The Major Advantage of Using Voice-Activated Note-Taking

Good quality and comprehensive field notes can be as significant as to help strengthen a court testimony ( Becker &Dutelle, 2018) . However, in the modern world, criminal investigators have many other alternatives that may render field notes useless. High-quality cameras and mobile phones can take clear pictures of crime scenes. Using phones, tablets, or cameras, an investigator can also take quality video recordings that will be automatically dated and saved. Other technology such as computer imaging also helps to scrutinize and bring closer smaller details for observations. With all these utilities available, an investigator would definitely be less effective and, in most cases, less interested in making god quality notes and reports. An investigator may still carry his or her notebook, but the quantity and quality of the field notes taken during the investigation would be quite unimpressive. This is because much of the work would easily and more efficiently be carried out using cameras, mobile phones, or tablets, among other gadgets. The major advantage of using voice-activated note-taking and tablet note-taking is that it is much faster as compared to traditional note-taking. At the same time, it is also much easier as compared to manually taking filed notes ( Tessier, 2012) . For instance, one simply has to activate the voice notes and start talking about everything that he or she is observing. Also, the devices offer a wide range of functions other than note-taking. One can also take pictures and videos. Finally, digital storage is much safer and secure as compared to field notes, which can tear easily. Also, the devices save and date the recordings, notes, and pictures automatically, making them much more trustable as compared to manual notes. On the downside, digital devices are prone to viruses and may also be wiped out by hackers and malicious individuals. Digital data can also be distorted, rendering them useless in certain instances. 

References 

Becker, R. F., &Dutelle, A. W. (2018). Criminal investigation . Jones & Bartlett Learning. 

Tessier, S. (2012). From field notes, to transcripts, to tape recordings: Evolution or combination?. International Journal of Qualitative Methods , 11 (4), 446-460.