Digital Dictation and Irwin Mitchell: Putting a Figure on Return-on-Investment

Technology may be one of the largest items in law firm budgets yet surprisingly few measure the return on this investment (RoI) in a scientific fashion, preferring instead to talk about the 'soft' benefits of introducing new IT systems but without going into details.

One exception to this rule is Irwin Mitchell, who have been carefully monitoring the impact of their digital dictation (DDS) workflow management system since they began rolling out the SRC WinScribe application in September 2002. What makes the Irwin Mitchell data all the more pertinent is that before moving to WinScribe, the firm also used plain vanilla digital dictation as an interim stage in its migration from analogue tape to its present system.

Tape-based Dictation - 1950’s Technology
The firm had long been aware of the limitations of tape-based dictation, which they describe as essentially '1950s technology' complementing localised workers near files but suffering from a number of drawbacks. As the firm's Operations Director Richard Hodkinson explains "Because dictation is such a fundamental part of how we work, it was quite clear that any improvements in technology could not help but deliver greater efficiency" and it was on this basis that in September 2000 the firm replaced analogue tape with digital dictation devices in three of its offices.

But, while some immediate benefits were realised, as the months went by it became apparent there were still problems, including over complex management software - which meant Irwin Mitchell's Operations staff were spending increasing amounts of time supporting the digital dictation operations - and, inadequate management information, which meant departmental supervisors had poor data on the backlogs of work pending and the volumes completed.

The firm therefore decided to try another solution - a full workflow management system, supplied by SRC and based around the WinScribe DDS product. This began with a roll out to 74 fee earners and 35 transcriptionists in the firm's Personal Injury (PI) practice in Leeds, Sheffield and London in September 2002 but has since been increased to over 700 users (of which 400 are authors) in the firm's PI and IM business divisions, with further roll outs planned.

SRC & WinScribe - ‘Universal Enthusiasm’
This time the new system did address the issues the firm was concerned about. For example, instead of the Operations team spending as much as two days a week fixing DDS administration problems (the number of support calls has now been cut to practically zero) it became something handled automatically by the system and overseen by departmental supervisors. Furthermore, because it provided them with an immediate overview of current workloads and backlogs - including how many jobs and the length of each job - it meant these supervisors could, where appropriate, allocate work between different secretaries, to a pool or even to the teams of 'twilight' secretaries who provide an out of hours service for the whole firm.

Improved reporting facilities also provided fee earners with the ability to check on the status of their work and, in what Hodkinson describes as one of the "unanticipated psychological benefits," it also provided the individual secretaries with a clearer picture of their workloads, thereby allowing them to prioritise their time better and, in the process, improve productivity. Hodkinson says it was interesting to see the change in secretarial attitudes towards WinScribe, which began with concerns that it would put them out of a job but soon changed to one of almost universal enthusiasm.

The introduction of SRC WinScribe has also contributed towards a general evolution in the way secretaries operate. Back in the days of tape, it was very much individual secretaries working for 'their' partner in one office, whereas the introduction of DDS with workflow management means they now work as teams, helping each other out with backlogs either on a location or practice-wide basis. For example, WinScribe provides the Family Law division with a single virtual typing pool serving fee earners on a national basis, while teams in other departments, such as PI, are also gravitating towards a policy of national pooling and away from one-on-one or onsite secretarial support. This has also meant a faster average turnaround time for work and greater multi-site awareness and cooperation, in effect with teams focusing on the needs of the firm rather than just individual fee earners.

Another benefit has been increased productivity: growth departments have been able to take on additional fee earners and partners without a corresponding increase in secretaries. In addition, some secretaries have been able to become fee earners in their own right (several are studying to become members of the Institute of Legal Executives) because they are no longer tied to the desktop handling transcription and better able to manage and prioritise their own workloads.

Measurable Benefits
While the longer-term impact of all these changes is still permeating down to the bottom line, Irwin Mitchell has already captured useful data to measure the more immediate benefits. For example, for the period January to April 2002, before the installation of WinScribe, the London office generated a total of 3743 digital dictation jobs. For the same period in 2003, after WinScribe was installed, the figure had increased to almost double that number: 7048 jobs.

In fact the total volume of transcription now being handled by WinScribe across the firm averages between 23,000-to-24,000 jobs - or about 1000 hours of dictation per month. Although at any one time there will be about 3000 jobs, amounting to 120 hours of dictation, in the pipeline, the introduction of WinScribe has meant a big cut in the backlog of less urgent jobs being handled by the twilights. For instance, in the Sheffield office, the backlog fell from seven days to two days within a month of WinScribe being rolled out.

Hodkinson suggests one explanation is that because WinScribe is perceived as being more versatile and reliable, as well as having the much better turnaround times, fee earners are more confident about channelling work through it. This increased confidence is also echoed by the fact that prior to 2002, many fee earners still preferred to use analogue tape for dictation whereas it is now almost 100 percent digital, which in turn has also had a knock-on effect on improved productivity.

The net result is that in terms of financial benefits, the WinScribe system has delivered a significant cost saving by way of increased productivity, improved efficiency, smaller backlogs and reduced secretarial headcounts. Or as Hodkinson puts it: "SRC WinScribe has been a success and the return on investment is very impressive. It has transformed our team culture and become an essential part of the way that departments such as PI work."

Success Story researched and written by Charles Christian, Legal Technology Insider.

Charles Christian regularly briefs law firms, IT vendors, professional bodies, conference organisers and venture capitalists on current industry trends and technology developments.

He is the IT columnist for the Law Society's Gazette, Managing Partner and In Brief magazines and is regularly invited to speak at and/or chair the major industry conferences and events. His 1998 book Legal Practice in the Digital Age was described as "essential reading for every lawyer in the land" by Professor Richard Susskind. www.legaltechnology.com