 |
## UPDATED 2024 ##
Since this blog post was originally written the versions of ODMS (new name for DSS Player Pro) have been update.
March 2024 – Olympus Audio change name to OM System. OM System announce new Windows software for dictation and transcription ODMS R8. ODMS = OM System Dictation Management System.
If you own the following licence keys, upgrades are no longer available you will need to buy a full ODMS R8 Dictation Module or ODMS R8 Transcription Module licence to get the latest features and support:
- DSS Player Pro R5 – your licence keys starts with the characters RD5 or RT5
- ODMS R6 – your licence keys starts with the characters RD6 or RT6
If you own and ODMS R7 licence – your keys starts with the characters RD7 or RT7 then you can use the upgrade licences from R7 to R8, they are shown in the R8 links above.
Note that is you are upgrading your software from R5 or R6 you digital dictaphone (DS-5000, DS-7000) is no longer supported in the R8 software. As always, please reach out to us at Dictate Australia for advice.
## END UPDATE ##
Congratulations, you finally went out and splurged on the latest and greatest Windows PC or Mac, maybe as an upgrade or maybe because your last machine ceased to be and could no longer keep up with the pressure of daily use. During the long winded transfer of software and restore of data from one to the other you have got stuck on your Olympus software, dictation module or transcription module on Windows, DSS Player Plus if you are on a Mac.
Typically when people upgrade they come across one of these scenarios: Either you can’t find the original Olympus software installation CD or you have the install CD but can’t find your software licence. Sound familiar?
Your software licence is unique to you and only you know the licence key that came with your Olympus transcription kit or digital dictaphone. Olympus do not store or link individual licences to purchases, neither do the resellers. It is therefore very important to keep a copy of your software licence key which is on a square piece of green paper the size of a CD cover. Apologies for the poor quality image of the licence certificate below. Note that the certificate shows the serial numbers for both Windows at the top (RT51 number in this example) and Mac at the bottom (8260 number in this example).
Finding Your Olympus Licence Key – In Your Software
You can also find your licence key through the Olympus software itself. For ODMS R6 (Olympus Dictation Management System) or DSS Player Pro R5, dictation or transcription module, simply click Help then About Dictation Module or About Transcription Module and your software licence key will be displayed as per below:
The software CD for the transcription module and the dictation module, both DSS Player Pro and ODMS, look exactly the same. You licence key itself defines which module you install so by looking at the CD you can not tell, in fact the CD can install either the dictation module or the transcription module depending on what licence key you enter. From your licence key you can tell which software you have, the second letter is D for dictation module and T for transcription module. The third character which is a number defines your version so 5 is DSS Player Pro R5 and 6 is ODMS R6.
- Licence key starts RD5…. – DSS Player Pro R5 : Dictation Module **
- Licence key starts RT5…. – DSS Player Pro R5 : Transcription Module **
- Licence key starts RD6…. – ODMS R6 : Dictation Module **
- Licence key starts RT6…. – ODMS R6 : Transcription Module **
- Licence key starts RD7…. – ODMS R7 : Dictation Module
- Licence key starts RT7…. – ODMS R7 : Transcription Module
** Both R5 and R6 are now out of support and end-of-life, the latest supported version is ODMS R7. You can upgrade to R7 from both DSS Player Pro R5 or ODMS R6, it is a paid upgrade but will bring you back in support and you can continue to receive updates for the current release. R5 is not Windows 10 compatible, R7 is. Details on our website ( click here ) or email us if you need some help making send of what licences you have.
On a Mac, the Olympus software is called DSS Player Plus and is the same software regardless of whether it came with a digital voice recorder or transcription kit. There is no concept of a separate transcription or dictation module (yet). Similar to Windows, by selecting DSS Player then About DSS Player will show your licence key number along with your current version of the software.
Olympus Single Install Licence Key
The software supplied with the digital voice recorders, dictaphones and transcription kits is a single install licence. This means it can only be installed and used on one computer, PC or Mac, only. By installing the software and using the same licence key on multiple computers is a breach of licensing and you will be pinged, meaning you will be locked out of the software. So when transferring software from one computer to another you should bear this in mind. It is recommended that you follow these steps:
Make sure you have your licence key before you start the install on the new computer
Do not have your Olympus software running on your old (internet connected) computer
Install your software on your new computer and verify the licence key activates your software
Uninstall the software from your old computer via Add/Remove Programs on Windows and drag to trash from Applications on Mac
I Have My Olympus Licence Key But Can’t Find The Software CD
All Olympus parts are replaceable, of course at a cost. If you have your licence key you will typically have to buy a new licence key just to get the software CD you need. At Dictate Australia we won’t sting you for this, if you need a copy of the software please contact us and we will give you a copy of the software for free. Outside of Australia speak to your local Olympus Professional Audio Reseller and see what they will do for you.
I Have My Olympus Software CD But Can’t Find The Licence Key
In this case, the details above showing how to find your licence key will help you unless of course your computer had died and can no longer be booted to access the licence key from the software. Unfortunately the only way out of this is to buy a new licence key from your favourite Olympus Pro reseller, hopefully us The Dictate Group. Some of the part numbers you will need are:
DSS Player Pro R5 licences are no longer available in Australia. If you previously had DSS Player Pro installed you will need to update to ODMS. ODMS will work with all Olympus digital voice recorders that use DSS Player Pro. For transcription you will need either an RS-28 or RS-31 USB foot control, RS-26 is no longer compatible.
Mac users : as the software for transcription and dictation is the same on Mac then you should buy the AS-9001 and save yourself some money. AS-9001 will work with your transcription foot pedal (RS-28 or RS-31) on your Mac.
For reference here is the Olympus Australia reference to this issue on their Audio FAQ website : click here
Find your site via a Google search
“Olympus license ID number showing illegal” did as desperate last measure. Your site answered my question and made my day. Unfortunately I am based in UK or you would have become my favourite Olympus pro reseller
Thanks and Cheers
Clive Balchin
I have an Olympus Digital Voice Recorder WS-832 that I was hoping to use with an RS26 foot switch (from AS-400 PC Transcription Kit). I have upgraded my computer to a Macbook Pro (currently running OS X Yosemite 10.10.3). Is it possible to use this foot pedal with this system?
Hello Morven
Unfortunately no, support for the RS-26 was dropped some time ago by Olympus in their more recent versions of their transcription software. Also, to use an Olympus pedal you must have a licenced version of their software which is current DSS Player Plus v7 for Mac or ODMS R6 Transcription Module for Windows. Both these applications will only function with the RS-28 or RS-31 USB foot pedals.
To help you transcribe the audio from your WS recorder, which will likely be in mp3 as that is the easiest format to work with on both Mac and Windows, you could use the free version of Express Scribe from NCH.com – you could the use hot-keys to control audio playback.
The Olympus transcription software and pedal is more aimed at the professional transcriber who would be transcribing multiple audio formats and audio that is encrypted.
Hope that helps.
Dave
Dictate
Many thanks Dave
That’s very useful info – and saves me several more hours trying to find a (non-existent) way round this. I will give Express Scribe a go. I had already downloaded this, thinking I might be able to use with the foot pedal, but the hot-keys sound the way to go.
Morven
Hi I have Dss Player Pro, the Cd & License. The issue is the old computer has crashed & will not boot to allow us to uninstall the Dss from the old computer. Therefore it appears the license is registered to the old computer. Are you able to assist with a solution to this issue?
Hello Michael
You should be fine to install the software on another PC and re-use your serial number. Issues arise when you run the software using the same licence key at the same time, as your old PC is unable to start you will still be running just the one instance of the installed licence.
Hope that helps.
Dave
Dictate
Dave,
How do we know we are locked out and how do we [unlock] ourselves?
Thanks!!
Hello Clark
There will be a message which indicates a violation with the licence key, I don’t recall the exact text. It will be obvious that you have used the same licence key running on two or more devices.
I hope that helps.
Dave
Dictate
I have a user on an enterprise PC who was recently upgraded to Windows 10. Her old PC was reimaged and installed for another user (software wasn’t uninstalled prior to reimaging) and she received a replacement PC. The software was installed on her replacement and when she starts the transcribing software she gets the following message: “The number of DSS Player Pro copies installed exceeds the maximum number of licenses allowed”. I have uninstalled and reinstalled the application (on her existing machine) with no change. How can I resolve this issue for my end user?
Hello Cynthia
Thank you for your comment. Your issue is caused by the same licence key being used on more than one computer. The Olympus software is a single install licence so you need a unique licence key/serial number for each install.
For DSS Player Pro your licence key will start either RT5xx (for transcription module) or RD5xx (for dictation module). As you will see from this post you can tell what licence key is being used by selecting Help then About. You will need to either buy a new licence key to the second install or locate your second licence key if you had already bought one, the licences come on a green square piece of paper.
For dictation module you need part Olympus AS-7001.
For transcription module you need part Olympus AS-7002.
Please note that DSS Player Pro is no longer supported or available for purchase from Olympus. You will need version 6 of their software which is now called ODMS rather than DSS Player Pro. ODMS stands for Olympus Dictation Management System.
I hope that helps.
Dave
Dictate
I have a DS 3300. I want to transfer files onto my PC and then use Dragon to transcribe the files. I have the serial number originally supplied with the recorder which was DSS Player Pro Release 4.8. The computer I have now runs Windows 7 64bit. It is incompatible with Player Pro Release 4.0.8 . I read that Release 5.0.8 is compatible with Windows 7 64bit. Olympus australia directed me a site where I could download Release 5. But trying to install this I am told that the serial number is illegal. I wondered if there is anything I can do other than purchase ODMS AF7001 software or buy a new dictaphone. Grateful for any advice on this
Hello Nigel
Apologies for the late reply to this, I initially missed your comment.
Yes Release 4 is long discontinued and not compatible with Windows 7. Release 6 (ODMS) is the latest supported version, you can download and install it in trial mode which will give you 60 days of free use – details in our blog here: dictat.es/trial
However you don’t need the software to send the file to Dragon. The DS-3300 from memory records in .dss audio format, a format that Dragon accepts. Just USB connect the device and get the file off the recorder and into Dragon. By installing the Olympus software this just gives you the ability to playback the .dss audio on your PC.
I hope that helps.
Dave
Dictate
HI, we use dss5 transcribe on 2 computers (win7) which have to be replaced – the new systems arrived odms 6 is installed but the upgrade key won´t work – “this is an upgrade key and can´t be activated”..
so we restartet the old systems and ran the odms 6 installation which found the old dss an requested an upgrade key – so i no have an old system with the new odms – how can i now transfer the upgraded dss5/odms6 licenses to the new machines ?!?!
thank you
stephan
Hello Stephen
Yes it is a bit of an odd one. To use the upgrade (AS-7003 for dictation module and AS-7004 for transcription module) you do need to have DSS Player Pro R5 installed first. This tends to be a bit of a concern for some as DSS Player Pro R5 is not Windows 10 compatible. But it will install, is just not supported and will give unpredictable results.
So in your situation you should installed R5 with your RT5xx key. Then install the ODMS R6 upgrade with your RT6xx key and all should be fine. Make sure you do not run your old PC and your new PC at the same time on the network with the Olympus software running else one will be locked out for licence breach, these are single install licences.
Hope that helps.
Dave
Dictate
I bought the upgrade, but every time I try to reinstall my dictation module disk with the license that I bought, it states that I have an illegal license. I have actually bought 3 of these for 3 machines!
Hello Meredith
For each upgrade licence you will need a corresponding full licence. The full licence key will need to be the same module (Dictation or Transcription) as the corresponding full licence.
You will then need to ensure that the original software is installed using the correct installer. For each version of ODMS is a different installer, if you have an original DSS Player R5 you will need the R5 installer; if you have an original ODMS R6 you will need the ODMS R6 installer. The ODMS R7 upgrade licence requires the ODMS R7 installer.
So these are the steps to upgrade:
1. Ensure your original licence key is used to install the original software using the correct installer (R5 or R6 depending on your original licence key).
2. Use the ODMS R7 installer ( latest is available here https://dictat.es/r7 ) with your ODMS R7 upgrade licence key.
Please note, step 1. R5 and R6 are not compatible with Windows 10, so you must install using the correct installer and original licence key but do not run the software once installed.
You must then keep you original full licence key and the new upgrade licence key pair together, just in case you have a PC crash and need to re-install.
We have the last releases of DSS Player Pro R5 and ODMS R6 if you need those installers, don’t use the original CDs.
You will be getting an “illegal licence” message if you use the wrong installer for your licence key OR you have mistaken a capital letter O for the number 0 which often happens in the last block of four characters in the licence key.
Hope that helps.
Dave
Dictate