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I just saw your post from several days ago.  I hope you see this message.  It is not difficult at all to start transcribing .wav files, and you'll love it.  Express Scribe is a transcription program that plays many types of digital voice files, and it's a free download at http://www.nch.com.au/scribe/.  You'll only have to buy a foot pedal for it for around $75.  Digital voice files are so much clearer than tapes.  Once you change over to it, you'll wish you'd done it long ago. 

If you need any help or have questions, please feel free to post back here to email me.  I don't come here often, but I'll try to remember to check back often because of this thread.  In fact, I rarely ever came before, but I really like the new management/ownership and definitely will try to visit more often.  Let me know if I can help with this. 

I have read old posts from users who do not like Vianeta.  I would like to hear from those MTs who have used this software and like working with it.  Is it better since the new owners took over?  Do you prefer Vianeta to any other software?  What is your favorite feature? I am not a Vianeta representative, just interested in your opinion.

Thanks!

TL

not because I am egocentric and feel I need to be at the top, but because I just don't want to have to scroll down and look for it every time I have something to add.  So, it's not arrogance, it's convenience.  Also I would just like to add that I posted my "credentials" so to speak because I was asked to defend my position with what made me qualified to talk about poor MTs.

Anyway, I don't know if I could be classified as an old-timer as I've not had to transcribe on manual typewriters from belts, but I did start out in transcription in the late 80s, right before the internet boom.  So I did start out in an office with other MTs who could lend me an ear and give me advice, but most of them were old-timers who felt lost when the internet did hit and changed our profession forever.  So all of my computer skills, internet skills, and researching skills are self-taught out of necessity.  Because I took the time and made the effort to hone my internet and research skills, I moved up the transcription food chain and moved passed a lot of the old-timers who trained me.  I guess I just have no patience for "old-timers" who wear their years of experience like a badge of honor, but then use those same years as an excuse for not using the internet efficiently.

I am more than willing to educate or mentor an MT, whatever it takes, but the MT has to want and accept constructive criticism gracefully instead huffing and puffing about how mean and evil QA is.  Most of the time MTs ignore their feedback and make the same mistake again and again.  I can quote chapter and verse out of the BOS to an MT trying to illustrate why they are wrong and it will not matter.  They see "QA" on an email in their inbox and automatically hit delete without a passing glance.

I am not the enemy in this war called transcription.  MTs and QA should be allies against offshoring and we should be trying to elevate our status in health information chain, but we can't be allies and we can't accomplish anything if MTs are constantly paranoid that QA is "out to get them."  The sad truth is that eventually we QA people are going to have no other options except unemployment or educating the Indian MTs and ironically the Indian MTs will welcome any feedback that will help them get more work from American MTs.

To all those who posted that I have a big head and have launched personal attacks, I would say you the ones who are arrogant and big headed if you can't just accept that you are wrong sometimes and you can always learn something new and maybe you can learn that something new from me, the QA person who has proven her skills, passed a harder employment test, to get the QA job I have today.

You can call me names and insult me, but the truth hurts and obviously those who are defensive have reason to be.

The website I have used for a long time to look up doc addresses changed their format. It was Doctor 411. Now, it seems I have to buy the info. This just now happened. Who knows a good free site that lists doc addresses...all over the country ?

should go with Comcast for long distance calling.   Or, is there a better plan?  Vonage perhaps?  I have AT&T right now, maybe they have a package that includes free long distance calling. 

Signed, Just got a new Job

I took their QA test, passed, was offered a position.  I accepted and have been waiting to train and get going for a week now.  My understanding is that their trainer only trains 2 days/wk and now her PC is in the shop. I understand things happen so this is not too big a deal to me.  I'm still working with another company so it's not as if I have no $$$ coming in.  Now here's where I'm starting to get second thoughts...

Apparently, the admin has already added me to her email list because I'm getting daily account information, status of out of TAT files, etc. No biggie. BUT along with those emails I also recieved an email going to everyone stating that she is sorry for the delay in paychecks because she is JUST now getting paid and has JUST sent out 1099s. FYI, they pay monthly.  I'm concerned because if I'm only getting paid once a month, I definitely can't afford to be waiting even longer for a paycheck. I really wanted to get started on this job, been wanting to do QA again for a while but I'm starting to wonder if "delay in pay" is a regular thing with them. I could ask her directly but I doubt anyone would honestly say "yeah, sure, we're always getting paid late" to a new IC.

I was going to quit my current MT company and go fulltime QA'ing but now I'm thinking I should stick with the MT work (even though I really wanted to get away from it) and do the QA PT instead.

Funny...as I'm writing this, it kinda seems like a "duh" question.

I am trying to copy and print my ShortHand Dictionary (the list of expanders) and cannot seem to find the way to do it.  Can anybody help on this one.  By the way, Happy National Transcription Week!

TIA.

I like the Expander that comes with my company's software but I can't find a commercial expander like it.

I am trying ShortHand but the main thing I don't like about it is that it does not recognize when characters entered are part of a preexisting word. So if I'm editing and just entering a letter here and there, Shorthand records those characters, and if I hit the spacebar or punctuation mark and those characters happen to be one of my abbreviations, Shorthand will expand those characters even if I did not want an expansion there. I have to stop the expansion manually. For example, if I'm editing and change the word "proceed" to "proceeding" by adding an "ing," which is also my abbreviation for "inguinal," Shorthand thinks I want "inguinal" there and I end up with "proceedinguinal" unless I notice the expansion ahead of time and stop it manually.

My company's expander does not do this. When I add a character to a word, it recognizes the characters that are already there. So when I add "ing" to "proceed," it recognizes that I intend the "ing" to be part of the already-existing word "proceed" and does not expand the "ing" to "inguinal."

With my company's expander I can also go back and add a character or two to letters that are already there, hit the spacebar, and get the expansion, whereas with Shorthand, if I missed a letter in an abbreviation and go back to correct it, I have to enter the whole abbreviation again from scratch. For example, if I meant to type "tahbso" but I missed the "o" and didn't notice it until proofreading later, I could go back and add the "o" on the end of the already-existing "tahbs," hit the spacebar, and the abbreviation would expand. With Shorthand, I find I have to retype "tahbso" to get it to expand.

I'm not that experienced with Shorthand so maybe there are different settings in it that could avoid the unwanted expansions, but then again maybe not.

Anyway, I'm just wondering if there's an expander that will recognize when characters are already part of a word and when they are not and behave accordingly. Thanks.

does anyone have any input into this company's work ethics, background, etc.  I am testing for a QA position and need some input.

ughhh

Anyone up for a get together in the chat room tonight?  If so, please post or email me what time would be good for you.  Hoping more people come.  Did not work last time I tried it.   

Can anyone out there tell me what a decent line rate would be for a new graduate?  I just gradauted and will be applying to companies and wanted to know what an average rate would be. 

Thank you! 

Just curious as to where I stand, thought it would be interesting to find out what the average is in a forum like this.

school 3200 (in forebearance at the moment, original loan 6000 in 1994, three deferrmants)

car 6000  (1999 chevy, original 12,000, backwards on loan, brakes going fast).

credit cards 8400 (just paid 2000 to one, first priority to pay off, debt contributed by ex).

hospital 4000  (major operation, no insurance, total bill 10,000 in 2001, lived with parents almost a full year to pay off half).

Well, thats mine.  Please share yours.

that want to know. The wedding was beautiful and perfect weather for it. St. Thomas and Tortola islands I highly recommend visiting, especially Sapphire Beach on St. Thomas and the baths of Virgin Gorda on Tortola. Gorgeous, breathtaking, absolutely stunning views, heaven. First 2 days I kept breaking down because the kids weren't there but then loosened up after I talked to them at our first stop. I have never eaten so much wonderful food in my life.

Kids survived w/o us and had a ball with grandma and grandpa and are already asking when we're going away again. Hard to say who had more fun, us or the kids, according to some of their stories. It was our first cruise and we're looking into booking a family cruise because it was just perfect. Having a hard time adjusting being home because I want my ocean view back...lol

I thought I had heard of one that you could order for a yearly subscription of about $30.  Thanks in advance.  I have Smartype, but it acts oddly sometimes and races to the end of my document and the cursor keeps running down the page.  I had them send me a new copy but had the same troubles with the new copy even with putting it on a new computer.  Can't get the company to do anything, so I am out $200 now and need something else.

You know what?

If the dictations were not so crappy, maybe the whole OAing would be obsolete.  This would save a lot of money and the MTs would be paid better.

Ooops!

I thought after seeing on television so much could get away from this but just had a dictator say, "drowsy and unable to, you know, respond to questions appropriately."

I thought the you know, you know, you know would not come through on here.

Everyone who lives in Florida should be aware that the PIP insurance as we know it is soon to expire on 10/1/07.  Please go to the web site http://www.wpbf.com/index.html.  In the center, scroll down a little in the middle is a survery that asks Do you think personal injury protection (PIP) should be eliminated?  Please go on line and vote NO.  Send this email to everyone you know.  We want hundreds of votes.

Also, please send a letter to Governor Charlie Crist,o to Speaker Marco Rubio and Senate President Ken Pruitt.  You can find their email addresses on MyFlorida.com.  It is very important that they add this to their agenda on 6/12/07 for their special session.

Thanks for your help.