transcription software and hardware

[Meme03]

I am interested in adding this to our services, but I am a little hesitant because it seems time consuming. I tested this out and I was pausing and rewinding a zillion times, lol. I want to explore this and see what happens.

[Action Jackson VA]

I have been transcribing for more than 8 years and it is something you will either LOVE doing or HATE it with a passion. There is no in between on it. You really have to love listening to someone else speak, and speak well, then you have to ask your client do you want the umm's and ahh's. Then if they do O boy your in for a treat lol. Like I said you will either LOVE it or HATE it I love it B.T.W. ~Good Luck~

[VirtualExecAsst]

Hi Margret,
I also use Express Scribe. It's free and it is user friendly. As far as the pedal is concerned, I have programmed my keys. So I haven't found the need to buy a pedal.

-Alice Wilson
http://www.virtualexec-assist.com

[Wordpro Wizard]

When I first started working in an office (back in the days of the horse and buggy, just beyond the shorthand era) everything was transcription and after so many years I can drift off and think about something else while my hands and feet scurry along. Melissa, whether you've not done a lot of transcription or been doing it forever, every new client is a challenge until you get used to hearing their voice, the inflection, maybe an accent ... eventually you actually anticipate what they're going to say, like old married people!

[kelli050]

I've never done transcription, but as I'm looking to start up my VA business I'm looking at new services that I can offer. I'm going to be looking through the websites provided here and hopefully learning more about transcription. Thanks for providing all the great info!

[cherylb]

Take your time to learn transcription. Good listening skills take time to develop, but it's not impossible. I also have to agree with some of the others - you either love it and loathe it. There doesn't seem to be any middle ground when it comes to this niche.

[Office Support Online]

I use Express Scribe and I think the majority of VAs who transcribe use it also. I started off using the hot keys as I am a keyboard girl and it was great to be able to start straight away. I eventually bought a VEC pedal from the NCH website. It really did make transcription faster and less hassle and was easy to set up. Well worth the money.

If you want to practice transcription just Google for practice transcription and you will find some files to download. Another good idea is to use podcasts and that way you can pick a variety of topics and maybe even learn something ;-)

There was another thread on here recently that talked about transcription and as I advised there, it's not just a matter of if you can type you can transcribe. You have to be confident in your grammar, spelling, ability to hear clearly (recommend you get proper headphones that close in your ear as they make audio much clearer) and you need to be able to make the text flow the way the client wants it. If they are doing an interview, they may want verbatim if it is to be used as a legal document, or they may want you to take out all the ahs and ums and likes so that it sounds like a 'normal' conversation. Focus groups are a pain, but at least you can charge more for them if you are good at deciphering the different voices when they talk over each other!

Tip for transcription, when you have regulars or you find that you are using the same phrases or making the same typos over and over - set up your Autotext and save yourself a lot of stress! I do psychology assessment reports so there is a lot of terminology that is the same on most reports, so I can type say 'nim' and the text will appear as 'number of items within the minimum number of moves' -so you can see how it would save time hehehehe

Good luck with it. Like WordPro Wizard I've been at it for quite a while and do tend to drift off sometimes and think about what to cook for dinner, but it may take you a while to get to that stage ;-)

Cheers,
Marie

[pass audio]

I use Olympus software and foot pedal and have found them excellent ... it cost about £150 but has more than paid for itself.
For those who are thinking of adding transcription to their services but haven't got much experience of it I'd suggest getting as much practice as you can with different types of transcription - such as one to one interviews and group interviews as well as straight forward dictation ... I've been doing audio transcription for about 20 years and still get frustrated sometimes at the quality of files I get sent. Like Andrea I even get files where the client wants you to include every um and aah and some even want you to include the amount of seconds pause between speakers! The industry standard for audio transcription is one hour to type up 15 minutes of audio but depending on the quality it can take a lot longer.

[Novasolutions]

Hi Julia, I'm new to this forum. I note you've bought Start Stop, what do you think of it!!

I am just about to purchase it but just wanted some 'real' recommendations before I shell out £200+ on a new transcription system...thanks!

[ancfun]

Thanks for the tips. I've been looking at transcribing. Will definitely check out the Amazon caster & see how that goes.