About Walker Foster Solicitors

Walker Foster Solicitors is a long-standing legal firm based in Yorkshire. With over seven offices and 60+ staff, they specialise in supporting individuals, family businesses and SMEs with property, Wills, disputes and family law to business contracts and sales and acquisitions of businesses in various sectors.

Founded in 1919, the firm is well respected and renowned within its region and prides itself on delivering outstanding service to clients.

Having worked with VoicePower since 2010, Walker Foster truly understands the impact of speech technologies, and so we asked Managing Director & Head of Corporate and Commercial, Keith Hardington, to join us to discuss their journey with speech recognition.

The Power of Speech

Although they were initially using voice recorders and transcription when they first made contact with VoicePower, it didn’t take long for Keith to take an interest in speech recognition software.

With the aim of speeding up his documentation, Keith quickly embraced the Dragon Professional Group version which was created specifically for multiple users within organisations.

“I found speech recognition helpful for emails and anywhere else where text is required.” – Keith Hardington

Keith continued to use Dragon Professional Group for two years during which he became a fluent user and reaped great benefits with Dragon.

Keen to ensure that their clients have the best possible workflow, VoicePower recommended Walker Foster upgrade to the latest Dragon Professional Anywhere version. Not only did this version have improved accuracy and improved user interface but it was also the first cloud-based option within the Nuance portfolio.

Due to being hosted within the cloud, there is no need for infrastructure amendments, meaning users can optimise savings on the adaptation of IT infrastructure. With this also comes unrestricted use and incredible flexibility.

Keith explained his reasoning for being interested in the cloud version and why he was interested in trailing it:

New & Improved with Nuance Dragon Anywhere

Dragon Professional Anywhere was the first cloud solution from Nuance, but most importantly it is completely GDPR compliant with the UK’s regulations.

This means your dictations are fully protected and stay within the UK as opposed to being sent over to God-knows-where! In short, both Walker Foster’s and their clients’ information is completely safe and kept confidential, as it should be.

With VoicePower’s support and guidance throughout the trial, Keith went on to find excellent new features within the Nuance Dragon Anywhere version, as he explains:

Happy with the results of the trial, it was a no-brainer for Keith to trade in his old version for Dragon Professional Anywhere.

At the time of writing this, Walker Foster has ordered two more Dragon licences for two of their solicitors and in his own words, Keith “expects this number to grow” as he shares Dragon’s potential and benefits with his colleagues.

“It is a big improvement on earlier versions. In the short time I’ve been using it, it is saving time and allowing people to use their time more profitably. Editing is also faster because accuracy is better.” – Keith Hardington

Furthermore, Keith is enjoying the power of speech wherever he goes thanks to the Dragon Anywhere Mobile app (DAM) that partners with the Dragon Professional Anywhere PC version. Highly intelligent, the app is fully synced to the desktop licence meaning all of your customised commands, auto-texts and more are transferrable between your computer and your phone.

VoicePower also helped with the IT and installation of the App to ensure that any technical issues encountered were resolved quickly. Keith speaks highly of VoicePower’s support service, by assuring that “Deirdre has been excellent” at getting him up and running as quickly as possible.

“I hope that we see greater use of this technology to allow our valuable people to increasingly use their time productively and to improve their experience working at Walker Foster.” – Keith Hardington

Watch our Dragon Professional Anywhere demonstration here!