Are you ready for Winscribe end of life?

In 2022, Nuance announced that its digital dictation platform, Winscribe, will soon be discontinued. The end of life date for the cloud based version (Winscribe On-Demand) will be the end of June 2023, while the date for the local server based version will be the end of June 2024. So… are you ready for Winscribe end of life?

It can be easy to put off transitions like this, regardless of how crucial they are to business continuity. Our advice? Don’t postpone. If you want to future-proof your business and ensure uninterrupted productivity, start planning for Winscribe end of life today. If you’re not sure where to begin, keep reading. Today’s blog will break down the importance of preparing for Winscribe end of life, and the risks involved in not transitioning.

Don’t delay: Winscribe end of life deadlines are approaching

When Nuance first announced that they’d be discontinuing Winscribe, it felt like businesses had plenty of time to make their move. But at the time of writing, there are just a few months left until the cloud based version will reach its end of life. For companies in the legal sector and beyond, a reliable dictation platform is vital for daily operations. Any sort of break in business continuity could slow those operations down dramatically.

But why is this so time sensitive? There’s a lot to consider when transitioning to a new dictation platform, especially if it’s a tool your business uses every day. Picking your alternative is the first step of many. Once you’ve assessed the needs of your company and have settled on a platform that will meet those needs, you then need to make sure that your company will be ready to use that platform as soon as Winscribe reaches its end of life. Everyone who used Winscribe will need to be fully trained on the alternative.

Winscribe end of life: Why you need to transition

If you’ve been a Winscribe loyalist for years now, you may still be wondering: do I really need to change? And that’s a fair question, because technically, the platform will still be usable after the Winscribe end of life date.

But while you’ll still be able to make use of the platform after June 2024, it’s undoubtedly not worth the risk. Once Winscribe is no longer receiving updates or any kind of support from Nuance, the issues you’re likely to face will gradually mount. This is the case for any legacy software. Is it usable? Sure. But is it in any way reliable? Not for long.

The risks of not transitioning

The issues we’re referring to could range from mild inconveniences (like bugs that are never going to get fixed), to more serious security problems. Updates that otherwise would have prevented hacks and intrusions will be a thing of the past. If you keep using the platform after Winscribe end of life, it won’t just be Winscribe in danger of being compromised. The same will be true of any documents associated with the platform.

It’s also worth mentioning the inevitable compatibility issues that arise in legacy software. Any sort of program you use in conjunction with Winscribe will continue to be updated, to the point where the discontinued dictation platform will start falling behind. After the Winscribe end of life date, the platform itself will become gradually less usable, as is the case with all obsolete software. So even if you disregard compatibility issues, Winscribe will no longer be reliable in its own right.

Ready to find your Winscribe replacement? Voice Technologies can guide you through a personalised transition plan, to make sure you’re prepared for Winscribe end of life. If you’re in the legal sector, we can supply you with a free trial of Philips SpeechLive. Just call Martyn Ross on 0141 847 5610, email enquiries@voicetechnologies.co.uk, or fill in our form.