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City law firm Travers Smith Braithwaite is rolling out TotalSpeech to its property and litigation departments after it found the system promoted sufficient secretarial efficiency to pay for itself within six months. TotalSpeech is already fully installed across the litigation department, and the property roll out will be completed by the end of September.

The firm has found the way in which TotalSpeech promotes team working between secretaries has had a marked impact on administrative efficiency. During a pilot earlier this year Travers Smith Braithwaite identified that the system not only enables documents to be passed between secretaries and their fee-earners more quickly, but also encouraged secretaries to share workloads in busy periods. The product was found to be easy-to-use, to offer flexible remote working, and meant that departments are able to turn around documents more effectively overall.

Andrew King, a partner in Travers Smith Braithwaite's litigation department, commented:

"TotalSpeech has allowed us to introduce a more flexible, team-based working environment for secretaries, helping to iron out some of the peaks and troughs with the old tape-based system. Increased efficiency has meant that, notwithstanding an increase in fee earner numbers, we have not had to replace a secretary who recently left. The consequent cost savings mean that TotalSpeech is one of those rare IT animals, a product that has demonstrably paid for itself within about six months. Audio quality is very good indeed (which the secretaries like) and the remote working functionality can be a real boon for fee earners."

BigHand have implemented dictation workflow initiatives at several top City practices since the start of the year, and many of these firms are already reporting rapid return-on-investment. Savings that are possible range from the reduction of 'cover' costs such as temporary secretarial support, to firms not having to replace secretaries who leave, as well as a reduction of secretarial overtime.

Travers Smith Braithwaite's head of IT, Ann Elia, commented:

"TotalSpeech both helps our lawyers maximize the time they spend focusing on the law and provides our secretaries with a quality tool to support them more effectively. It is also a valuable addition to the IT infrastructure of these departments, allowing them to develop and grow with an up to date dictation process already in place. All-in-all a good investment."

TotalSpeech is based on sophisticated three-tier architecture and server based workflow software that enables it to distribute thousands of sound files daily with minimal strain on a firm's network. TotalSpeech is also renowned for its easy-to-use interface that means most lawyers are up and running on the system within 30 minutes. This simplicity and stability has led to the product being short listed as Best Legal Office Technology System and Best Legal Office Automation System at this year's LOTIES awards.

BigHand Director Gordon McAlpine stated:"As ever law firms are primarily interested in first-rate technology that is both innovative and easy to use. However, the current economic climate also means that any software must be able to stand up to rigorous financial scrutiny and cost justification. It is a measure of the quality of TotalSpeech that it is more than living up to all these expectations."