Dictaphone Reports Strong Sales of its Freedom Recording System; Versatile new recording solution enjoys record start in call center and public safety markets.Business Editors STRATFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 5, 2000 Dictaphone Corporation today said it has received more than $7.5 million in orders for its new Freedom(TM) 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 CRS Course CRS Certified Residential Specialist (real estate certification) CRS Central Reservation System CRS Can't Remember Stuff (polite form) CRS Cost Reduction Strategy CRS Consumer Relations Specialist ) 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 ob·so·les·cent adj. 1. Being in the process of passing out of use or usefulness; becoming obsolete. 2. Biology Gradually disappearing; imperfectly or only slightly developed. that Freedom offers. Several orders were even completed over the telephone, Schoeller said. About Freedom Using standard file access methods like SMB (1) (Small to Medium-sized Business) Also called "SME" (small to medium-sized enterprise), it refers to companies that are larger than the small office/home office (SOHO), but not huge. , NFS (Network File System) The file sharing protocol in a Unix network. This de facto Unix standard, which is widely known as a "distributed file system," was developed by Sun. See file sharing protocol and WebNFS. NFS - Network File System , and FTP FTP in full file transfer protocol Internet protocol that allows a computer to send files to or receive files from another computer. Like many Internet resources, FTP works by means of a client-server architecture; the user runs client software to connect to , 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 An audio file format is a container format for storing audio data on a computer system. The general approach towards storing digital audio is to sample the audio voltage (which on playback, would correspond to a certain position of the membrane in a speaker) of the make voice files accessible over any LAN/WAN LAN/WAN Local Area Network/Wide Area Network , 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 (Private Branch eXchange) An inhouse telephone switching system that interconnects telephone extensions to each other as well as to the outside telephone network (PSTN). 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 (Thin Film Transistor) The term typically refers to active matrix screens on laptop computers. Active matrix LCD provides a sharper screen display and broader viewing angle than does passive matrix. See LCD and thin film. TFT - Thin Film transistor flat panel monitor See flat panel display. , and a DVD-RAM A rewritable DVD disc endorsed by the DVD Forum. Using phase change technology, DVD-RAMs are like removable hard disks, and the media can be rewritten 100,000 times compared to 1,000 times for DVD-RW and DVD+RW. The first DVD-RAM drives with a capacity of 2.6GB (single sided) or 5. 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(TM) software has the familiar look and feel of Microsoft's Network Neighborhood interface. About Dictaphone 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(TM) open-architecture recording system, the da Vinci(TM) quality monitoring/call management system, and the Symphony CTI (Computer Telephone Integration) Combining data with voice systems in order to enhance telephone services. For example, automatic number identification (ANI) allows a caller's records to be retrieved from the database while the call is routed to the appropriate party. (TM) advanced communications management system were launched within the past two years. Dictaphone has strategic alliances and relationships with a number of companies, including GTE GTE General Telephone & Electronics GTE Génie Thermique et Énergie (French) GTE Gas Turbine Engine GTE Global Tropospheric Experiment GTE Geothermal Energy GTE Gas Turbine Efficiency plc (Sweden & USA) , 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. |
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