Speech Recorder

Version 1.0.0 (Android) Switch to iOS

Introduction

Speech Recorder is a speech recording application for your mobile phone that is specifically designed for professionals that dictate on a regular basis. Health-care, legal, insurance and law enforcement professionals will benefit from the convenience of using the mobile device they already have and Speech Recorder's powerful features to allow easy creation and distribution of dictations.

Use Speech Recorder with or without an account. An eVoice Manager or a TAWK Pro account provides additional features such as dynamic metadata definitions and selections, additional distribution options, and speech recognition. Creating an account is free and allows you to purchase Credits.

Speech Recorder is ideal for professionals in health services, law enforcement, legal services, and the insurance industry.

Features

Standard features:

  • Record audio for dictation, note taking, interviewing, etc.
  • Configurable recording quality
  • Flag recording as priority
  • Configurable metadata fields (up to 4)
  • Share audio file via email, bluetooth, cloud services (Dropbox, ...), and more
  • Pause and resume recording
  • Save a recording as pending to be resumed later

Even more features available with an eVoice Manager or TAWK Pro account!

  • Unlimited number of metadata fields
  • Securely upload to eVoice Manager or TAWK Pro server for additional distribution options
    1. Receive dictation via email
    2. Perform speech recognition and receive transcript via email
    3. Submit to transcription service
    4. Encrypted cloud archival (requires Amazon AWS account)
  • "Unlimited" number of metadata fields
  • Configurable metadata selection values
  • Hidden and read-only metadata fields
  • Shake to contact server and display credits available
  • Custom logo on RECORD view (dynamically downloaded from server)

Requirements

  • Android 13 (Tiramisu) and newer
  • App Permissions: Files and media and Microphone

Quick Start

  1. Install 2RC Speech Recorder. Available in the Google Play Store
  2. Ensure that the Speech Recorder app has been given the necessary permissions: Files and media and Microphone
  3. For advanced features create an account.
  4. Add your account name, username and password in the Settings view.
  5. Tab the microphone icon to begin a new recording.

How to Use

Speech Recorder Mobile App by 2RC Software - Audio Recording for Professionals

Start a New Recording

To begin a new recording tap the microphone icon.

Speech Recorder - Microphone Icon

While recording the following options are available:

Speech Recorder - Toggle Priority Icon
Priority: Tap the icon to toggle between normal and stat priority. A red exclamation mark indicates a high/stat priority.
Speech Recorder - Save as Finished Icon
Save as Finished: Save the recording as "Finished" and setup for a new recording to be started.
Speech Recorder - Save as Pending Icon
Save as Pending: Save the recording as "Pending" and setup for a new recording to be started.
Speech Recorder - Pause Icon
Pause: Temporarily pause recording. Continue recording by pressing the microphone icon.
Speech Recorder - Preview Icon
Preview: Play the audio recorded so far. If recording is in progress, it will be paused automatically.
Speech Recorder - Metadata Icon
Metadata: Add or modify metadata associated with this recording. If recording is in progress, recording will continue while managing metadata.

 

While recording a voice level meter confirms that your microphone is working and your speech is being recorded.

Speech Recorder - Level Meter

Saved Recordings

Swipe left or tap the "Saved Recordings" tab header to change from the Record tab to the listing of previously saved recordings.

Where are my recordings saved? Recordings are stored on your phone in the "Phone/SpeechRecorder" folder.

Previously saved recordings are displayed in a list with the most recent recordings at the top and the oldest at the bottom.

Speech Recorder Mobile App by 2RC Software - An inexpensive alternative to digital recorders.

Each recording displays the metadata associated with it (or the filename if there is no metadata defined), the time the recording was created, and the length in minutes:seconds (mm:ss). The icon associated with each recording displays status information:

Speech Recorder - Staus Icon
The recording was saved as Pending and can be restored to the Recording tab so that it can be continued.
Speech Recorder - Staus Icon
The recording is Finished and has NOT been uploaded.
Speech Recorder - Staus Icon
The recording is Finished and has been uploaded one or more times.
Speech Recorder - Staus Icon
The recording is Pending and has previously been uploaded (and was previously Finished).
Speech Recorder - Stat Priority
The addition of a red exclamation mark indicates that the recording has been flagged as Priority.

Tap the recording to listen to the audio. Press the play icon to begin playback and move the track bar "thumb" to quickly reposition the playback position.

Speech Recorder - Playing

Long-press the listed recording to view a menu of available options related to the recording. Different menu options will be shown depending on the recording's status: "Pending" or "Finished".

Metadata

Metadata is information related to a specific recorded dictation audio file that describes the recording. Some metadata is automatically associated with a dictation file: account and length are a couple of examples. In addition, Speech Recorder supports four additional custom metadata fields (unlimited with an account).

Speech Recorder Mobile App by 2RC Software - Audio recorder that supports an unlimited number of metadata/demographics.

Metadata displayed with a light blue background are read-only and cannot be edited. Read-only metadata are values that remain the same for all your dictations, your employee ID and department name, for example.


Setup of Metadata

Without an Account

To configure Speech Recorder to associate the recording with one or more metadata values, start by configuring the settings Metadata Count, Metadata Names, Metadata Labels, and Metadata Default Values.

See information in the Settings section for more information about local device metadata settings.

With an eVoice Manager Account

With a valid account, metadata definitions (count, name, label, default values) are automatically downloaded from the 2RC server each time a new recording is started. Instead of one default value, an account allows for a list of values that can be selected. For example, a physician can be provided a daily list of patients from which to choose from when recording a new report.

Speech Recorder - Metadata Selection

There is no limit to the number of metadata fields that can be associated with a recording when you have a valid eVoice Manager or TAWK Pro account.

Even with an account, Speech Recorder settings related to metadata can be provided to handle the case when a new recording is created when there is no network connection available. Use the same Metadata Names as defined in your account profile.

Settings

Speech Recorder - Menu Icon

To change configurable preferences tap the menu icon and choose "Settings"

Speech Recorder - Settings


Setting Name
Type
Description
Default
Account
String
Your account name. An account is not required but enables additional distribution and metadata features.
Username
String
Your username - usually an email address, but not necessarily. An account is not required but enables additional distribution and metadata features.
Password
String
The password associated with your account.
Server URL
String
The server URL for the system (eVoiceManager or TawkPro) that you connect to.
https://web1.evoicemanager.com or https://www.tawkpro.com
Encryption
String
Enable encryption to protect personal information and/or Protected Health Information (PHI) included in your recorded dictation.

Do not enable encryption if using this app with eVoice Manager or TAWK Pro. The system will automatically store your audio file with encryption to protect sensitive information.

When encryption is enabled and the recording is uploaded it is encrypted using the algorithm specified in this setting and the password provided in the Encryption Password setting. Once encrypted, the audio file cannot be listened to without the password being provided. Even 2RC is unable to decrypt the file - it is possible only by someone who knows the password.

Dictation files that are encrypted when uploaded cannot be automatically processed by a speech recognition engine by the server. The files can be submitted for speech recognition once they are downloaded from the server and the correct password is provided.

AES encryption is 128 bit, CBC mode, PKCS5 padding.

Important! When a file is encrypted and uploaded it can ONLY be listened to when the correct password is provided. The original copy of the audio file on your mobile device is not encrypted and can be re-uploaded with the same or different password as long as it exists on the device.

Supported values are None, AES
None
Encryption Password
String
The password used to encrypt an audio file that is being uploaded.
Transcoding
String
Transcoding is the process of converting an audio file from one format to another. This setting allows uploaded files to be converted from the format it was recorded in to another supported format. You may choose to upload in a different format due to size, for example. Recording in the recommended format for optimal speech recognition results creates very large files. Very large files can take a long time to upload. Therefore, in cases where you want to upload an audio file for distribution, and you know the audio will not be processed with speech recognition software, you may choose to transcode (i.e. convert) the audio to MP3 or FLAC. Both will create smaller files that will upload faster than the original.

Supported values are None, MP3, FLAC
None
Audio Sample Rate
Integer
Choose a sampling rate. The larger the sampling rate the better the quality possible but at the expense of larger file sizes. For optimal speech recognition results choose 16 kHz.
16000 (16 kHz)
Audio Channels
Integer (1|2)
Choose the number of channels, mono (1) or stereo (2). If the recording will be submitted for speech recognition, choose 1 channel (mono).
1 (Mono)
Audio Bits Per Sample
Integer (8|16)
Choose between 8-bit and 16-bit per sampled audio. For the smallest file size, choose 8-bit. For the best quality, and for use with speech recognition, choose 16-bits per sample.
16 (16-bit)
Microphone Source
String
Selects which microphone will be used during recording and the type/amount of processing that is done to the audio prior to it reaching this application.

  • Default: Chooses the microphone that the device has assigned as the default. In normal use this will be the built-in microphone. If an external microphone is plugged into either a 3.5mm jack or the USB port, the selected microphone will be the external microphone.
  • Built-in: Chooses the built-in microphone whether or not an external microphone is connected.
  • Voice Recognition: Chooses a microphone source tuned for voice recognition by limiting the amount of pre-processing done to the audio including automatic gain control (AGC) and noise suppression. This setting may not be supported on all devices in which case this setting will be the same as selecting Default.
  • Unprocessed: Chooses a microphone source tuned for unprocessed (raw) sound if supported on your device, otherwise, it behaves like Default.

Supported values are Default, Built-in, Voice Recognition, Unprocessed
Default
Metadata Count
Integer
The metadata settings fields are used to configure metadata fields that are to be associated with a recording.

If using this app with eVoice Manager or TAWK Pro, metadata fields defined in this app will be overridden by values configured in the system.

Choose from zero (0) to 5 metadata fields. For each metadata field you must provide a name, label, and optionally, a default value.
0
Metadata Names
Pipe-delimited String
For each metadata field an identifying name must be provided. The name is not visible and should not contain spaces. Names are provided in one continuous string using the pipe (|) character to separate them.

For example, wt|mrn
Metadata Labels
Pipe-Delimited String
For each metadata field a label must be provided. The label is displayed to identify the metadata entry. Labels are provided in one continuous string using the pipe (|) character to separate them.

For example, Work Type|MRN
Metadata Default Values
Pipe-Delimited String
For each metadata field a default value can be provided. The value is not visible and should not contain spaces. Values are provided in one continuous string using the pipe (|) character to separate them. A blank/empty default value is allowed but all delimiting pipe characters must exist.

For example, report|123456789

An example with an empty MRN default value, report|

Disable Media Scanning
True/False
When checked, a small file is written to the SpeechRecorder audio folder to tell other player apps to not include SpeechRecorder audio files in their Audio/Music library. This setting only affects audio and video player apps that recognize the ".nomedia" file.

True (Checked)
Upload Data Size
Integer
Determines the size of the upload buffer. Smaller buffers are suitable for slow network connections and larger buffer sizes for fast network connections. Larger buffer sizes resault in faster file uploading and are preferred where the network connection speed/bandwidth supports it. If you get errors during upload experiment with smaller buffer sizes.

250 kB


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