Quikscribe Pocket Recorder

The Quikscribe Pocket Recorder is a professional software solution for the Pocket PC platform under Windows Mobile 5.0 and later.

Eight years ago Quikscribe created a file system called an Intelligent Audio File. An IAF is special because besides containing audio content, it can contain relevant text, graphics, place markers, and web URLs.

So how is this relevant?

Technology has also progressed to the point where a device that is as powerful as a five-year-old desktop computer (but is about the same size as a mobile phone) can spend its day attached to your belt.

This device, known as a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), allows you to record your dates and times of appointments, synchronises with the contacts on your Personal Computer, allows you to review word documents, listen to music, talk to other people, surf the Internet, watch movies and now - efficiently dictate and send audio files for transcription.

This is why the Quikscribe Pocket Recorder (QPR) was invented. To let you get out of the office and take back control of your time. Whether you are stuck in traffic or waiting in court or out shopping or down at the beach, you can continue working.

And with the appropriate data plan you won’t even need to go to the office. You can send your files from wherever you are if you have a WiFi (802.11b) or broadband connection.

- Programmable Hardware Buttons
Most Pocket PCs have hardware buttons to launch different Pocket PC applications. The Quikscribe Pocket Recorder provides the ability to re-assign these hardware buttons to specific recorder functions.  This means you can customize the functionality to suit your needs. Additionally, it means you can keep recording while involved with other applications (assuming they don’t use the same set of buttons.)

- Phone
Some Pocket PCs also offer phone capabilities. These types of devices generally offer the highest level of value.  If your Pocket PC does not have phone capabilities, you may be limited to WiFi (Wireless) connectivity requiring a dataplan and a wireless hotspot.

- Keyboard
Many Pocket PCs offer built-in keyboards, which makes text data entry easier. If a Pocket PC does not have a physical keyboard, you can use a software keyboard. Bluetooth keyboards are also available (such as the Stowaway) that are almost full size and allow for very fast alphanumeric and textual data entry (assuming you can type).

- Touch Screen Size, Resolution and Colours
Pocket PC screens typically come in Portrait or Square shapes. Portrait being either 240 x 320 (QVGA) or 480 x 640 (VGA) or Square being 240 x 240 or 480 x 480. Depending on your requirements - resolution or size may be important. Additionally the number of active colours displayed varies but is typically 65000 or greater. The higher the resolution and colour palette, the better the screen image will appear.

Compare Features of the Quikscribe Pocket Recorder to typical portable digital recorders

To create a new file, simply slide your finger from left to right to display the Left Main Menu, and select ‘New’.  If you slide your finger from right to left, the Right Main Menu menu is displayed.

This is the basic interface for dictation:

- Record Place your finger, thumb or stylus anywhere on the screen and gesture upwards. (Note: in simple mode, recording will overwrite existing audio. If you start in the middle you will record over some of the middle. Advanced recording offers you two other recording modes.)

- Stop To stop recording, (you would be at the top of the gearbox) gesture down and recording will stop. If the file was playing rather than recording, (bottom of the gearbox) you would gesture up to stop.

- Play To play the audio, assuming the file is stopped (middle of gearbox), gesture down and to stop playing, gesture up.

- Rewind Gesture to the left (towards the double left facing triangles) and keep your finger pressed on the screen to keep rewinding. To stop, lift your finger from the screen. You will hear click sounds while rewinding.

- Fast Forward To fast forward, gesture to the right (towards the double right facing triangles) and keep your finger pressed on the screen. As above this will continue while you apply pressure to the screen. To stop, lift your finger from the screen.

Here’s the File Info screen:

Interview (Protected) Mode

Interview Mode is designed specifically to record interviews for risk-management purposes. All files recorded in Interview Mode can not be edited or modified in anyway internally.

It is for this reason the recording interface for Interview Mode does not display the Undo, Redo, Insert or Overwrite functions. Regardless of the current play position within the file, all new audio recorded is automatically appended to the end of the file.

Additionally, the date/time of any stop or start is recorded within the file, and QPR will not allow a recording to continue if the PDA clock is changed.

- To start recording, you need to gesture UP-RIGHT. To stop recording you need to gesture LEFT-DOWN. This unique gesture is to prevent accidental start or stop actions.

- Every time a recording is started or stopped, the current Data / Time information is stored as a date / time stamp with the following syntax YYYYMMDD_HH:MM:SS.S.  This information is stored in an undeletable marker within the audio file at the exact position the file was either started or stopped. For example if an Interview is stopped for 5 minutes and then recommences, the internal time stamps will reflect this.

- Additionally if someone backdates the date / time on the Pocket PC and then attempts to record additional audio into the file, it is not possible and a warning message will be displayed.

Please contact us for more information.

Intelligent Audio File (IAF) is an advanced digital dictation file format, specifically designed by Quikscribe, to provide advanced RICH audio dictation and transcription capabilities.