Analogue vs Digital Dictation

The use of analogue (cassette tape) recorders is somewhat outdated but are still used in many professional industries. But as we have moved forward into a digital age there is a call for more companies to embrace digital dictation and here are some of the reasons why.

Security

Analogue devices are highly insecure, after all anyone can playback the recording and listen to your patient or client data.

This is where the difference lies between the analogue and digital world. As digital devices have ways of securing voice files, they are compliant with data protection laws and can be locked via a secure PIN, not to mention that the data can be encrypted.

If a cassette is lost, the data is lost forever. With digital recordings, they can be stored in your computer or in the cloud giving you access to the sound files whenever you need them. Even if something catastrophic happened you could still get the files back, unlike its analogue counterpart.

Sound Quality

As with any voice recording, other factors need to be taken into account. A recording in a loud coffee shop is going to be harder to pick out the speakers than one in a quiet room. However digital dictation wins hands down as it can sound very crisp and clear every time the file is played. Whereas tapes stretch over time, the more the tape is played the more of a risk of damage which can make the sound quality poor or distorted.

Storage

With analogue dictation the tape itself must be stored, creating storage space issues not to mention an increased risk of tapes becoming lost, damaged or mislabeled.
Digital files can be stored easily and securely on a hard drive or in the cloud making archiving and retrieval simple and cost-effective.

Summary:

It is only a matter of time before analogue dictation goes the way of the VHS which stopped being manufactured in 2016 because of a decline in sales. Our advice to any customers is to start moving across to digital devices as soon as possible to future proof yourself.