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VocaLinks Inc. • 1-162 Fallingbrook Road, Toronto, Ontario M1N 1N3 • www.vocalinks.com
Phone: 1-877-410-0342 • Toronto & Local 905 call 416-410-0342 • FAX: 1-866-504-7125
Dragon NaturallySpeaking®, SMART Technologies & Kurzweil 3000 Specialists
CASE STUDY: COBOURG POLICE SERVICE
Officers save time and
produce more detailed
reports with Dragon
NaturallySpeaking
Speech Recognition
Solution
CURRENT BUSINESS CHALLENGE
The Cobourg Police Service in Cobourg Ontario serves a population of 18,500 residents and community members. In a typical day there are 5 officers per 12 hour shift. These officers produce, on average, 20 incident reports and have multiple touch points with victims, persons of interest and witnesses.
In response to the need for a more efficient data entry process, Cobourg Police Service embarked upon a project to identify a solution that would help officers reduce the time it takes to complete essential paperwork. The primary objective was to provide tools to complete reports quickly and efficiently so officers could get back on the street as soon as possible.
The police vehicles were not equipped with laptop PCs, so, prior to the pilot, officers were manually keying in data at Windows workstations when they got back to the police station.
Cobourg Police Station
Turnaround time for reports was in the range of 5–to-7 days for a final completed copy. A simple report for a stolen bike could take up to 45 minutes to produce, and a more complex report such as a sudden death could take up to 6 hours of effort to complete, depending on the officer’s typing skills and available time.
The client’s objectives for the pilot and subsequent roll-out of a speech recognition solution were two-fold:
1) to provide a faster method of report entry allowing officers to get back on the road faster and be available to the public; and
2) to ensure that priority call reports are completed and available for the next relieving shifts to act upon when required. This would reduce the need for officers to sift through rough notes for the required information, and to call officers at home on their days off.
VocaLinks Inc. • 1-162 Fallingbrook Road, Toronto, Ontario M1N 1N3 • www.vocalinks.com
Phone: 1-877-410-0342 • Toronto & Local 905 call 416-410-0342 • FAX: 1-866-504-7125
Dragon NaturallySpeaking®, SMART Technologies & Kurzweil 3000 Specialists
SOLUTION OVERVIEW
In the spring of 2013, VocaLinks was engaged by Cobourg Police Service to conduct a pilot study to determine if the implementation of a speech recognition solution would provide enhanced productivity for officer documentation and reporting.
A steering group, including an officer Team Lead and the Chief, met with the VocaLinks Inc. speech technology team to discuss the pilot program parameters.
VocaLinks worked with the steering team to
design a research protocol that was both
realistic and workable as a small-scale
version of the potential larger agency-wide
implementation in order to test the feasibility
of integrating the new technology solution
within the context of the existing IT
infrastructure.
VocaLinks also designed a training and
support program for the project team,
structured to ensure a successful
implementation of the tools during the pilot
with a view to enterprise-wide adoption of
the new tools by all police officers.
Pilot studies often identify areas in which
there might be project implementation issues
so that remedies may be developed prior to
full implementation.
Finally, all valuable insights, processes and outcomes from the study are documented and applied to the enterprise-wide implementation of the speech recognition solution.
The pilot was conducted over a 2.5 month
period once all the pilot objectives and
methodology were approved.
Overview of Key Steps:
Kick-off
Defining of the research objectives / questions
Selection of project team to represent IT and User Groups
Selection of the target or sample population
Discovery Completing the study design Finalizing the written protocol and
methodology Determining integration requirements
o In the case of Speech Recognition, reviewing custom vocabulary needs
Solution Summary Customer: The Cobourg Police Service, with 32 officers serving a population of 18,500, is now using Dragon NaturallySpeaking to complete reports with greater speed, efficiency and accuracy than typing. VocaLinks Solution Components: Dragon NaturallySpeaking v12.5 running on Windows 7 workstations, Custom Vocabulary Development, Superior Training and Support Package including overview of custom commands and Niche RMS dictation strategies. Other Solution Components Blackberry running Mobile Innovations App, Blackberry Phone
VocaLinks Inc. • 1-162 Fallingbrook Road, Toronto, Ontario M1N 1N3 • www.vocalinks.com
Phone: 1-877-410-0342 • Toronto & Local 905 call 416-410-0342 • FAX: 1-866-504-7125
Dragon NaturallySpeaking®, SMART Technologies & Kurzweil 3000 Specialists
Overview of Key Steps (Continued):
Design Creating the communication, training
and support plan Designing the Implementation plan Deploy Deploying the Pilot Study
o Implementing the training and support plan for IT and officers
Observing and documenting findings Creating final report with findings and
recommendations Optimize Determining next steps for larger-
scale implementation
In the third month it was determined that the pilot was successful from a technical implementation and training stand-point, thus a decision was made for department-wide deployment at Cobourg Police Service.
Full Deployment
The final technology solution included a mobile component, namely, the BlackBerry with Mobile Innovations MPA Dictate App. Officers use this recorder software in the field to dictate incident reports. The App manages the sending of the resulting audio file via email to a speech recognition server residing at Headquarters. The server is configured with Dragon NaturallySpeaking and is set up to automatically match the incoming audio file with the appropriate person’s voice profile. Dragon then transcribes the audio into a text file.
Officers are able to edit their transcribed text in their email or MS Word and copy it into the Niche RMS. Using Dragon on the desktop also allows Criminal Investigation Branch officers to dictate narratives directly into the Niche RMS
Pilot Implementation Process
BENEFITS OF THE SOLUTION
With a day of training officers have been able to create their user profiles for speech recognition and immediately begin using the solution. Most are comfortable with the technology from start to finish within a few weeks of use, and because Dragon NaturallySpeaking is learning every time they do dictation, recognition accuracy is also improving on a daily basis. Some have even reached accuracy of 95 – 98 percent.
Reports are now turned around in 2-to-3 days vs. 5-to-7 days prior to the use of the digital speech transcription solution. The Project Lead believes that they are completing reports between 5 to 10% quicker.
Efficiency has been achieved, as reports are now completed faster than prior to the deployment of the solution and officers have more time in the field.
VocaLinks Inc. • 1-162 Fallingbrook Road, Toronto, Ontario M1N 1N3 • www.vocalinks.com
Phone: 1-877-410-0342 • Toronto & Local 905 call 416-410-0342 • FAX: 1-866-504-7125
Dragon NaturallySpeaking®, SMART Technologies & Kurzweil 3000 Specialists
BRIEF INTERVIEW WITH THE COBOURG POLICE PROJECT LEAD
Question:
What are some of the quantitative benefits you
have gained from implementing of the speech
recognition solution?
Response:
J.S. I would say maybe 5-10% increase in speed in
completing reports when the solution is used.
Question:
What are some of the qualitative benefits you
have gained from implementing the speech
recognition solution?
Response:
J.S. Producing reports is now easier and more
thorough (i.e. we are capturing more details that
might have been left out when making lengthier
reports).
Question:
How beneficial is it to be able to report on the
incident in the field while it is still fresh?
Response:
J.S. We found the solution beneficial since we are
recording more details that might normally be
‘too much’ for writing in the notebook or typing
into the report.
VOCALINKS SOLUTION TOOLKIT
Project Lead
TESTIMONIALS
This has provided a good opportunity for officer
reports (mine as well) to become more
thorough. When typing, I would look for shortcuts
or omit some less than necessary items as a time
saver. Dictation allows me to capture most
information faster and more accurately. Dictating
via BlackBerry devices also allows the report to be
done in real time at a scene and makes
observations more accurate and in-depth.
Training voice characteristics is a little time-
consuming, but as my use of the program has
increased, the errors have decreased, even with
specialized wordings and codes. J.S.
I like that I can sit in my vehicle and dictate into
my phone. I also think it saves time in report
writing. D.C.
It is handy if you are at a Crime Scene and you
want to be precise about what is taking place.
It is easier to dictate from the vehicle as no one is
around … Also, if the report was very lengthy I
would choose Dragon to avoid the onset of Carpal
Tunnel. C.R.
VocaLinks Inc. was established in 1998 and offers, Speech-to-Text and Text-to-Speech technology solutions accompanied by Professional Services. Our Professional Services include needs assessment, superior training and support, proof-of-concept trials and pilot projects.
At VocaLinks, we pride ourselves on recognizing that one size does not fit all! Contact us today to arrange a custom needs assessment.
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