Dictaphone Reports Strong Sales of its Freedom Recording System; Versatile new recording solution enjoys record start in call center and public safety markets - Product Information

Edge: Work-Group Computing Report, Jan 10, 2000

Dictaphone Corporation Wednesday said it has received more than $7.5 million in orders for its new Freedom product, a revolutionary recording system for 9-1-1 centers, commercial call centers and trading applications. The strong early orders, dating from Freedom's national launch last October, represent the fastest start for any new Dictaphone recording system in memory, the company said.

The new Freedom recording system is based on a unique design that lets call centers store and access their voice information whenever, wherever and however they want. Call centers can store voice recordings on any network-attached storage device, and can also select a different storage device in the future without making their recording system obsolete.

"Freedom is getting a very enthusiastic response from the marketplace. It has exceeded all of our sales expectations," said Art Schoeller, vice president of marketing and strategic alliances for Dictaphone's Communications Recording Systems (CRS) division. "We've had to double our production forecast to meet the demand for the product."

The company launched Freedom with an intensive telemarketing campaign that revealed strong underlying demand for the flexibility and protection from obsolescence that Freedom offers. Several orders were even completed over

Using standard file access methods like SMB, NFS, and FTP, Freedom allows users to easily take advantage of any existing or anticipated future storage device. Additionally, Freedom's plug-in telecommunications interfaces and operating system-independent architecture mean that Freedom can easily adapt should an organization upgrade its phone system, operating system or network.

Freedom also provides more ways to access and share voice recordings than conventional systems. Its network-ready design and standard audio file format make voice files accessible over any LAN/WAN, Internet or intranet, using any multi-media PC. Compressed .wav file recordings can be e-mailed, a faster way to share information than copying and shipping tapes.

Unlike traditional recording systems, in which the telecom interface and archive device are embedded in the recorder, Freedom uses a modular design that allows it to easily adapt to changing requirements over time. "Freedom's openness makes it extremely scalable," said Schoeller. "As your operation grows, you can select a higher capacity network-attached storage device without replacing your recording system."

The Freedom system consists of three separate components: a telecom module, a recording module, and an archive/playback station. The telecom module interfaces directly to a communication center's phone system for direct digital recording, eliminating the cost of handset couplers and external digital-to-analog conversion devices. Freedom's modular architecture means that the archive/playback station and recorder can be kept close-by in a supervisor's office, while the telecom module is rack-mounted or wall-mounted in the PBX room, eliminating wiring headaches.

The Freedom recording module stores compressed voice/data on a local hard drive for instant access. Two recording modules fit neatly in a standard 19-inch wide, 2U-high rack enclosure. Or, a single recorder and telecom module can be packaged side-by-side.

The Freedom archive/playback station comes with a 15-inch TFT flat panel monitor, and a DVD-RAM drive for centralized archiving of voice/data files. Using the workstation, users can retrieve and playback recordings from the recording module's hard disk, DVD-RAM, or any network-attached storage device. The workstation's Recorder Neighborhood software has the familiar look and feel of Microsoft's Network Neighborhood interface.

Dictaphone's CRS business unit provides four broad solution platforms to call centers serving a wide range of fields including financial, insurance, travel, utility and public safety. Several products, including the Freedom open-architecture recording system, the da Vinci quality monitoring/call management system, and the Symphony CTI advanced communications management system were launched within the past two years. Dictaphone has strategic alliances and relationships with a number of companies, including GTE, DST Systems, Nortel, Communico Ltd., Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc., and Siemens.

Dictaphone Corporation of Stratford, Conn., is a leader in the development, manufacture, marketing, service and support of Integrated Voice and Data Management systems and software, including dictation, voice processing, record management and communications recording. Dictaphone has a marketing, sales, service organization of more than 1,375 representatives in 160 cities in the U.S., the U.K., Canada and Germany. The company markets worldwide through distributors in Europe, Latin America, Asia Pacific, South Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Visit Dictaphone at www.dictaphone.com.