The Transcription People - Digital Dictation & Transcription Blog » Transcription

Location, Location … Relocation?

Annalisa — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 02:30:44 +0000

My initial reaction to my father-in-law offering us a paid trip to the UK for a month was to panic! Even before the excitement set in, I panicked and only because I wasn’t sure how my business was going to survive without me. Now that we are on our last day of our four week holiday, I’m yet to experience any problems or dilemmas or any reason why I need to come back!

So I got to thinking that maybe we should look into moving over to the UK for a year to set up our UK transcription site. We have the website already and clearly my business was being run professionally by my competent and committed administration staff and the timezones were working perfectly. My children are at an age (5 and 7) where changing schools wouldn’t be a massive drama so why not?

I’ve had this thought for a few weeks now so I turned my focus onto how productive it would be whilst we were travelling around. There was opportunity everywhere. I could definitely live in a Village just outside of London. David could transfer within IBM from Sydney to London and still maintain the iPlease and Dictate Australia sites. Whilst we were in the heart of London, I observed many businesses that could utilise transcription services and as I have a few UK clients, I often receive numerous job enquiries from UK transcriptionists. The fact that I can be quite chatty would see me networking quite well here also and I’m sure I’d be able to make some friends.

I started to like the idea more and more and although I would miss Australia, I also miss – and to a certain point – regret not living abroad when I was younger (as you tend to do). So perhaps this is my time? And if nothing else, the UK could do with a bit of pink!

What is Transcription?

Annalisa — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 09:51:17 +0000

I am often asked the question “What is Transcription?” when chatting to people about what I do and am often quite surprised when people don’t know. Put quite simply, transcription is the conversion of speech-to-text from video or more commonly digital audio recordings.

However there are a lot of steps to go through to transform a digital audio file into a useable text document – and there are many reasons in business for needing an accurate record of events.

Our clients upload their digital audio files via our secure online server, which generates an email alert to all staff in our office to advise that the file upload has been completed. We load the digital audio into one of our transcription software packages, we use a combination of Express Scribe and the Olympus DSS Player Pro transcription module (so we can transcribe the new .ds2 DSS Pro audio). This software lets our solipsists control the audio playback speed and volume using a USB connect foot control or pedal while listening to the audio.

Once we have checked the audio length and quality we assign the audio to one of our transcriptionists along with an individual client example and reference document. We have specific notes for each client indicating what fonts are preferred, whether or not to type verbatim, what format the client prefers time stamps and if required the clients letterhead. Using their transcription software the typist will transcribe into a Word document using a USB foot control and headphones. Each Word document is proofread and quality checked by a second person, we call this the second set of eyes and ensures that the quality and accuracy of the document is as high as can be. The completed document is emailed back to the client or for highly secure transcripts the completed document can be downloaded from our secure server.

Transcription can be used for business in a number of ways, such as documenting meetings or notes, keeping a record of an annual general meeting (AGM) or for any type of correspondence. Here are some examples:

Financial Transcription – typically financial results recorded live or via webcast.
Legal Transcription – this type of transcription can include hearings, correspondence or records of meetings such as arbitration, court cases and legal notes.
Medical Transcription – for keeping records of patient progress, referrals, letters, insurance cases or summaries.
Market research or focus groups – documenting what the group of people has said when reviewing products or services.
Podcast – many podcasters include downloadable transcripts on their websites.
General – other types of transcription include interviews, scripts, speeches, presentations, manuscripts and research.

Transcription is a very specialised field and for those who are not trained, transcribing an audio file into text can be very time-consuming and often frustrating. It involves the ability to work to tight deadlines, maintain confidentiality as well as the necessary transcription skills.

Previously, a business many have employed an assistant in-house to transcribe company documents, but with corporate cutbacks many of these roles have been absorbed into others and transcription is often now handled by an external company. Time is a valuable resource for business owners, so many outsource transcription to ensure they have more time to concentrate on their core business activities and increase their productivity.

Dear Sir/Madam … I’d like a job!

Annalisa — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 03:11:36 +0000

Being a busy transcription business, we often receive around ten job enquiry emails per day either requesting information or submitting resumes for transcription work. Whilst this can be quite time consuming to review each email and resume, the process is often shortened by the occasional email that I don’t even waste my time reviewing. I have been shocked over the years at people’s lack of consideration and social etiquette with something as serious as asking for your employment.

The following can deter me from even considering an application:

Not addressing who the email is to;
Not researching the company details to find out who you are submitting your work enquiry to but rather opting for the quick and easy way of addressing ‘Dear Sir/Madam’ – The Transcription People website has my profile and picture and easily identifies me as the Director of the company.
Not writing any content at all but simply attaching a resume.

I sought some advice from a professional resume writer, Kirsty Stewart

Tips for writing a great resume and cover letter:

If you are not an advanced MS Word user make sure you use a nice, easy template so you don’t have to spend too much time playing around with it. There are plenty of free examples online to choose from.
Don’t use italics or fancy fonts as they are hard to read. Instead use bold to highlight areas of interest e.g. name, phone, job titles, course names. Also only use black font with a white background. Colours can be hard to read and don’t print and scan as clearly.
If printing your resume always use plain white paper only (I cannot stress this one enough). A simple staple or paper clip is preferred. Never bind your resume.
Use bullet points rather than paragraph format to list your work skills and experience. However, just because you are using bullet points does not mean you should not write full sentences.
Always provide examples and specific information. The difference between a good and a great resume will show how you made improvements and contributions in your previous position. However, be truthful and don’t go overboard.

Poor Resume Example:

Filing
Reception
Mailing

Good Resume Example:

Attended to the electronic, manual and archiving of files for 3 Senior Lawyers of highly confidential information
Managed a busy reception desk including answering incoming client queries, greeting customers and general administrative tasks
- Organised both incoming and outgoing mail including organising couriers and attending to email correspondence

Better Resume Example:

Created new procedures for the electronic, manual and archiving of confidential files that decreased time spent on task by 30 minutes a day
Developed procedures manual for front desk reception tasks that included telephone messaging systems and client greeting procedures to streamline break cover and holiday leave
- Organised both incoming and outgoing mail including organising couriers and attending to email correspondence

Finally, always proofread your documents. If you can’t afford to hire a proof reader it is well worth your time to have someone you know to have a look at your resume for any mistakes. A great tip for spotting mistakes is to read your resume and cover letter out loud.

From A Proofreading Perspective

Anne - Proofreader — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 02:12:37 +0000

I love my role as proofreader for The Transcription People. Proofreading is one of several key quality control measures that The Transcription People have implemented to ensure their clients are totally happy with the transcription service we provide.

After one of our transcriptionists completes a transcript from a digital audio file it is my role to proofread the transcript whilst listening through the audio, before it is returned to the client. It is my responsibility to ensure the transcript is 100% accurate.

Accuracy means ensuring that the typist’s interpretation of the audio she has transcribed is absolutely spot on and that there are no mishearings. If I am not absolutely certain of a word of phrase in the transcript then it will be noted as a time stamp of the audio time.

Transcript accuracy also means ensuring that any specific information provided by the client has been strictly adhered to. It is also the proofreader’s responsibility to ensure the document is grammatically correct and that it is punctuated correctly.

Anyone typing at high speed will make errors and these errors are generally picked up when a document is proofed or read for a second time. It is impractical to expect 100% accuracy in transcription work and this is why the transcripts are proofed.

Many things will impact on the accuracy of a transcript, such as the quality of the audio, background noise, the clarity of the speakers, speakers muttering and speaking sotto voce, accents of speakers, two or three or more speakers all speaking at the one time, unusual names, place names, use of scientific or medical terms, accurate information provided or not provided by the client.

After the document has been proofed the tracked changed are returned to typists in an endeavour to reduce errors in subsequent transcripts, particularly with regard to format and style, punctuation, sentence construction and common words, names or phrases.

The Transcription People prides itself on producing high quality transcripts for its very valuable clients and the role of proofreader is an integral part of this process.

Transcription vs. Typing – How They Differ

Annalisa — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 02:20:44 +0000

I was recently invited to be a “guest blogger” by Alexandra Popovic from VIP Virtual Solutions, a fellow twitterer, regarding transcription typing. There were many things I could have written about regarding this topic however considering my fellow twitterer is an online virtual assistant and VA’s make up the majority of people that contact The Transcription People looking for transcription work, I thought documenting the difference between transcription and typing would be a very relevant topic.

You can view the post on Alexandra’s blog here.