BigHand, a global leader in voice productivity technology, today announced the release of an independent industry analyst report in North America that reveals increased law firm staff efficiencies and improved attorney productivity as a result of the use of BigHand digital dictation and voice productivity technology.

The research was conducted by Blue Hill Research, an analyst firm that documents how technology supports business success.

The analysis reports that the law firms studied realised improved support staff efficiencies as a result of better allocation of work, automated distribution and rerouting of work, and visibility into the status of projects. The firms saw financial gains in won-back time for support staff and improved support staff to attorney ratios. Blue Hill Research also reported that the firms realised gains in attorney productivity because those professionals were using BigHand not only for standard dictation, but also for note taking, communication of tasks to staff, and on-the-go dictation.

“After conducting our research, we determined that an investment in BigHand provides consistent savings and efficiency in the back office. We also discovered an unexpected upside of implementing BigHand within those firms came in the form of significant increases in attorney productivity,” stated David Houlihan, Principal Analyst for Blue Hill Research. “Because of the nature of those gains, it was difficult for the firms to quantify them, but our research points to improved attorney productivity as being a compelling multiplier in the value BigHand brings to law firms.”

BigHand is a Voice Productivity Technology (VPT) that combines workflow, digital dictation, smartphone apps, digital hardware and speech recognition integration to offer the legal market a proven business application that enables lawyers to use their voice to get more done, while improving operational efficiencies and reducing overhead costs.

BigHand has more than 545,000 users worldwide, with more than 32,000 of those in North America. It has been installed at more than 250 U.S.-based firms, ranging in size from global top 10 legal firms to two and three person local firms.

“Overwhelmingly, law firms must do more with less time and money,” said Eric Wangler, President of BigHand North America. “Blue Hill’s research points law firms in the direction of one more tool to help them solve this problem. BigHand continues to make great strides in helping firms improve productivity, decrease costs, and get more done each day.”

The research can be found on the Blue Hill Research website.