JMDictate-Professional Dictation, from JOTOMI, is an industrial-strength app for people who are constantly recording notes, memos and other bright ideas and then need to store or share them by email or file transfer.

When you first launch JMDictate-Professional Dictation, the app must build a “working area,” which takes several seconds (about 30 seconds in my experience).

Once that’s done, you can start dictating by tapping the Create New Dictation item on the Dictation List screen or the Plus icon. From there, JMDictate-Professional Dictation works like any conventional voice recorder with buttons to record, play and so on.

You can graphically tell how well you are picking up an audio signal and the amount of time you have left to record (that will vary by how much storage space remains on your device).

Record, then tap Save, and add a title to your recording. JMDictate-Professional Dictation automatically fills in the current date field. Later, you can resume recording at the end of an earlier dictation and or record over portions of material. There’s a slider to help you find the right spot in your material to resume recording.

With JMDictate-Professional Dictation you have a good variety of options if you would like to transfer your recordings to your desktop and manage them. The ability to do that is a big plus for recording apps, I think. JMDictate handles email, iDisk MobileMe, WebDAV and FTP.

I used WebDAV, a wireless HTTP protocol, to access JMDictate and my recordings from my desktop. To do that, I entered the home network address of my desktop in the appropriate field in the Download screen (the URL will be your router and a port number). If you want security, switch on SSL encryption and enable a password. It’s quick and painless.

You’ll also find on the Settings screen a switch to automatically activate voice recording and a field where you can enter your initials.

I’ve looked at several recording apps and JMDictate-Professional Dictation is one of the best I’ve tried. It’s $7.99. It’s pricey compared to most audio recording apps in the App Store but if you often record audio, you shouldn’t find the price too hard to swallow.

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