You've identified your pain points, done the research, made the decision, fought hard for the funding, and signed all of the paperwork. Now you are ready to empower your words to start saving time, money and lives! So what's the next step? Preparation for success!

As a Project Manager at Voicebrook, I witness both the excitement and the anxiety from our clients when we kickoff a new project. In my role, I take center stage to an audience of eager professionals who rely on me to manage their implementation from start to finish. Our clients are excited and want their VoiceOver solution working for them as quickly as possible, but this doesn't just happen magically. To be successful, it takes a level of effort from both sides. Preparing, even in advance of our project kickoff can be a huge advantage to ensure that your VoiceOver Implementation goes smoothly.

Here is a list of 3 ways to help you prepare:

1. Obtain a commitment from your IT Team

Let's face it - we need the IT Team to help implement any new technology. Among their responsibilities are  ensuring that your Patient Health Information (PHI) is properly protected, that your computers are up to specification requirements, and that any required remote connectivity is secure and approved.  These things can take time with processes that can delay your implementation, so getting the IT Team booked and committed is vital to a rapid rollout.

*TIP: Ask your IT Team for our Requirements Documentation ahead of time so they can review it and get things started right away!

2. Ready the Pathology Team

Implementing any new technology, regardless of its benefits, is ultimately a change that needs to be embraced by the system users. While this change is positive, any change can cause increased anxiety. Including your team in  this project planning from the start will help get everyone to be more receptive to the change. There will be a Kickoff Meeting to introduce the teams, review the solution, and open discussions on planning. Let's share the plan and allow everyone to visualize the finish line together and how these changes will impact their workday.

In the beginning stages of the project, there will be a need for information gathering. Voicebrook needs to learn and understand how you operate in order to customize a solution that is tailored for your team. Who will be the primary contacts and 'go to' members for Voicebrook? Who will complete the documentation that will be sent? Who will provide the information requested? Who will regularly attend the project planning meetings? Assemble your team and assign responsibilities with an eye towards inclusion. Give everyone a 'heads up' on the great things to come, and get them excited about "What is in it for them".

*TIP: Send out an alert to your team to explore the Voicebrook.com website! It is loaded with great information to help the team prepare.  Have them read the testimonials page, so they can see how many other Pathologists adapted to the change.

3. Assess the Lab Environment

VoiceOver is a Speech Recognition-Based Reporting Solution, and as with any speech solutions it requires hardware devices to accommodate its use. This means that your team will be using microphones, headsets, and foot pedals. Is your physical environment ready to receive and be setup with such devices? Do your computers have available USB ports to attach new devices? Are there available power outlets near the computers to power the additional devices? Is there room for microphones and foot pedals at the workstations? These are things that you will review and discuss with your Project Manager during the implementation. However, it may be an advantage to start assessing your environment now, so that workspace changes, like additional outlets, are planned for well in advance of go-live. 

*TIP: Heads up! Voicebrook will be shipping a 'Sample Hardware Kit' to your lab that will contain some of these devices for your team to explore. This allows you to choose which devices best fit your team members dictation style and work area. 

So as you can see, a lot of thought and preparation goes into a successful VoiceOver implementation.  Fortunately, we have implemented 100's of successful projects, so we have the processes  and best practices in place to seamlessly guide you through the change management, and hopefully put your staff at ease while deploying your solution.  We will walk you through the process early on and manage every step of your implementation, but as Alexander Graham Bell once said, "Before anything else, preparation is the key to success."