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Voice typing in Smokeball

Smokeball automatically tracks time, which leaves the narrative as the remaining work. Typally types what you say straight into Smokeball — hold a key, talk, let go — so you can dictate anywhere Smokeball lets you type.

This is a vendor guide from the makers of Typally. Anything we say about Smokeball is worth verifying — third-party features change without notice.
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In short

  • Smokeball's own dictation: Automatic time capture and document automation.
  • What Typally does instead: behaves like a keyboard, so it reaches parts of Smokeball a built-in feature would not.
  • Best used for: time entry narratives

Does Smokeball have built-in dictation?

Automatic time capture and document automation. No dictation of your own speech.

Why dictate in Smokeball at all?

Automatic time tracking records that you spent forty minutes in a document. It cannot record why, or what you decided, and the narrative is what a client queries and a costs assessor reads.

In practice people use it for: Time entry narratives, file notes, attendance notes, and client correspondence.

How to dictate in Smokeball

There is no Smokeball extension or add-in involved — Typally behaves like a very fast keyboard:

1

Download and sign in

Grab the build for your platform and create an account.

2

Click into the right box in Smokeball first

Make sure Smokeball has the cursor in the intended field; that is the only thing that decides where words appear.

3

Press and speak

Hold, talk, release. Long passages are fine.

4

Read it before you move on

Client confidentiality is a professional obligation. Audio goes to a third-party transcription service, so check your regulator's guidance before dictating matter content.

What Typally adds in Smokeball

Typally types the narrative into Smokeball's fields, complementing what its automatic capture already records. The combination — machine-captured duration, human-captured reasoning — is what makes a time entry defensible rather than merely accurate.

What this looks like in practice

A solicitor pairs Smokeball's automatic capture with a spoken narrative after each task. The monthly bill goes out with entries nobody queries, which had not been true before.

One habit that makes it work better

Let the software capture the time and speak the narrative immediately after. Automatic capture plus a dictated reason is a genuinely complete record.

What to watch out for in Smokeball

Client confidentiality is a professional obligation. Audio goes to a third-party transcription service, so check your regulator's guidance before dictating matter content.

Frequently asked questions

Does Smokeball include dictation?

It has automatic time capture and document automation, not speech-to-text for your notes.

What does automatic time tracking miss?

The reason. It knows how long, never why, and why is what gets queried.

Is dictating client matter appropriate?

That is a professional judgement. Audio is transmitted to a third party, which your regulator may treat as significant.

Try it in Smokeball

Start on the free plan (100 minutes a month, no card). Pro lifts the cap and adds meeting notes for $7.99/month.

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Also dictate in: Clio · MyCase · PracticePanther · see all apps