Use GMail for Olympus Dictations

In the beginning, FTP was the only secure way to go when transferring voice files and documents between author and transcriptionist. In Release 4 of the DSS Player Pro software, even FTP was only secure in that the files being transferred were encrypted. Only with Release 5 was the ability to send files via FTP and e-mail using secure connections made possible.

And convenient.

Most of our physician/transcriptionist clients using the Olympus DSS Player Pro software transfer files using our FTP service. And while we're happy to provide this service at an amazing low cost, we have discovered through testing in our Labs that using free GMail accounts appears to work equally as well. And, being free, saves some money, too. In addition, GMail only works with a secure connection which means your communications on the Internet between you and GMail are as secure as any other type of secure Internet communication.

The only downside we can find at this point is that if the GMail server fails or someone has a connection failure with the GMail server, we can't be of much help there. The upside is that Google is unlikely to have a server malfunction. Their failsafe systems are probably better than the Pentagon's.

Setting Up a GMail Account

Like most things Google, setting up a GMail account is quite simple and quick. Go to GMail and click on "Create an account."

(And while you're at it Google, download a copy of Google's browser, Chrome. You'll like it.)

Create your GMail account. Both dictator and transcriptionist need separate GMail accounts.

Once you've set up and confirmed your account, you should log into GMail so you can activate the necessary settings.

At the top of the screen after you log in is a "Settings" button. Click on it.

Don't be afraid of all the setting choices. It is rather daunting to all but us geeks, but there is just one setting you need to change.

Click the link at the top called "Forwarding and POP/IMAP."

Look down the next screen and find the item called "IMAP Access." Here, you want to Enable IMAP.

Click "Save Changes" at the bottom of the screen and you're set to go.

Important Note: Don't use these accounts for anything but your dictation voice files and typed transcription documents. While the DSS Player Pro is quite intelligent, it makes everything more stable if you use these e-mail accounts only for transferring dictation.

Also, periodically, you should log into your GMail account and clean out the "Sent Mail" folder so it won't fill up or retain your sent dictations beyond a reasonable time.

Configure DSS Player Pro Release 5

Here's the more involved part of the process; you may wish to print out these instructions to follow them step-by-step.

The process for setting up your mail account settings is the same for both the Dictation and Transcription Modules.

In your DSS Player Pro software, go to Tools > Options in the menu.

When the Options window opens, click the top tab called "E-mail/FTP" (see left).

Click the "Add..." button.

Click the radio button next to IMAP on the "E-mail Settings" window.

Click the "Next" button.

The next screen is where the actual account settings for your GMail account are entered and tested.

Using the information from your own GMail account, enter it similarly to what is shown on the right.

You can Name the profile whatever is memorable to you. The important parts are the E-mail Address, Account name and Password.

On the right side of this screen are fields for "Server Information." These are the servers at GMail that receive and send your e-mail.

For Incoming Mail, enter "imap.gmail.com" and for Outgoing Mail, enter "smtp.gmail.com" (both without quotes).

Next, click the button in the lower right of the screen called "More settings."

Complete this screen as shown above. Click "OK" to return to the previous screen. A very nice Olympus touch here is the button labeled "Test settings." Click this button to test your e-mail settings to make sure you have them correct. If you click "Details," you can see the progress of the test and see if anything fails.

If each line says "Success," then you entered all the settings correctly and can proceed to configuring your DSS Player to send and receive files.

Since the settings for automatically, semi-automatically or manually sending and receiving files are quite involved (there's a reason we insist on doing installations for our customers), we can't go into all the possible choices in this column.

If you're a customer of American Dictation, feel free to call us and we can help you make the final configuration choices. If you're not our customer, contact your Olympus Pro-Audio dealer for assistance. If you can't locate them or cannot receive assistance, call us and we have a low-cost Elite Support Plan to help.

Just a final word: if you're using FTP and satisfied with how it works, follow our advice: if it ain't broke, don't fix it. However, if you'd like to add new accounts and using GMail sounds good to you, give it your consideration. Before you committ, though, set up a free GMail account, configure your software and test your settings. Some computers and networks don't allow communications on the ports required for GMail, so it's worth the test.

Before you ask: if you're using the Philips SpeechExec Pro software, you can't use a GMail account. GMail only works with secure e-mail connections, which SpeechExec Pro does not support. It will work with regular POP/SMTP accounts, though.

Changing the DS-2400 to DSS Classic Mode

The fairly new Olympus DS-2400 Voice Recorder is a great consumer dictation recorder. However, in order to make it less expensive (and less feature-rich) than its big brothers, the Olympus DS-5000 and DS-3400, Olympus set the DS-2400 to only record in the new DSS Pro format (.ds2). While this format offers increased fidelity, it also means that transcriptionists who have not upgraded their software - or those using third-party DSS transcription software - cannot play the new file format.

First, transcriptionists using the Olympus DSS Player or DSS Player Pro software can upgrade their software. The DSS Player Version 6 or 7 can be upgraded by downloading free upgrades from the Downloads section of our Support page. For those using the DSS Player Pro Release 4, we will download and upgrade the software for a nominal fee (the installer is quite large, and the settings need to be carefully reviewed).

However, if you are using third-party transcription software that plays DSS files, you won't have a way to upgrade to play the DSS Pro files. Olympus, Philips and Grundig, who own the DSS format, are not likely to license the codecs required to play DSS Pro - at least that's the impression we get.

If you are in the latter case, then your only choice other than buying an Olympus Transcripion kit, is to "downgrade" the DS-2400 to play DSS "Classic" files (.dss). This is a two-step process, involving two different firmware update programs. Only an authorized Olympus Pro dealer can do this for you.

If you bought your DS-2400 from us, there is no charge to apply these firmware updaters. If you bought your recorder elsewhere, you will need to purchase an Elite Support plan from us in order to have us apply the updates and provide ongoing technical support.

Note that once applied, the DS-2400 will thereafter record in DSS mode only. To return to DSS Pro mode, another firmware updater will have to be applied.

Using the "Pending Dictations" Feature on the Olympus DS-5000

The majority of professionals who use the Olympus DS-5000 to dictate notes, letters or any other type of report, send those dictations elsewhere to be transcribed. This transfer is usually done automatically by the Olympus DSS Player Pro software installed on the user's PC. Say you are dictating several different notes and you would like to send one immediately, but keep the others on your recorder to finish later. You would need to enable the "Pending" feature on your device (via the DSS Player Pro software) so you are able to mark voice files as such before you download them off of your recorder.

This is how you turn on that feature:

• Open Olympus DSS Player Pro software and put the DS-5000 into the cradle. Make sure the device is turned on and the slide-switch is in the STOP position.
• Go to TOOLS at the top of the main window and scroll down to OPTIONS. Click the DEVICE tab on the top left of that window.
• Click "Programmable Buttons" in the left column. In the "STOP Mode" row select one of your funtion buttons to enable "Pending". Look at the screen shot below.

• Now click "Recording" in the left column under "Administrative Settings". Click the button next to "Finished Files" to tell the recorder to download only finished voice files and not all files.
• Now to apply these settings to the recorder, click the UPDATE button at the top of the window and select "All Pages" to update all the settings you have selected.

Now the "Pending" feature is enabled. While the slide-switch is stopped, you can press F3 (in this example) to mark the current voice file "Pending". This will leave the file on the recorder when connected to your PC so you can go back and add onto it later. Press F3 again to take off "Pending".

For more helpful tips and how-to's, browse the previous posts on this blog. Also, visit AmericanDictation.com for more information.

Introducing the Olympus DS-3400

Since Olympus released their latest pro hand-held digital voice recorder last year, the DS-5000 has become one of the most popular voice recorders used by professionals today. Its comfortable design and highly capable features allow you to manage dictations and even edit them on the device. This is truly the top-of-the-line digital voice recorder available.

However, Olympus recognizes that many people who use digital dictation will not have a need for such robust features, but still want a durable and reliable digital voice recorder. Hence, the DS-3400.
Here are some differences between the DS-3400 and the DS-5000 recorders:

• The DS-3400 has buttons for rec/play/rewind instead of a slide-switch.
• The DS-3400 does not come with a docking cradle, instead you plug the recorder directly into your PC with the USB cable.
• The DS-3400 also does not support a re-chargeable battery pack.
• The DS-3400 comes with a 1GB SD memory card, whereas the DS-5000 comes with a 512MB microSD memory card.

Visit this page at AmericanDictation.com to learn more on how these two recorders differ.

Although some features were not included on the DS-3400 hand-held, the software that comes with the recorder is the same as the DS-5000. The DSS Player Pro will allow you to transfer dictation files via FTP or e-mail, save files to a server and even encrypt voice files for a secure transfer. To learn more about the many features of the Olympus dictation software, click here.
Also, visit the Hand-Held Dictation page of the American Dictation Store to see detailed specifications on these recorders.

Using FTP With Professional Dictation Systems

If you are currently using a transcription service outside of your office, or even within your office, the easiest and most reliable way to send your dictations to another PC is with FTP transfer. Instantly send your dictations and receive documents from your transcriptionist via a secure FTP server (provided by American Dictation) for a quick, easy and HIPAA compliant transfer. If you are unfamiliar with what an FTP server is, in short, an FTP server uses the internet as a means of transferring many different kinds of files from one computer to another.
Say, for example, you are a health care physician dictating patient notes at your office in Salt Lake City to be transcribed and/or entered into an E.M.R. system by your transcriptionist in San Diego. If you are using a Pro series digital voice recorder from Olympus, Philips, Dictaphone or Grundig, the software that was included with the voice recorder will allow you to transfer files using an FTP server. Here's a quick step-by-step of how it all works...

1. The dictating author records one or more voice files on their handheld recorder.
2. The recorder is "docked" or connected to their desktop PC.
3. The digital voice files are automatically copied to the author's PC. The software will then send the files (encrypted for security purposes, if desired) via FTP to an FTP server in the office. The recorder is then automatically erased and within a few seconds, the author is back at work.
4. The typist receives an alert that dictation files are now available
5. The typist selects the file they wish to transcribe from within their Transcription Software.
6. Once the voice file is typed, it is moved out of the work queue and archived or deleted at a later time.
7. The typed documents are stored and shared according to your existing workflow.

Our most popular professional dictation and transcription system, especially among healthcare physicians, is the Olympus 5000 series. The Olympus DSS Player Pro software will allow you to not only send your dictations via FTP, but also receive documents back from your transcriptionist using the same FTP account.

Another popular pro series is the 9600 digital voice recorder along with the 7277 transcription kit. Both of these include Philips' SpeechExec Pro software with FTP transfer capabilities. However, Philips' software will not allow the transcriptionist to send documents back to the sender.

Using E-Mail With Professional Dictation Systems

Well, first.. I feel I need to explain that when it comes to professional dictation and transcription Olympus and Philips are simply the best. In recent years these companies have been constantly improving their digital dictation/transcription software to better adapt to a dictating professional's workflow. E-mail transfer is one of those key improvements.

Whether you use the Olympus DSS Player Pro or Philips SpeechExec Pro software, the easiest and most reliable way to e-mail your dictations is to use Microsoft Outlook. Note: turn off caching if you're using an exchange server. Other POP E-Mail accounts can work as well. You will need this information from your E-Mail provider: Account Name, Password, SMTP Server, SMTP Port number, POP Server and POP Port number. Web-based E-Mail services such as yahoo and MSN will not give you this information, in fact, few will. Some E-Mail providers will even put limits on the size of your attachments. Try to find out if your provider does this. We also find that using an E-Mail address exclusively for transfering dictation files makes for the most reliable opporation.

The alternative to having to deal with these rules and having to obtain POP and SMTP server information from your E-Mail provider is to use FTP (File Transfer Protocol). We have our own Secure FTP server! Next week I'll post a blog explaining more about this. More than %80 of our customers use FTP rather than E-Mail. It is easier and much safer than E-Mail.