Case study: BigHand software fast ROI at law firm

The firm completed the roll out of the BigHand Digital Dictation workflow system during early 2009, with the software now with 220 lawyers and 90 secretaries.

ROI (return-on-investment) is predicted to be met within 12-months of the original start date of the implementation.

Simpson Grierson initially ran a head-to-head pilot between the Winscribe dictation system and BigHand's 3rd generation workflow software.

BigHand's voice productivity technology was chosen, with users reporting the interface more intuitive and its features more complete and easier to use.

"Aside from lost or wiped tapes, one of the main problems with our old analogue-based system was that we couldn't see the workload pipeline or manage our resources very effectively," said Valerie Fogg, information services director, Simpson Grierson.

"Whether a tape had one or 15 client documents on it was a mystery, and the urgency of each doc was impossible to judge against other client files. 

"As a result we had to operate with more resources than we perhaps ultimately needed in order to account for peaks of work, and we also relied too heavily on temporary cover.

"We are only just approaching six months of usage of the BigHand workflow system and we already no longer use temporary staff and are more productive to boot.

"Some internally feel it has already paid for itself; and certainly it will have returned the investment well within one year," she added.

Fogg said another big positive has been the control on overall output quality.

"Those earlier in their career often feel they are better off typing themselves, but they often lack the production skills to put everything in a consistent corporate style or format," she said.

"We have seen younger lawyers now embrace the digital technology, even if they also send a portion of text they have typed themselves, as they can then accompany that file with voice notes or further instructions regarding formatting.

"The lawyer can then utilise the workflow to track the job or task through the system, and will be automatically notified when it is 'in progress' or completed.

"So the task management aspect comes into play nicely too for those who are not your most prolific users of dictation."

An example of the workflow that BigHand promotes is illustrated by typists in each office who can now work on dictation for their national workgroup and are not constrained by physical location. 

Document turnaround times have been streamlined, and the firm is able to respond to clients whatever the circumstances, location or time of day.

Greg Towers, a BigHand user and partner in the firm's Resources and Infrastructure department said the use of digital dictation technology has transformed the delivery of typed documents using dictation. 

"More often than not, the finished product is emailed to me within an hour of being sent electronically into the queue," he said. 

"This means that I can review the work while it is still fresh in my mind and get it to the clients faster than ever before. 

"The ability to edit already dictated work and insert additional paragraphs without "over-recording" what has been dictated is wonderful.

"The controls are simple and logical.  In all it is a great leap forward in service delivery."