letters (which is the Hugo default), Interviews, Client Notes, Medical Notes or whatever you may have configured. If you do not use Work Types there is no need to configure this selection, just leave the default. The Work Type is seen by your typist in their transcription module software and can indicate to them any templates that need to be used.
That’s it, three (or four) easy configuration steps.
Olympus ODMS or DSS Player Pro Transcription Module – Receive Dictation via Email
The Olympus Transcription Module software can be configured to receive dictation via email, if this is not configure have your typist consult the Olympus manual and configure these settings. In Australia we happy to help advise the configuration settings.
Recording Dictation Using The Hugo Dictation App On Your iPhone
Using Hugo to record dictation is intuitive, tap New Dictation from the start-up splash screen and you are presented with three options before you start talking. The options are:
Name: This is for you to give your dictation a meaningful name, either go with the default which is Dictation-# (where # is an auto incrementing number) or your own free form text.
Work Type: Sets the Work Type for the dictation, if you have configured Work Types they will be shown otherwise the default (Letter) will be used.
Priority: Defaults to Normal but can be set to High.
All three of these settings will be seen by your typist when the dictation is loaded into their Olympus transcription module software. After all three are set tap the Start button and record screen is shown.
Recording using Hugo is also intuitive and straight forward, you can record using the iPhone mic or the microphone on your earbuds. Simply press the big red record button and away you go. You can rewind/review your audio and also insert or override audio recording as you can on a traditional digital dictaphone.
When you are done you can:
Save the audio for later review/send by pressing the blue Save icon. This places your audio in the Dictation List and will be marked with a red X to indicate that it has not yet been sent to anyone.
Email the audio to your typist, the email address to send to is configured in the Recipients setting discussed above. You are given the choice of recipient (upto three can be configured) and you can also add some free form comments (paid version only, not Lite). You default iPhone mail account will be used to send the audio file and accompanying xml file required for the Olympus transcription module.
Info simply shows the initial Name, Work Type and Priority you set before recording and lets you change these should you need to before you send.
Olympus ODMS or DSS Player Pro Transcription Module will auto load transcription when it is received via email from Hugo. The screen shot below shows and example of two Hugo dictations, one High priority (highlighted in orange) and one normal. My Author Id set as DICTATE and the Work Types I selected, NOTES for the high priority dictation and Letter are both clearly shown to the typist as is the email address the dictation was sent from. Click here for detailed instructions on integrating the Olympus transcription module with Microsoft Outlook.
The only difference between the Lite (free) and the paid version of Hugo Dictation as far as we can see if the limitation in recording time, only 30 seconds in the Lite version.
This review of Hugo Dictation iPhone App is based in version 1.1