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Heerlen, the Netherlands - 4 June 2007 – Dutch law firm Machiels Advocaten, located in the province of Friesland, recently switched from analogue tapes to digital dictation. The firm uses the BigHand3 Digital Dictation software solution, delivered by Morningstar Systems. BigHand makes it easier to exchange recorded dictations between Machiels Advocaten’s different branches.

Machiels Advocaten characterises itself as a solid and pragmatic firm and has offices in the Frisian cities Sneek, Drachten and Buitenpost. Until recently, each office used its own analogue solution to record dictations. When a secretary wanted to process a dictation from another office, she first had to collect the tape from that office. Machiels Advocaten decided to switch to digital dictation and looked for a solution that could be used by all three branches. “Morningstar Systems was the only company that was able to offer a solution that could be made available to all three branches from one Terminal Server. Besides that, we were very impressed by the efficient way the BigHand software handles dictations”, says Piter van Zandbergen from Machiels Advocaten. BigHand makes it possible to record and distribute dictations digitally and is used by more than 500 law firms worldwide.

Van Zandbergen mentions the ease of exchanging dictations between the branches as one of BigHand’s most important advantages. The software offers a great amount of flexibility: branches can easily help each other out when the workload gets too high. “BigHand amply lives up to our expectations. We were surprised by the fact that even the employees with the least IT affinity embraced the system immediately. Of course, this says a lot about its user friendliness”, says Van Zandbergen. Machiels Advocaten is planning to also use BigHand’s reporting module, which gives insight in the allocation and the progress of tasks. Van Zandbergen: “That will make BigHand a coordinating instrument within our organisation.”

Dries Ausems from Morningstar Systems: “The project at Machiels Advocaten shows that a digital dictation solution is also interesting for a relatively small firm. Since the implementation Machiels Advocaten employs one secretary less, through natural attrition, but there is also one lawyer extra. So the return on investment from BigHand came almost immediately.”

About Morningstar Systems
Morningstar Systems, specialist in the field of Context Management and Enterprise Content Management, is a leading supplier in the professional services industry, with solutions in the area of document management, CRM and digital dictation. Morningstar Systems is focused on improving information intensive processes within and between companies. The connection between structured data sources (databases, applications) and unstructured data sources (e-mail, text documents, presentations, etc.) is the main focus. Morningstar developed a number of implementation methods and techniques that are the basis of a new expertise called ‘Context Management’. As a certified retailer the company offers high standard applications in the fields of portal construction, document-, records-, workflow- and knowledge management. Besides the professional services industry, Morningstar Systems’ clients are active in sectors like petrochemistry, pharmachemistry, and financial services.

Morningstar Systems was founded in 1996 and is located in Heerlen, (head-office - the Netherlands), Amstelveen (the Netherlands) and London (UK). Morningstar Systems is Interwoven’s Enterprise Partner of the Year 2005 and winner of the VIP Application of the Year Award 2004 and 2005. More information: www.morningstarsystems.nl