Transcription and Dictation solutions for the PC from High Criteria Inc.

Phone-In Buddy Features and Usage

Phone-In Buddy allows users to call in dictation or any other type of report, using a standard telephone. The system can be used by law offices, doctor's offices, health clinics, police departments or for any application where audio reports are convenient. The system stores the audio recordings onto the hard-drive of a PC. Once captured, the recordings may be transcribed on the same PC or another PC, using a transcription application like Transcription Buddy, also from High Criteria.

When a user calls into the system, they are prompted for an ID number and a numeric password. Both of these items are entered using the telephone keypad. The system then prompts the user to create a new recording or replay or update an existing recording.

Phone-In Buddy eliminates problems associated with written reports, such as managing stacks of paperwork, and the reading of almost illegible hand-writing. It can also lead the way in a migration from the reliance on tape recording devices towards new digital audio technologies. Because Phone-In Buddy records to standard PC files, these files can be moved and managed, just as any other standard file is moved and managed.

In today's interconnected world, audio recordings or portions of recordings, can be sent almost instantaneously to a number of interested parties. Installations can leverage the use of its communications facilities to assign the appropriate staff to generate timely and accurate transcripts of the recordings. Phone-In Buddy is a first step for many organizations in making better use of their existing technology infrastructures.

Phone-In Buddy Setup Overview

Phone-In Buddy is a standard Windows program that runs on a regular PC. For smaller implementations, Phone-In Buddy will run under Windows 98 or Windows ME and on a non-dedicated PC. In such environments, one or two simple voice modems may be installed on the PC to provide access for users leaving dictation. The voice modems may be internal or external. External voice modems may be either serial or USB. For those less familiar with installing and configuring PC hardware, an external USB modem is an easy and low cost way to provide telephone recording capabilities for Phone-In Buddy. Please see Phone-In Buddy Purchase Options for information about acquiring suitable modems from High Criteria.

For larger implementations, High Criteria recommends either the Windows 2000 or Windows XP operating systems. Along with the newer operating systems, we recommend an upgrade to higher quality voice cards from Dialogic. Dialogic voice cards replace the need for voice modems and provide higher quality sound recordings than are provided by a standard voice modem. Dialogic cards are internal cards that come in either PCI or ISA formats. To install these cards, you must feel comfortable opening the PC case and installing internal hardware.

Regardless of the type of telephone interface used (modem or voice card) or the level of Windows operating system, the installation must provide one or more telephone lines to connect to the system. In most cases, these will be standard phone lines. Installations with a telephone switch or PBX can also connect to the system, with the appropriate Dialogic card. Installations should obtain the number of telephone lines that are appropriate for the number of users who will leave reports or dictation. The number of telephone lines should also match the number of telephone interfaces (voice modems or Dialogic card interfaces) that are installed on the PC. Finally, administrators should keep in mind that, using Phone-In Buddy's default configuration, one hour of dictation will fit into about 14 mb of disk space. One Gig of hard drive space should hold more than 60 hours of recording, at the default levels. An appropriate amount of disk space should be provided for the application.

The end user who calls in dictation and reports, uses a regular touch-tone telephone and does not need any specialized equipment.

Instructions for the Phone-In Buddy User

Although configurations may vary, in most instances, the person calling into Phone-In Buddy to leave an audio recording will follow four simple steps. They will:

Call the system, using a standard touch-tone telephone.
Identify themselves, by specifying a numeric ID and password on their telephone keypad.
Using the telephone's keypad, they will indicate they want to create a new recording and then proceed with the recording by talking into their phone.
Once the recording is complete, they will save it on the PC by pressing the pound key (#) on their telephone keypad.

In more detail, the system administrator will have previously defined a numeric ID and associated password for each user. This information must be provided to the user, prior to their use of the system. Once they have this information and are ready to create a new recording, they will call the telephone number associated with the voice modem or Dialogic card. Phone-In Buddy will answer the call and, using audio prompts, will ask the user for their ID and password. These will then be entered by the user on the keypad of their telephone.

Once the user has been identified, they will be prompted as to whether they want to create a new recording, or listen to and possibly update a previous recording. The user indicates their selection, by using the keypad on their telephone. Recordings for each user are saved in separate Windows folders. The file names may be assigned by the user or they may be generated automatically by the system.

An end-user reference card is available for download by following this link. A wallet sized version is also available for download by following this link. These reference cards documents the default telephone keypad settings.

Instructions for the Phone-In Buddy Administrator

In general, the administrator will define Global parameters, define user IDs, and manage the telephone recording devices on the PC, using various Windows in the Phone-In Buddy program. Phone-In Buddy is started, like other applications, from the Start => Programs menu. Windows may also be configured to start Phone-In Buddy automatically, when the system starts. The primary Phone-In Buddy Window is displayed below. It shows all of the telephone recording devices on the system and their status.

By selecting the Options pull down menu, the administrator can select to define and update user ID entries, Global Option settings or telephone recording device definitions. Windows for these definitions are shown below.

Within the Global Configuration settings, the administrator can, among other definitions, set:

the type of compression to be used on the audio files,
the base folder into which all of the recordings will be saved (user recordings may be directed into individual sub folders of this base folder),
event logging options,
user identification options, and
alerts that may be issued, whenever a new recording is created.

Within the user settings, the administrator can, among other definitions, assign:

the ID and password to be used by a user,
the folder into which this user's recording will be saved,
limits on the size of recordings that this user can create,
the format of the file names to be associated with this user, and
alerts that may be issued, whenever this user creates a new recording.

Within the Modem Devices settings, the administrator can, among other definitions, assign:

the size of the FF and REWIND jumps to be taken,
whether the users input digits will be replayed to them,
the settings for the keys on the telephone keypad, and
the audio prompts that the user will hear, as they access the system and leave recordings (High Criteria suggests that some of these prompts, like the welcome message, should be customized by the installation.).

Please see the following pages for more information about Phone-In Buddy.

Purchase Options for Phone-In Buddy.

Please follow this link to the Phone-In Buddy home page.

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