Hello everyone,

I thought I would start of list of questions that are good to ask your potential client for transcribing purposes:

1> Does everyone on the recording and or DVD had their teeth? (I know it sounds funny but I just did a DVD and out of all the questions I asked they didn't bother telling me that the person speaking had no teeth! Anyway they could understand him just fine, which is natural when your use to hearing it all day but it is not natural for someone else who never heard the person before)
2> Is the DVD/VHS or recording professionally recorded?
3> Did they use a DSS format (means it is highly compressed)?
4> Recorded on DVD/Micro-Cassette/VHS/DVF ect?
5> Does the speaker or speakers have heavy accents?
6> What format would you like to receive your transcribed document in? Word, PDF, Other
7> Come up with 3 or 4 samples to have the customer choose a format using Word, PDF and another (if you use other formats such as Google Docs etc.)
8> Would you like to have your document bound? (if you have a binding machine you can earn extra money with this offer)
9> If there is a Q & A session and or multiple speakers have them spell out each name for you.
10> What time frame do you need this document completed in? (give options here such as: 2 days, 5 days, a month etc. If it is a rush job make sure to collect a rush fee)
**If you want question number 4 to be more specific then spell each one and use a check box system for them to check off which format the recording is being provided to you in.

11> How many minutes/hours is your recording? If they do not know ask them to send it to you so that you may calculate a quote for them.
12> Make sure to date when you received the recording and have them initial your quote or sign the quote as acceptance of the quote plus date it.

If you can think of other things to ask list them here for other VA's to help each other out

Have a great week everyone!
Andrea~

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AJVA|TVE

Would you use this as a separate questionnairre before signing a contract or include this in their welcome packet?

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Amber

This is good for the assessment stage. It will let you know if you want to take the job or not. It is also available in a down loadable form in the document library.

Andrea~

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AJVA|TVE

This is a very good way to assess a potential project. My first transcription was a nightmare, LOL! I didn't ask any of these questions and I didn't know what I was getting myself into.

Great job Andrea!!!

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Winston Stewart
S-M Office Solutions

Stewart I feel your pain. My first lawyer/boss (when I was a 19 year old rookie) an elderly man who smoked a pipe, dictated with it firmly clenched in his teeth. I'd never thought about dictation by someone with no teeth. It's not funny, but it's so early in the morning it really made me

Lynne

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The Wordpro Wizard
www.wordprowizard.com

Winston, not Stewart. Sorry, it's so early ... I need more coffee!

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The Wordpro Wizard
www.wordprowizard.com

Call me whatever you want...lol. I'm making my coffee now so I know how you feel. Not to mention its a rainy morning so it was hard enough to get out of bed.

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Winston Stewart
S-M Office Solutions

I've done transcription for over 20 years and one of my BIG questions is the part on accents. I do fairly well with most of them but Middle Eastern, Asian and Hispanic, especially from native speakers, just kill me!!

I also have my own guidelines, like don't eat whilst you are dictating. Yes, I CAN hear those rustling papers that drown you out. Can you please speak into the dictation apparatus and not into your shoes?!? I used to transcribe for one doctor from a hospital who would dictate with screaming newborns on his lap - and never miss a beat - but I had NO idea what he was saying. These requests generally come more tactfully put - unless I've had a rough day of listening to all of the above. LOL

Perhaps we should put somewhere - either on our websites or in the welcome package - a sort of Miss Manners Guide to Dictation, i.e. (tactfully) all the do's and dont's, pointing out that the better the dictation the more quickly it can be transcribed and save the client money. The aspect of saving money might encourage good dictation habits. Conferences are probably the worst, where they're all eating, drinking, tapping pencils, rustling papers, answering cellphones and shuffling chairs ... along with speaking into their shoes! Cheryl I so feel your pain!

Lynne

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The Wordpro Wizard
www.wordprowizard.com

What about a "Mr. Manners Guide.....

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Winston Stewart
S-M Office Solutions