Digital Dictation is a computer based system. Voice dictation is recorded in a digital format on your computer, Smart Phone, Dictation Hardware, etc. and then passed into your network. The computer network stores the voice files, and the files are transferred to your transcriptionists wherever they may be. The differences between and benefits of digital dictation over analog and tape-based solutions can be compared to email and 'regular' mail. ¬♦

Because the benefits of digital dictation are the same as those from other digital systems in your office, including reliability, speed, efficiency, and economy, and in the digital world, those without the system are at a considerable competitive disadvantage. ¬♦

Simply, digital dictation work flow system provide many many capabilities unavailable in an analog system including, but certainly not limited to: new ways of dictating, management & control over existing work, better audio quality, more efficient transcription, options for integration into other system, option for use of other services. Digital dictation work flow systems reduce your costs and solve logistical problems that tapes cannot overcome.

The key is to use a system that provides these capabilities to their fullest extent within your environment. This ensures all of the potential capabilities, efficiencies and savings are realized to their fullest extent as well. For law firms and corporate legal departments there is only one system built exclusively for your environment - Verdatum. ¬♦

Verdatum is designed exclusively for the unique needs of law firms. All others are sold primarily in the health care market with a dabbling and new found interest in other industries, including legal. The companies that market these products are now trying to adapt their legacy products to fit the work flow of North American law firms.

On a feature level Verdatum offers exclusive capabilities such as:

1. Real-time & buffered streaming dictation/transcription
2. Structured and nested dictation elements (copy & paste or drag & drop info INTO the audio file)
3. True Audio split & the exclusive automatic document re-assembly
4. Custom, legal-specific, modules & work flow
5. Multi-dimensional subscription-based notification system
6. Complete, bidirectional DMS integration
7. BlackBerry & iPhone applications with real-time connectivity to core system with live status and file details updates
8. Ability to replace ALL dedicated dictation hardware via Verdatum For BlackBerry application
9. BlackBerry Fleet Management (Verdatum For BlackBerry)
10. Import from or export to: FTP, SFTP, HTTP, HTTPS, Exchange/Outlook, Lotus/Notes, GroupWise, SMTP, POP3, Network Folders, voice mail, Integrated Transcription Services and more!
11. Full support for Terminal Services (RDP) and Citrix/XenApp (ICA); including session agnostic hardware connectivity and dynamic mapping.
12. 100% Centralized system configuration, support, deployment, and management. Seriously, 100%
13. A single client application to install, with unified interface
14. Automatic Integration Detection and Installation
15. Dynamic real-time audio search, reporting and charting engine

...just to name a few. Don't take our word for it, we invite you to contact sales to schedule a live system demonstration, or even a no cost trial. ¬♦

Because the way that lawyers work is very different from doctors, insurance and public service.

For example, in health care, physicians spend their time seeing a number of individual patients and dictating notes or short pieces of correspondence to referring physicians or reviewing images (as in radiology) and dictating short reports. The subject matter is always medicine, and the work flow is always the same; from physician to transcriptionist to the patient's file, usually as a hard copy. The physician is usually in the office or making rounds at the hospital. The practice usually consists of a small number of physicians associated with each other and supported by several transcriptionists.

An attorney's work is very different. Some attorneys have many clients with just one matter; some have just one client with many matters. The subject of those matters is literally as broad as all that exists. The work flow may require complex correspondence to go to a seasoned secretary, briefs to go to central word processing, due diligence summaries to a floater or an outsourced transcription service, and billing to data entry. One day the lawyer may be in the office, the another in court in the next county, and the next on a plane across the country.

Given those stark contrasts in needs, having a solution dedicated to your needs is of critical importance. ¬♦

Digital Dictation Work Flow Systems in general, but Verdatum especially, are much more secure than an analog or desktop only system. Users within a managed system can only see the dictation they've created or been assigned. Even system managers can be held in check per your security requirements. Verdatum encrypts all information using Triple AES, supports logical grouping of users, ethical walls and password protected files. Additionally, files stored within the Verdatum DDS are protected from outside access by integration into your network's security policies.

Despite the many available levels of security the system remains extremely fluid and accessible: Files can be exported to a universal format with the proper permissions. Authors may recall or alter their own dictation at any time. Typists can be given rights to request support or even reassign work from their queue to others. ¬♦

Digital dictation is the process of digitizing your dictation files and utilizing your computers & computer network to share those digital audio files with a transcription resource. Aside from the computer and digital voice recorders taking the place of tapes and tape players the process of dictation & transcription is essentially unchanged from the analog process.

Speech recognition is the process of having a computer program analyze a digital sound file and translates the sounds, words, phrases, sentences and paragraphs contained within it to text. This process can also be known as speech rec, voice-to-text, computer transcription. Speech recognition is an obvious extension of the digital dictation concept, but requires yet another piece of the puzzle - a digital dictation work flow system.

Verdatum is a digital dictation work flow system that supports speech recognition as an optional module. In this capacity Verdatum provides access, control, work flow, resource management, reporting, integration & supporting services all in one cohesive package. ¬♦

There is a great deal of difference. Starting to use digital equipment is a very important first step in the process of realizing the efficiencies and productivity that are derived from a work flow and managed solution, such as Verdatum.

An un-managed solution is essentially a series of islands floating out in the middle of your network. A few, manually created & maintained, links between these islands can be established, or you can bloat out your email system with these audio files, but ultimately you have only replaced the pain of tapes with a more expensive gadget. Files can be lost, there is no security, transmitting files can be a manual process, there is no ability to centrally report, reassign and manage the pending work. You still have 'tapes', they just sound better and the equipment costs more.

However, a dictation work flow and management solution, such as Verdatum, enables you to view, edit, manage existing work from anywhere in the world and at any stage of the dictation/transcription process. You can route work to internal, external transcription resources, redirect work to speech recognition engines and more all without lifting more than a finger. We are built to work off of a series of rules and work flow defined by your firm and will reduce the amount of effort it takes to turn dictation into a finished product and also open up a whole new realm of dictation creation capabilities. ¬♦

Verdatum is a private company founded in 2003 by a group of practicing attorney's who saw a serious lapse in dictation products meant to serve the legal community. Taking their first hand knowledge of the dictation/transcription processes; as well as, the varying needs of law firms in general the founders of the company assembled a team of seasoned legal IT and development professionals.

We are based in New York City, NY; 100% of our operations, development, sales and support is done from within the continental U.S.

Verdatum has clients ranging from Global100 firms down to 5 personnel firms.

We are the only Digital Dictation Work Flow Solution provider based in North America and the only one in the world solely dedicated to the legal market.

Our address and contact forms can be found here. ¬♦

You can expect that 100% of Verdatum's focus and resources, including research and development dollars, will be on legal specific solutions.

You can expect that Verdatum will continue to innovate and drive the market with unprecedented levels of legal specific functionality and legal system integrations.

You can expect that Verdatum will always be based out of and operate from the U.S.

You can expect that our professional services and support personnel will strive to exceed your needs and expectations each and every time you work with them.

You can expect that Verdatum will continue to re-invest in itself as a company, ensuring we are as fiscally responsible and stable as your own firm.

You can expect you will always have direct access to every member of the Verdatum Sales, Support & Management teams at Verdatum.

You can expect the Verdatum will continue to solicit and embrace client directives, feedback and needs in the design and execution of software, services and support.

You can expect that for all of these reasons Verdatum will continue to be the market leader in legal voice-based solutions in North America. ¬♦

The Verdatum Support Group is available to all clients with active SMA contracts
Monday through Friday 8 am - 8 pm ET. For those clients without an active SMA Contract, fee-based per incident & hourly support is available.

Our support team is trained to know not only our software, but every component, system and technology we come in contact with or integrate into. Our goal is to exceed your expectations in all aspects of our service & support.

Verdatum uses online desktop sharing services, phone, email, Instant Messenger, state of the art support ticket/case systems, online knowledgebase, automated email notification and community forums to ensure you are not only supported but connected, informed and confident.

If additional access to support engineers is required, a Platinum Support Plan is available that offers 24 x 7 x 365 Tier 3 support personnel for an additional cost. Your Verdatum sales associate will be able to help you with any questions you have regarding this support option. ¬♦

While we have been installed around the world, it is typically because of larger clients deploying our solution throughout their international firm. Currently Verdatum is primarily focused on the many needs of law firms in the North American market.

We currently focus our sales efforts through our internal sales staff, who can be contacted here. ¬♦

We own our system - and that's important.

Because we own our system we have complete and total access to and control over the entire product suite. There are no competing interests, no one to request changes from without guarantees of implementation, no 3rd party investors to mandate product direction, etc. Any vendor you work with must be able to ensure the viability of not only their company, but their product and their dedication to your market. ¬♦

Yes we do. While Verdatum is a software company, we strive to offer the best possible service and support to our customers. This includes being a one-stop dictation hardware & accessory reseller in addition to our software & professional services.

Because we are focused on facilitating the sale of our software we sell all of our supported hardware and accessories at rock bottom prices, a happy reality that is a win-win for us all.

To receive pricing on any Verdatum supported dictation hardware or accessory please contact us. ¬♦

Not at all. The recorder and player software operates just like a typical desktop machine, and dedicated hardware such as digital voice recorders and foot pedals were designed to look and function like their analog predecessors. Additionally, because Verdatum is built to integrate into your existing network and systems; as well as, fit your unique and exact needs there is minimal learning curve and a high percentage of 'out of the gate' understanding & acceptance. ¬♦

Immediate and substantial. ROI with the Verdatum DDS can be measured by two distinct metrics: Increased dictation and access to dictation creation options; as well as, streamlined and reduced costs associated with transcribing the influx of dictated work.

Equally as important to the metrics is our ability to make them quantifiable and accessible via the Verdatum DDS Reporting & Charting systems. This new level of transparency and understanding will allow you to identify with objectivity the performance of your people, and to better manage that performance. It will also allow you to consolidate operations in those areas where it makes economic sense to do so. Document production time from the transcription side will be further reduced, lowering your costs and making your clients more satisfied. ¬♦

The current version of the Verdatum DDS requires the following for its back-end services:

Processor: 1 GHz
Memory: 1 GB
Hard Disk: 50 MB (Install & Logging); plus as needed for audio file storage
NIC: 100/1000 Mbps
Sound Card: Optional
Operating System: Microsoft Windows Server - 2000 SP4; 2003; 2008
Database: Microsoft SQL Server - 2000 SP4; 2005; 2008; SQLExpress 2005 or 2008
Runtime: Microsoft .NET 1.1 (Verdatum Mobility Service also requires Microsoft .NET 3.5). ¬♦

The current version of the Verdatum DDS requires the following for its client applications:

Processor: 750 MHz
Memory: 512 MB 2000/XP; 768 MB Vista/Windows 7
Hard Disk: 100 MB (Install & Logging); as needed for audio file caching
NIC: 100/1000 Mbps
Sound Card: Yes (USB Sound Devices Supported)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 2000 Pro SP4; XP Pro SP2; Vista, Windows 7 (Note: 32 & 64 bit OS are supported for XP, Vista & Windows 7)
Runtime: Microsoft .NET 1.1 ¬♦

Verdatum uses the 'Verdatum Multimedia Audio' (VMA) as its native format. This format is the proprietary format used by the Verdatum DDS that enables the world-class DDS features such as Elements, Streaming Dictation, Collaboration Work flow; DMS Integration & Synchronization; Offline Audio Options, and more. The Verdatum VMA format can be exported to several 'universal' formats, such as MP3, DSS and WAV, on-demand or in an automated fashion, when sharing audio content with individuals, systems or services outside of the firm is required.

Verdatum also supports all major audio file formats, including: WAV (PCM, aLaw/uLaw, CELP, Philips CELP, RAW), DSS, MP3, WMA, AU, AIF/AIFF, CIF, AMR, OGG and more. These file formats constitute support for the BlackBerry, iPhone, Palm, Windows
Mobile smart phones; as well as, Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac OSX and Linux Operating Systems. ¬♦

Verdatum is hardware agnostic, we work to provide you many hardware options. Our supported hardware currently includes:

The list of supported hardware is updated regularly, if you don't see a device on this list please contact your sales representative to confirm if it is indeed available. ¬♦

Yes. Distributed environments, i.e. law firms with several offices can now, with the click of a button, immediately send dictation to a central transcription pool, no matter where that pool is located. This compounds the ROI, as transcription management positions in multiple locations can be consolidated. Additionally, transcription pools may now be located in an area where it is economically most advantageous. ¬♦

Verdatum fully integrates into all of the major Document Management Systems within the legal market. Our integrations are fully implemented, bi-directional access into the target system. We changed the legal DDS market when we offered our first product as a dedicated integration into (named at the time) iManage WorkSite. We integrated into the legal DMS because we understand that, if you use one, saving the transcribed work into it makes too much sense to not do it.

Since our first release to market, about 7 years ago, we have added several other key partners and integrations, including a 'non-integrated' version. The currently available integrations are:

Verdatum is constantly working on implementing additional integrations. In addition to our DMS capabilities we currently have active projects with Case Management Systems & Time & Billing Systems. If you have a specific product that you'd like to us to consider integrating into just drop us a line here. ¬♦

No, not at all. Our integrations are entirely optional, in fact the 'Stand Alone' option, our non-integrated version is the default install. While not connected to your DMS, a 'Stand Alone' configuration still provides 100% of Verdatum's functionality and exclusive legal dictation & transcription features; as well as, an option to link into your network file share if applicable. ¬♦

Verdatum is built from the ground up to fit the needs and infrastructure of any
law firm, and any environment. Using a 'N-Tier' architecture of: SQL Database; Server API; Application Server; Client API; Client Application design - the Verdatum DDS can be effortlessly installed for 5 or 5,000 users. ¬♦

Yes, Verdatum supports nearly all virtualization and thin client platforms and
technology on both the server and client, including support for: VMware Server, ESX,
VDI/VDM and its successors, Workstation & Player; MS Virtual Server, PC; Citrix
Presentation Server 3.x and newer; Microsoft Terminal Server. ¬♦

Please keep in mind that all sales are subject to our official, published, terms.  For help with specifics please contact us.

The Verdatum DDS is licensed by named users; each user in the system requires
a license. These licenses can be acquired using our purchase, subscription or Turnkey models.

For details on the licensing option that best fits your needs please contact Verdatum Sales for a personal review.

Call: 888-211-9990 or Email us today. ¬♦

Please keep in mind that all sales are subject to our official, published, terms.  For help with specifics please contact us.

Verdatum prides itself on not only being the best solution on the market, but also
the best value. A core license includes full access to:

• Verdatum Workflow Service
• Verdatum Workflow Database
• Verdatum Notification Service
• Verdatum Notification Database
• Verdatum Web Upload Portal
• Verdatum Administrator
• Verdatum Audio Console (Record, Player & Manager Modes)
• Verdatum Citrix ICA & RDP Client Services
• Verdatum Audio Importer
• Verdatum Notification Monitor
• Verdatum VAD Viewer
• Verdatum CMS/DMS & T&B System Integrations (All Available Integrations)
• Verdatum Charting Module
• Verdatum DB Manager
• Verdatum Job Service (System & Work flow Automation; Audio Import & Export Gateway)
• Verdatum Active Directory Synchronization Service
• Verdatum Audio Backup Service
• Verdatum Coverage Console & Service

No other system provides this level of functionality, extensibility, customization and
scalability - at any price. ¬♦

Please keep in mind that all sales are subject to our official, published, terms.  For help with specifics please contact us.

Yes, there are optional modules and hardware that are purchased separately,
namely:

• Verdatum Mobility Service
• Smart Phone Licenses (BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Palm OS/WebOS)
• Verdatum Data Synchronization Services & Agent
• Verdatum Turnkey Server (All Versions)
• Verdatum Dial-In-Dictation Appliance (This Option Includes Telephony Card & Line Licensing & SMA Costs)
• Verdatum Dial-In-Dictation Telephony Card & Line Licenses
• 3rd Party Hardware

The optional products listed here may also require an SMA contract for support & upgrade access, please contact your Verdatum sales associate for details. ¬♦

Please keep in mind that all sales are subject to our official, published, terms.  For help with specifics please contact us.

SMA is required to receive technical support, product upgrades & feature packs
and access to all user community resources. An SMA contract is valid for 1 year
from the date of purchase and is most commonly calculated based on 18% of the currently published retail price for the product in question. ¬♦

The Verdatum trial program is a complimentary, no cost - no obligation, way to test drive the Verdatum DDS within your firm.

We will provide all software and services free of charge for up to 10 users and 4 weeks. Included in this trial is custom work flow & system configuration, DMS integration, training documentation and services, and of course support.

Start your free trial today! ¬♦

We offer this free full system trial for a few reasons....

Because we can: Verdatum owns its software & solutions, we don't have to ask permission or pay the upfront fees that resellers and 3rd parties do. We also know that time is money and your investment of time and resources during this trial is capital enough for us.

Because it helps you: Sometimes it's tough to justify and commit to a system without really testing it. We also know that too often the Sun and the Moon are promised during the sales process...but the product never quite delivers everything promised once implemented.  That is something we know you'll never experience with Verdatum so we're happy to let you 'take it for a test drive'.

Because it sells itself: We are happy to offer this free trial program because of our confidence in our system's ability to meet your needs and solve your dictation / transcription related problems. Within a short amount of time we know you'll come to realize the value, power and efficiencies of the Verdatum DDS - and, frankly, nothing sells a product more than that.

Start your free trial today! ¬♦

Setting up a trial is as easy as 1-2-3:

1. Tell us who will be in charge of and participating in the trial and if you need all 4 weeks to test
2. Pick out your trial hardware (or let us know you have your own already)
3. Download the pre-configured services & system configuration

Once the system is running we'll even provide complimentary training services and full access to our support team.

There is nothing to lose, start your trial today! ¬♦

The Verdatum DDS is built with efficiency in mind, so when trialing just a few users the hardware requirements are next to nothing.  Essentially any available workstation, testing server, a regular old application or file server will do - even a laptop can run our entire back-end for your trial.  We'd be more than happy to help you identify the quickest, easiest and cheapest fit for your temporary server, just contact us here. ¬♦