Uks largest ever Microsoft digital dictation installation

nFlow, a leading supplier of digital dictation solutions today announced that Ashfords, one of the UK’s Top 100 law firms, has completed the roll out of nFlow digital dictation to 350 users throughout its 6 offices in the South West. The decision to select nFlow was largely based on the software’s unique ability to use distributed audio stores and localised caching in a thin client environment. This allowed Ashfords to run their digital dictation software solution entirely in a Terminal Services environment on link speeds that called in to question the viability of competing solutions. The installation is believed to be biggest Terminal Services installation of its kind and once again reinforces the unique strength nFlow have in enabling digital dictation to work in a thin client environment without requiring upgrades or affecting user experience.

Mike West, Ashfords IT Manager, stated “We evaluated all the leading suppliers on the market comparing functionality, cost, service and support. Ultimately nFlow were deemed the strongest supplier across many fronts but it was their unique ability and understanding in the thin client environment that swayed our decision. The distributed audio stores allowed us to centralise the application on our Terminal Servers without streamed audio data clogging up the bandwidth between the servers and remote sites. In addition the systems local caching technology means the user experience in terms response to handset or footpedal operation is unaffected by the loads on the links. In practice this means I don’t have users complaining about the reaction times of the system or the audio quality just because the link had been temporarily loaded with extra data. With all that said, nFlow’s reputation for customer focus also came out in selection and I have to say that we enjoy an excellent working relationship with them.”

Phase one of the project involved full roll out to 240 users with phase two then rolling out to a further 110 users. Prior to reviewing nFlow Ashfords believed they would need to install a digital dictation solution in their Tiverton office on the standard Windows desktop because of the available bandwidth or incur more cost by upgrading the link. nFlow digital dictation's ability to have distributed audio stores in the thin client environment gave the firm the option to run a rich application in their Terminal Services environment without incurring link upgrade costs. It has also demonstrated that the bandwidth availability, in the case of sudden peak loads on the link, does not impact user experience by introducing latency or audio degradation.
Ashfords have also installed the telephony dictation interface (TDI) component of the nFlow Mobile Suite for remote workers. This allows them to use any phone to call in and record dictations that get routed immediately for typing as soon as complete. Wendy Clarke, Ashfords Product Development Manager added, “The response from users has been very positive and application performance in the Terminal Services environment high quality and consistent. We have asked for tweaks to the system and found nFlow extremely flexible, friendly and cooperative.”

Rob Lancashire, nFlow Sales & Marketing Director commented “It has become evident that with little differential in the basic digital dictation functionality firm’s are now basing their digital dictation purchasing decisions on a few key areas including technology and reputation for customer service. Our ability to deliver an advanced and innovative solution in a thin client environment is unrivalled and is currently the reason behind a number of firm’s decisions. Head to head testing against a competitive solution in a virtual environment at accountancy practice PKF demonstrated nFlow’s ability to perform perfectly despite extreme network loading conditions and seamlessly recover when the link was purposefully broken. Ashfords joins a growing community of large Terminal Services sites who have chosen nFlow for the scalable and resilient way it can deploy in the thin client environment. Furthermore with a 100% client retention rate, excellent references, a demonstrable investment in new .Net technology, award winning customer support and most of all a straight forward, no nonsense approach, more and more firms are rejecting alternatives and choosing to join the nFlow user community.”