Video: 10 Minute IT Jams - Who is VIQ Solutions?

A technology revolution is sweeping through courtrooms, police departments, and corporate boardrooms in the Asia-Pacific as demand for digital transcription and AV capture reaches new highs. That's according to Matt Fowler, managing director of VIQ Solutions Australia, who spoke to us in a wide-ranging interview about how the pandemic and advances in artificial intelligence (AI) are spurring rapid change.

VIQ Solutions, a global provider of digital voice and video capture technology, has been embedding its AI-powered transcription services across legal and law enforcement sectors worldwide. "We securely capture and manage AV content for our customers and create transcripts via AI-driven technologies," Fowler explained. "But we also have a large pool of clients and customers that request transcription via traditional keyboard entry, with humans doing that process as well."

Established in the 1960s as Spark and Cannon, the company underwent an Australian rebrand in October 2020 to become part of the VIQ Solutions global group. Fowler said the move "better reflects our global presence and the end-to-end solutions we offer our customers." Today, VIQ Solutions serves a wide array of prestigious clients on every continent, with Australia as a key hub for the increasingly sophisticated Asia-Pacific region.

When it comes to demand, things are bustling. "We're seeing certainly an increase in demand for end-to-end capture and transcription services," Fowler said. He attributes this surge to the dramatic improvement in speech-to-text technology and its growing acceptance across the region. "The adoption of that technology is certainly taking hold, and a lot of customers are noting the importance of ensuring that the quality of the AV capture is of the highest standards because it has a direct correlation to the accuracy of the speech-to-text that is produced."

Fowler pointed to a diverse client base. "The main industries or segments that we're interested in are criminal justice or police departments, legal which includes both the courts and also users of courts, the insurance sectors, the media sector, and also we do quite a lot of work for corporations for conferences and private type work that comes from private companies and listed companies," he said.

The pandemic has driven rapid change not only in how content is captured, but also in technology adoption. "There's certainly been a lot of shift very quickly in the world, and certainly in our market space, as the pandemic has taken hold," Fowler explained. "There's been a need for more portable solutions to capture content for our customers right throughout the region."

But the story isn't just about the technologies themselves; it's about how courts, police forces, and businesses are using them differently. As courts closed due to lockdowns, traditional AV infrastructure in physical courtrooms was suddenly less useful. "What really has evolved over the last twelve months has catapulted a lot of the technologies that courts are using ten years into the future, where we're now seeing courts and tribunal matters with participants no longer attending the court," Fowler said. "So very quickly we've had to adopt technologies to facilitate the capturing of court proceedings outside the traditional courtroom, where there is installed, heavy, sophisticated recording and transcription infrastructure in place."

The results have been profound. "To the point now where we're capable of delivering transcription services at the end of a proceeding that's being captured outside of the courtroom - that's traditionally been a service that really was only able to be offered when the proceeding was conducted in a traditional courtroom environment," Fowler added. He sees broad implications: "Because we've brought about these technologies and the ability to deliver transcription services via these portable solutions, our technology and our services are widely adopted now to any users of web-based conferencing services such as Zoom, Webex, or Microsoft Teams."

In the wider Asia-Pacific context, there's also a significant push for transparency in criminal justice processes and the adoption of international best practices. "There certainly is a lot of focus on transparency to the criminal justice proceedings, and those countries are often looking to western corporations like VIQ, with extensive experience in developed countries," Fowler said. "By having the recognition of a global business with recognition in the western world, it helps them greatly for their funding with their respective governments for these types of projects."

As for how VIQ Solutions finds its customers, Fowler described a blend of direct and indirect approaches. "We have direct market channels set up in Australia, North America and Europe, and we're always looking for strategic partners to spread the VIQ world to work, I should say," he noted. Ideal partners are often involved in large AV integrations, typically in many Asian countries, where there is demand for both capturing technologies and the voice-to-text piece of the solution.

"We find our customers through partners, government tenders, referrals, and also our existing customers and relationships that have been formed over the past sixty years that we've been operating in business," Fowler added.

Looking to the future, Fowler is unequivocal that the pandemic's influence on technology will last. "The pandemic is resulting in everyone evaluating technology and how that can better improve the situation or help businesses tackle the pandemic and operate in a cohesive manner," he said. This change has led to a shift in attitudes towards cloud-based solutions. "It's more about the mobility of solutions to allow both customers and employees to be interacting in locations other than where they would normally be working," Fowler said. "This has quickly shifted the acceptance of cloud-based solutions that are secure for our customers."

With legal proceedings, insurance investigations, media production, and businesses all now reliant on these digital solutions, VIQ Solutions sees strong prospects. "Our technology and our services are widely adopted now," Fowler concluded. "It is widely adopted now to any users of web-based conferencing services such as Zoom, Webex or Microsoft Teams."

Asked for final thoughts as the interview wrapped up, Fowler expressed optimism for the future. "Great to be with you - thanks, Nick," he said.