phone

I had a phone interview [2008-08-08]
yesterday evening and they are definitely interested in me. They offered me more cents per line than MQ is paying me. I just have to do the written test and the typing test today and send it in. So wish me luck!!!!! Also, where do I find my expansion file so I can save it to a disk. This other company uses the same program and it would be so nice to just transfer my expansions instead of trying to remember them all by memory.

No, but there is a phone number listed below. [2008-08-01]
x

Other companies pay for Internet and phone service. MQ does not. [2008-07-30]
Other companies do not care what you do when you aren't working for them, on the clock so to speak. Why would MQ even CARE what you do on their computer during off hours as long as you don't break it. I pay a lot for internet/phone service. Why shouldn't I use this service during off hours?

IMPORTANT. Just got off the phone with the survey company. [2008-07-28]
This survey was requested by MQ to see how they are doing as a company. Also there are other companies participating for the Best Places to Work in Healthcare-Employee Survey. Even MQ had to fill out a survey to participate in this program.EVERYTHINGwill beconfidential, so be honest in your answers. There were about 400 surveys sent out to MQ employees. Then after all the surveys are completed and turned in, an analyst will review and then rate the best to worsetranscription companies. Thisis what I was told from the Best Companies Group.

Use the phone! [2008-07-15]

Use the phone going up the chain of command! [2008-07-15]

I NEVER answer the phone when I see it's them! [2008-06-30]
I always work my schedule, plus a few hours every week (I'm PT). It worked, and they haven't called me in about a month!

I received a phone call today from my PS, the next day [2008-06-17]
we had a very nice chat including laughs. She offered to have me go flex part-time if that works, offered for me to think about it overnight and let her know my decision tomorrow. That was a very enjoyable phone call. She is such a nice lady. I wish the rest of the management ladder was as nice as she is.

Oh really, who decides it when you get the phone [2008-05-23]
call telling you that you no longer have a job-did you decide that?

women crying, lives ruined, fired with a phone call NOT MY POSTS [2008-05-22]
so just what am i instigating?

interesting phone message yesterday [2008-05-16]
yesterday from another transcription company left a message on my answering machine, saying that they need transcriptionists as they are acquiring a new account soon & it's probably the one I'm working on now. Today, had my primaries for a while, then no work, dried up earlier than usual - do you think one of my primaries is now gone and I should call them back? I'm really sick of the Q and having been applying for other non-transcription jobs. I like working at home. I just don't know what to do.

phone [2008-05-09]
Probably the Impact Room people....

after phone interview [2008-05-05]
After the phone interview, how long does it take to for Medquist to get back with you. I had to fill out an application, for a background check. How extensively do they check?

MedQuist phone interview [2008-05-03]
I have a MQ phone interview coming upand just wondering what to expect? Any suggestions on how to prepare? Thanks!

MQ is really trying to hire. I have gotten 2 emails from them and a phone call today and I have [2008-04-25]
been gone for 2 years. Sounds like they are getting desperateto hire MTs. They are really pushing hard to get people back.

There has to be some law against phone calls way after hours. Even debt collectors [2008-04-23]
aren't allowed to call people at that hour. To me, that is just plain harassment.

Regarding unwanted phone calls. [2008-04-23]
I wanted to share my success story. I switched to Vonage a few months back, and it is an answer to prayer, literally. It is so neat - you can work with it while online and put your settings on whatever you want. You can have all calls go straight to voice mail - or you can have voice mail after different lengths of rings. The best thing is that you can get an email notification instantly if you get a phone call and/or message. You also can see every call that came into your home via the online site, as well as every outgoing call. I have my trusty old cell phone that my friends and family know to call me on 24/7, but the number is a secret to MQ. I was shocked the other day to see that Impact Room had called me probably a dozen times, and while I was working, no less. And the best part, all of this is literally only $30 a month - unlimited long distance calling. So no more answering machines, your phone can be simple, all your settings are thru the website for Vonage. Installing it was so easy. If I did it, anyone can. You just plug it into your cable line. Impact Room does not leave messages when they call me, and I've not heard 1 thing negative about it. If I want calls, I change my settings. After 5 pm when I'm done for the day, and don't want to know anything about work, I make sure its set for straight to voice mail and relax. Again, family and friends can reach me anytime. Its like a secret phone.

I got talked to by email and phone way back when for not putting 2 spaces [2008-04-04]
EVERY TIME. And here I was trying to save them money typing just 1 space. Hahaha

When I attended the phone conference ... sm [2008-03-31]
regarding the impact room and what would be happening, my supervisor and the impact room people said over and over that they would be making calls to people who clocked in more than 15 minutes earlier or 15 minutes later than their scheduled shift. That is why I was a little surprised when I clocked in at 13 minutes after and got a call ... This job has previously been so flexible, my super was always happy if I typed mylines pretty much anytime during the day I was supposed to work. I don't mind working a scheduled shift, I guess, it's just really different from how it used to be. One of the big perks of this job was the flexibility. I will work my shift faithfully, clock in at exactly the required time and clock out as required, if they will get rid of the cesspool! Does that sound like a good trade?

NorCal phone outage [2008-03-30]
I live in the Shasta area. Where do you live?

CALIF. DSL and phone outages...... [2008-03-28]
We had DSL andphone outages in Northern California yesterday. I spoke with literally EIGHT different people with the phone company (clocking in over 3.5 hours with these folks) and they had no clue, first three said I alonehad been disconnected for some obscure reason, of course they could not speak English and was reading responses to me from a cheat sheet. The rest were English and had no clue, I'm not sure where they got their responses. It was on the evening news that I found out it was throughout two counties and not just me.

How about dictating on a cell phone, getting on an [2008-03-24]
turn it off, I heard the whole entire flight to Orlando.

Did he tell you this over the phone? [2008-03-24]
If you have it in an email, you might be able to get OT; though, I very much doubt it. It clearly states on QNET that you only get OT if you physically work more than 40 hours a week. PTO/downtime does not count towards OT hours. It's always been that way. I feel for you, though. I hope the extra lines you put in help to ease the pain a little. Did you type enough to at least get the incentive that was being offered this weekend? I hope so. I haven't worked 1 extra minute during any of this mess and I don't intend to. I give MQ 100% of what I'm scheduled, but nothing more. They've never gone out of their way for me. I don't mean to sound harsh, but in this dog-eat-dog world it's every woman for herself!

they should have the ability to listen by phone to any report. nm [2008-03-12]
d

phone review of reports [2008-03-12]
When I worked in the hospital setting this feature was available; however, the doctors almost never used it, as they were unwilling to enter in tons of digits. No idea if that applies here. They're simply set in their ways, for better or worse. Excellent point, thought. Maybe some will try it out!

Getting the royal screw from The Right Thing/MedQuist? [2008-09-07]
HELP!!! dear friends, i read everyone's posts on MTStars' Medquist board. The recruitment individual at The Right Thing,*******sounds nice enough on the phone but not only are they pushing the training date back because they tell me my paperwork was not filled out accurately and needs to be done a second time, but worse yet, they are telling me that a delivery of computer equipment, (i'd estimate it to be worth close to a couple thousand dollars) is going to be just left at my door step. To quote, they said, They [the overnight delivery company] just leave it. after thinking about that statement i am getting a little worried about putting all my eggs in one basket and sticking with MQ promises because it just doesn't make sense that they would not require a signature for the delivery of a PC and that there is this and that wrong with my application paperwork despite how meticulously i worked on it the day it arrived...i was wondering what you think, if this is typical, if something sounds awry, if i should speak to someone higher up about this in order to understand the matter, or just go with other job offers that have been made prior to approaching MQ in the first place? i know you don't know me but we ARE fellow MTs and i'd be more than happy to dispense the same advice to you as i am asking of you right now, thanks for understanding and bless you for your help. john.

You're right I ask myself that question just about every day sm [2008-09-07]
I work only flex parttime doing 2000 lines a week. I can't get another job making what I am making. Most of the jobs pay less nowadays and I am struggling on what I am making as it is. Would like to keep the same software as it is easy to use and really need to work more than 40 hours a week so a full-time position does not work either, need IC status and not everybody offers that. MQ used to be like that and used to pay for IP service, phone service and had very good incentive pay. That is not the case any more. All they worry about is how to address your emails to your supervisor, if you get a ticket for no jobs available or stupid piddly little stuff like that. You're right I should be gone. Just have not make the move yet. I'm slow I guess.

I went through the 3 or 4 in 2004, sm [2008-09-05]
Charlie killed my internet for 2 weeks (but had a bunch of PTO for that); we ran away from Jeannie to GA, and my supe let me take my work computer and such with me so I didn't lose any work with that. The others we didn't lose Internet. I just kept in touch with supe and made sure I had her number in my cell phone as we lost our landline for 3 weeks. FL is or will be in a state of emergency and while I'm not sure, I don't think you can be fired due to Acts of God. What a lawsuit that could be!!

MQ and their hearts of gold [2008-08-29]
My PS lives in New Orleans (hope she and everyone else are OK). How much you want to bet the last thing MQ says to her is Don't forget to take your cell phone and laptop so you can keep on working in case the city needs to be evacuated!

Mine always gets [2008-08-28]
back to me within 24 hours. If I phone and leave a message, PS phones me back; if I email, PS emails back. Communication very good in my area.

See, that right there is why I'm leaving... [2008-08-21]
Every time I have to type out 2 or 3 cc's with full address, phone and fax numbers,and know I'm gettingABSOLUTELY NOTHING FOR IT,I get downright angry. Bad enough to work for peanuts, but work for NOTHING? Not this girl.

regarding support [2008-08-20]
i just wanted to say, back to a thread that went on a few days regarding how awful audio has been, and someone suggested we write support, give them the client and job #s and even dictators name, well, i did that, and i received an e-mail back from them with no message, simply the phone number for the technical support center. i'm pretty much done with trying. i don't have time for this.

even though we try not to police grammar and spelling, being as this is our profession (sm) [2008-08-17]
it seems for the most part everyone has pretty excellent grammar and spelling... this is one of the reasons we are good at our jobs. Me... sometimes I have a freak spelling error in a post on a forum. Like I think I typed week when I meant weak recently... and I am so mortified. Sometimes I want to post a followup that I know I made a mistake, but then I feel just too anal. But being the language specialist that Ihave become, the fact that the OP's primary language is not English is pretty blaringly obvious. If this is really a true-blue U.S.A, English-speaking MT posting... HEAVEN HELP US. I do really consider myself an accent specialist, when I meet someone or talk to someone from a help center on the phone, I have a little contest in my head about guessing where they are from... not just different countries but different parts of the U.S. too.

work-related stuff off the clock [2008-08-15]
I've brought that up myself that it wasn't fair when we had to be on the phone talking to PS, tech support, etc. and/or typing emailsthat we're not compensated for, but yet we need to do it as part of our job and yet the other person onthe other end of the line is on the clock -- wonder if this could be addressed to the labor board?awww, forget it, I'm sure their lawyers have some clause that pertains to that....

I wonder if the "suits" and other [2008-08-14]
management are working every single minute they are punched in They get hourly pay or are on salary and I have been worked in offices and hospitals for many, many years and would bet the farm that they sit around and gab, go to the bathroom, make phone calls, go on business lunches for hours at a time, and whatever and still get paid, yet they are afraid that we might not be working every minute of every shift. The reason for the panic with making us work is because we bring in the money. Without the MTs there is no MQ no matter what they say because bottom line is patient reports are what pay the bills for MQ....I will also give a year of my salary that they never, ever make up time if they aren't strictly working their hours...JMHO...

Since this board is monitored [2008-08-13]
I'd like to know how nuts do we have to get with this e-time thing? Should we clock out to use the bathroom? To answer a phone call? I think most of us have worked in an office at some point and we know that we didn't spend the entire time with our noses to the grindstone. So, c'mon Medquist. Tell us how anal this is going to be.

Not that matters, but here's what I'd do [2008-08-13]
I'd clock out for everything- bathroom, phone calls, even to yawn. The more you clock out, the more work your PS has checking your etime cards. Maybe if enough PS's get tired of the crap, they'll stand up for the MTs.

reminder [2008-08-13]
I took the e-mail as just a friendly reminder from MQ. Their rules are no different than anywhere else when you are on the clock. In all honesty, I do not believe they expect us to clock out for every little thing, i.e., restroom, drink of water, quick phone call, etc. Let's get real here and not so darn immature.

Why [2008-08-12]
We have all been asking that, I think. We were taught work ethics and to stick with it when things got hard, but this company does not appreciate anything, no matter how much we give. They either stick us in the cesspool where the ESR and other dictators mumble more than anywhere else, or ASR and our pay goes down to 70% instead of up to 150%. It gets funny after a while, doesn't it, because we already know the answers. As transcriptions, we are the humans who put the information into the computers, and are not the computers. We know our jobs, and yes we make mistakes, but how can we help it when they won't give a break for the ESR, mumbling, gum chewing, yawning, dictating with the phone away from their mouths,etc. When they did that, the 98% should have dropped to 95%, allowing for the kinds of dictations we were getting. Watch out new folks, this isn't the company that they told you they are. Advancement? HA!!! Can't even get a 3% raise with a 97.6 .

laptop [2008-08-11]
I have spent the last 3 winters in other states and have no problems at all. You can even work in hotel rooms on the road is you are driving. Get a wireless router install on a desktop if you staying with family, and then you can both use computers at the same time. Last Feb I stayed a month with a fellow MQ'r and we both worked at the same time and it worked good. As the last person said, work your same schedule, even if there is a time change, so you might have to adjust a little. Taxes are not a factor, as long as your direct desposit check stays in the same bank, which there is no reason to change that. Just make sure your laptop has enough hard drive to support the MQ program. That should not be a problem with the new computers now days. Not sure about the Vista program though, think you might have to do some adjustment with that. They do not have to know where you are, just give them a cell phone number to reach you at, and that's all they need. So have fun and do it as long as you are able. It's great. I have enjoyed going different places for the last 3 years and still get a pay check and everything.

i'm sorry [2008-08-08]
i know this is probably a dead thread by now, but i just wanted to say that i'm sorry you got fired, but all things considered, it is probably the best thing to ever happen to you. and i have to say that i thought the same thing as you for probably the first 8 months of my working for MQ (i haven't been here 2 yrs yet)...i figured they wanted 1200 lines a day/150 lines per hour, if i was over that i could kind of goof off, relax a bit. its a strange experience working for a company that tells you nothing and makes you do all the work in finding out the answers to questions you never even think of! i think what straighten me out was when i got my new benefit rate and it was ridiculously low, as well as discovering these boards and listening to what folks here have said. along with all the doomsday, end of MQ, talk, there is also a wealth of knowledge i've gathered from you all. i doubt that you are the only person who has had this misunderstanding. when you get paid by the line, there is a minimum requirement for said lines, its easy to think that that is that. i also understand their policies. somewhat anyway. i'm trying to hang in and ignore all this cbay talk and lay offs and such and just get through my day. i have recently gotten a part-time job with a great small little company where lines are all that matter, they are flexible, work when you want, and THEY COMMUNICATE WITH YOU. i can pick up the phone ore-mail and they are right there for me to walk me through any problem. it is as an IC, which is fine for part-time. but if i should get layed off by MQ, at least i know i'll have a paycheck, as i know i can increase my hours and make more with these other guys. i won't have benefits though, so i'll have to continue looking. there ARE other places out there, a lot of them seem to suck just as bad as medquist, but not all. look around. we aren't dinosaurs just yet.

Fired!!! [2008-08-06]
I recently had gotten in my head that the requirement for full-time was 150 lines/hour average per pay period. With this thinking, I had been logged into eTIME without being logged into DQS on several occassions in the last 3 months figuring that 250 line hours would leave me 100 lines from that hour and add up to an average of the 150/hour. Never heard a thing about it. Things were going along fine. Didn't think I was doing anything wrong and hadn't thought twice about it. I did know it was something I didn't want to be doing that much because it would be obviously decreasing my periodic hourly wage for downtime, PTO, etc. But a lot of life has been happening in the last few months. I filed a Worker's Compensation claim last Tuesday because I've been having problems with tennis elbow. (I believe this has been due to the extra repetition of ASR versus straight typing, but that is neither here nor there.) The doctor put me on no more than 4 hours a day instead of my usual 8. Wednesday this week I am terminated for time card fraud. No warning, no nothing. We talked on the phone yesterday and my supervisor called back today and said they made the decision to terminate. Stuck with MQ through the thick and thin the last few years, making a total of 4, and now I guess it's time to look for the greener pastures. Isn't it interesting how I never heard a word until directly after filing WC?

That's one way we started getting suspicious. [2008-08-05]
Our insurance company started writing us letters and denials and forms questioning medications, etc. My husband used to receive epidurals for his lower back region, and the insurance company wouldn't approve this for whiplash victims and told us we had to go thru auto insurance, etc. All the meds I had been on for over 10 years were suddenly being questioned, as they were not approved to treat TMJ, etc. It was a fiasco, and actually still is. However, we figured its gonna be worse trying to go to a new doctor and straighten this mess out for both of us, so right now, we're sort of in free fall, what with all the other disasters going on in the world right now, like trying to get used to a new job, figuring out how to find extra gas $$ and feed a houseful of teenagers.... so much going on at once that there's no time to fix all these messes. I'm sure we're all going thru garbage like this, right? If its not one things, its another - internet acting up, cable down, phone on the fritz, bank messing up, on and on and on. It seems to be escalating these days, and I need A PILL!!!! A large pill!

Impact Room [2008-08-04]
I was told by the Impact Room that they go by the phone number on your MQ contact info that you fill out on MQ Central. They said to go in and change the number to your cell and that's the one they will call.

transfer [2008-08-04]
your land line calls to your cell phone

HIPAA question [2008-08-03]
I have a dictator who wants the patient's DOB, SS#, home address, and home phone # listed in the body of this consultation report. He's very specific. I don't get this dictator often but when I do he always asks for this information. I've questioned QA on this before and have never gotten an answer. Half the time QA will add the info to thereport, the other half ofthe time they don't. Either way they don't answer my queries on the subject. I don't believe the patient'sSS# or home address/phone # should be in the body of the report because its personal identifying information. I did enter DOB and SS# but on the ADT screen in the appropriate places. Anyone have a firm answer on this?

HIPPA ? [2008-08-03]
My PS told me that for questions such as this you can call **** and they can help you. Never tried it, but who knows? *** Edited by Moderator - Please do not post phone numbers. ***

Impact Center Call [2008-08-03]
Ok, maybe someone can tell me how to do this. I have REPEATEDLY asked the Impact Center to call my cell phone as it is always next to me. When I work I put the house phone on automatic pick up so I don't have to be bothered. Anyway I have asked and asked the Impact Center to use my cell phone if they want anything and they keep calling the house phone. I, like so many others, am in need of extra money (or just money to survive) so I try to help out, but I'm getting to the point where I am going to play I'm not home and not answer any of the calls they make to my house. How can I get them to call my cell and NOT my house? Any ideas?

Since you are still apparently considered [2008-08-02]
an employee couldn't you just call your former PS? Maybe they could help you out. Do you still have access to your company email? If not, do you have your PS's phone number?

Better worded [2008-08-02]
Exactly, you said what I wanted to say. I feel like I actually count. That I make a difference. My supervisors respond to every and any email or phone call no matter how trivial it may seem. When I had my 3 month evaluation I just about hit the floor with their warm and kind remarks. I have been in this business 17 years, 8 with MQ, and thought I had just become burned out. Then this job and I work harder and happier now with all the support I get from the entire staff and team. Those of you who are thinking about it, I know its hard to change and you probably don't want to do what I did and leave without having something lined up first, but look around. It is amazing what that change can do for your ego! Not to mention your wallet