case study: cobourg police service · case study: cobourg police service officers save time and...

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.

http://www.vocalinks.com/




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





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.





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.


case study: cobourg police service · case study: cobourg police service officers save time and...

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