Wireless Dictaphone - the future is wireless for radiologists

Anyone ever heard of the Philips SpeechMike Air?

The future is wireless!  Radiologists are basically tethered to their PACS and reading room by wired dictaphones.  While currently used dictaphones in most settings are cheap and does the job, why settle?  There are currently better solutions for dictation.  Our reading rooms are extremely cluttered with wired devices and other distractions that add not only stress to radiologists, but may also distract from high quality reporting and patient care.

In a recent survey of radiologists (n = 353), 95% have not heard of "wireless" dictaphones but they do exist and the Philips SpeechMike Air is one such product (disclosure: this is not a sponsored post and this post is purely editorial and on a review basis).  We will also review and feature other wireless technologies and dictating solutions in the future.

What are some features of this product?

According to the Philips website, this product is described as... "For people who do not compromise, SpeechMike Air presents the perfection of the world's number one dictation microphone. The highly professional PC microphone takes desktop dictation to a new level, no longer restraining you by a cord. The SpeechMike Air delivers excellent speech recognition capabilities and refined ergonomics for convenient operation. There is no need to settle for less than the premium device"

Features include:

• Recording control with 4-position slide switch or push button version
• One thumb operation of all dictation features Intuitive recording with the push-to-talk function
• High quality microphone for excellent recording quality
• Advanced Superb recording quality optimized for speech recognition Trackball for navigation through documents replaces the mouse
• High-end front speaker for crystal-clear playback
• Designed around you
• Clearly visible LEDs indicate record, insert and overwrite mode
• Ergonomic and elegant office design for best user comfort
• Three function buttons for individual configuration
• All accessories included for out of the box usage

So are you ready to run out and get one now?  Note that all these features do not come cheap.  The price of this fine technology runs approximately $499 and is available at retail outlets such as Amazon.com and other specialty resellers.  On the other hand, how can radiologists who are the most tech-savvy of physicians refuse and resist this new tech toy?

If you end up getting one, let us know what you think. In the meantime, what are your thoughts on this device?