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Need a US medical transcription company? CLK Transcription does that too!

Although I have a deep and profound love for the journalist, ghost writer, and others who need non-medical transcription, my roots are in the medical field beginning many years ago with insurance verification, medical records, home health care administrator, and then on to medical transcription with another company, I do enjoy the medical client as well.

I treat each and every one of my clients as my only client.  Each one has their preferences, demands, and expectations.  I could never cookie-cutter their work.  Especially the medical reports.

I know that when a client needs me, they need me, and I give them everything I can.  I work with their deadlines, their requests, and their sometime outrageous expectations with a smile and always try to meet even their hardest challenge.  I haven’t had problems yet, because I have a great team behind me and we love the challenge.

Medical transcription is even more difficult – with accuracy and format being most important for strict legal and continuing health care concerns.  I worked with JCAHO and state agencies during audit periods and know that reports should always follow format throughout the practice of a physician.  When there is a difference, the agencies auditing sometimes feel those reports could have been “amended” to pass an audit, rather than original reports. Many other transcription companies think they know best and make changes because it works for them, without consideration for the client’s demands

The TAT for medical reports is extremely tight and must be met.  There are times that a patient’s care is on hold for the return of reports. And if there is any question of the information within the report, this too can hold up patient care. There is no guessing with medical reports.  The difference between b.i.d. and t.i.d. is costly and could mean a life.

A physician is under extreme pressure to ensure that all information is documented accurately and timely.  Many hospitals even require physicians to dictate every change in medication and other items that used to be documented in the chart, but not in report format.  This requirement is to lower the risk for malpractice claims. I think it is wonderful because it means better continuity of care for me – the patient.  It comes with a price though.

These demands placed on physicians has been a cause for increase in fees.  The physicians have had to hire in-house staff to handle the transcription, and in those cases, must offer all the benefits that employment calls for.  If they choose to send their work outside of the office, many have chosen to send it offshore to save money.  This is costly to the patient and the doctor.  Costly o the patient because their information – everything from name and address to family history, social history, and all medical information is now available in a country that does not have to answer to our regulations.  Costly to the physician because when you hire someone who has English as a second language, you will ultimately get a report with the same second-rate English causing second-rate information in reports that must be proofed and edited by another staff member – or the physician himself – which costs even more time and money.

Because I strive to keep the US transcription of all of our US-based clients within our borders I have kept my rates lower, hopefully to save the client, but also to allow the work to be transcribed within the US, safely and at the same time by US transcriptionists who have paid thousands to educate themselves in this field and thousands more to maintain their training and education – and understand the English language .

So, yes, I do profoundly enjoy the non-medical portion of my business, but the medical side is also my heart and a large part of the enjoyment of what I do.

CLK Transcription offers physician and other medical professionals an alternative to in-house staff and the cost of that employment and benefits, as well as allowing the physician the opportunity to help keep work here in the US and our personal information safe all at the same time, without worry about someone understanding the English language, saving even more money on editing and proofing.  And we offer a quick TAT saving time in a person’s care.

CarolLee and the ICs that are utilized by CLK  have had extensive training and education in all specialties of the medical profession, either through past/present full-time professions (nursing, PA, etc) or through extensive training through various educational programs…and of course, our own personal/family medical history, which at times has been the best form of continuing education of all.  We also offer every client a confidentiality agreement and live and breathe by it.

So, whether it is a GP, oncologist, dermatologist, radiologist, podiatrist, physical therapist, dietitian, endocrinologist, or other specialty of medicine – we can do that!

There is no contract, but we like to think that after you try us, you will come back to us and find out just how much we can save you – time and money.

We offer a line or page rate that is below the national average but our quality is priceless.

Contact carollee@clktranscription for details.  http://www.clktranscription.com

Check us out on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/people/CarolLee-Streeter-Kidd/1234760098

and

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tobyhanna-PA/CLK-Transcription-Inc/100158850050342

Want to see our recommendations? Find us on LinkedIn, where they may be reviewed. http://www.linkedin.com/in/clktranscription

Need a weekend warrior for your audio transcription? Dissertations, interviews, IEPs, meetings, and more. We can do that!

Many of us see the weekend as a relaxation period, or at least we would like to.  Most times however, after all our professional responsibilities are complete, we need to use the weekend as our catch up time for household chores and personal responsibilities and needs.

We use this time to do our household chores that get pushed aside during our hectic workweek.  We look at Friday night as our date night, and a time to chill with friends.  The weekend is our time to spend with family and friends we do not have time to catch up with during the workweek.

Then of course there are the special weekends.  Those that have things like the Super Bowl, weddings, reunions, and other special functions that we want to enjoy.  Of course, lately, many of us need the weekend to clean up after all the snowfall of late.

 

CLK Transcription appreciates your need and desire to enjoy the weekend and be free of the “homework” that many journalists and students and other busy professionals find is carried over to the weekend.  We never close.

 

If you have audio files or hard copy conversions that you find yourself working on during those precious weekend hours, why not check out a transcription company to assist you with them.

Here at CLK Transcription, we have helped hundreds of journalists, educators, students, physicians, and other professionals by working through the weekend so they don’t have to.

We can turn around your audio, usually within 12 to 24 hours and let you enjoy your weekend and get done those other items on your to-do list.

Whether it is your dissertation audios, interview audios, patient records, meeting minutes, round table discussions, IEPs, or things like a conversion of your diary to an electronic copy – we can do that!  Whether you are a ghost writer, journalist, publisher, student, parent, educator, physician, or other professional, we have the experience you need to give you the quality you demand.

We have experience with all ranges of topics – from banking and brokerage, entertainment, technical and obscure, health and beauty, family life, to all specialties of medicine and more.

We also have many ways to save!  Our prices are already below the national norm, but we like to work with our clients to meet their other demands – budgetary.

We offer educational discounts for those with projects focused on furthering their education or for the parents and educators dealing with IEPs or other educational material.  We offer referrals discounts to our existing clients who make referrals of our services, and extend a referral discount to new clients who connect with us on Twitter or FB.

 

So, when you face a weekend with “homework” and are trying to fit in all those other personal items that are just as important – why not let us assist you with your transcription needs?

 

There is no minimum, no contract, and always a confidentiality agreement for EVERY client.

 

Find out what hundreds of others have discovered – CLK Transcription can save you time and money.  Most importantly – we love what we do!

 

http://www.clktranscription.com

 

 

 

Dear interviewer, you are a great interviewer but…a Transcriptionist’s point of view.

One of CLK Transcriptions independent contractors asked why we are never interviewed for a story.  Then she realized we are too busy transcribing your audio to stop.  She did however have some thoughts and suggestions on how to make transcribing your audio of other interviews a bit more transcription friendly – whether we transcribe your audio, someone else transcribes your audio – or even YOU transcribe your own audio.

 

Many of these I have mentioned before, but I had to share her comments as a worker bee trying to save you time and money.

 

 

Dear Interviewer:

 

Please check your equipment.  Growls, howls, static, etc, in your audio make accurate transcription difficult, but knowing ahead of time helps me to prepare.

Also, when interviewing outside, in a crowd, or say with an ambulance passing by during the discussion, understand that unless you repeat some of the conversation when that pesky ambulance drove by, there may be some blanks.  Try to consider better placement of your microphone in those situations.  The best place for the microphone is not next to the plate and glass, or even the paperwork that you will be moving around.  We hear the noise first.  It isn’t that we can’t do it; we love the challenge, but proper placement leads to better end product.  We understand it isn’t always possible, so again, just give us a heads up that you are aware the audio is difficult and that helps us prepare as well.  Also, you may want to be sure that you have the interview and not just your side of the conversation on the audio.  Listening to the audio yourself also helps when you think you are sending a recording thinking it is one thing and well, it isn’t.

 

Those words you spoke when yawning or belching, or coughing and sneezing, really are hard to decipher.  Could you repeat that please?  It is impolite to stop in the middle and speak to someone else – we do not know if you want that transcribed, unless you are ordering dinner.  And please, as busy as we know you are, please leave the chewing and bathroom breaks out of the audio.

Please allow your interviewees to finish a sentence without interruption whenever possible.  I can’t decipher his/her responses accurately if I can’t hear them fully – and we hate having a blank in your report.  And I always wonder whose part of the conversation is the most important and should be in the transcript when I can’t clearly hear both speakers and you ask me to clean it up for you.

Please call your interviewees by name early in the conversation so his/her name can be inserted during the article rather than “interviewee”.  A find-replace only takes a few seconds but keep in mind I’m paid by the audio minute and seconds matter.

When an interviewee is using a “unique” technical or medical term, please repeat the word – or send it with the audio in your e-mail.  Hearing it correctly will help me search for the correct spelling.  This would be especially helpful when you are interviewing someone whose accent is other than American English.  When possible, especially with those pesky obscure names, spelling it helps.  Spelling HABITAT doesn’t; we know how to spell that, but when you have a name like Nahuat, spelling helps.

Also, when possible, giving us a bit of a background – speakers names, websites, etc – on the topic of the discussion.  This helps us research words and phrases so you don’t have to.   We do not all watch every TV show produced, so even the title of the show so we can research names and characters, is a help.

Also verifying the length of the audio you are sending so we know there was no problem with the download.

Let us know if you need the file immediately.  It may mean a stat fee, but this is not always the case.  It helps us help you when we know your projected TAT for the audio.  Whether its needed later int he day or the next morning, even if a week away.  (Yes, we have clients who actually give us a week to turn around a document, but we haven’t ever taken advantage of that yet.)

Recording and transcribing chitchat is a waste of your money.  I understand the importance of the “break the ice” conversation at the beginning of an interview.  If this conversation is not necessary to the article you are writing, please let us know when to start transcribing and we will skip it and we both save time and money.

Take into consideration that to transcribe your audio is at minimum three times the length of the audio – total transcription time and proofing.  And that is with a clear audio.  If you have a stat/priority that is four hours long, don’t expect it by evening if sent at 1 p.m., especially if poor quality.  We take extra time with difficult audio to ensure we got everything possible.  Again, we sometimes work miracles, so it doesn’t hurt to ask, but the more time you allow us, the more relaxed we can be knowing we are giving you our best and not a rush job where something always suffers.  And sending that stat at midnight for return the next morning, even if only 10 minutes long, really is a difficult task for us.  We occasionally sleep too, but if you give us a heads up early in the day to expect it, guess what – we can do that!

 

Lastly, if you send a file and we do not confirm receipt within 15 minutes, there may have been a glitch in the e-mail.  We always confirm receipt – usually within 15 minutes.  If you don’t hear from us, verify receipt.  And when you send us a file today of less than an hour, if you do not have it by tomorrow – check with us.  We rarely have a file of an hour or less for more than 24 hours.  These things really bother us because we do not like you to think we aren’t doing our best to assist you meet your deadline.

 

Thank you for listening.  We just want to be able to get you your reports as quickly as possible with the quality you demand.  These little tips may help.

 

Signed me

Transcriptionist who loves what she does.

 

 

 

http://www.clktranscription.com

Do you know your FaceBook connections? Really?

Since many of us use Facebook as a true social media networking device, for professional and personal business, I tend to allow friend requests when I notice that many of my other connections have the same “friend”.

 

I was not always this way.  I use to research the connections, see if there was some kind of mutual interest, potential business opportunity, now or  in the future, or information I could share with other connections.  I laid off my pickiness in acceptance.  I mean so often we read blogs about using networking sites as a way to connect with everyone.  Everyone has a potential value for your business, etc.

 

Apparently this is not unnoticed by the bad guys, spammers, scammers, and even those lonely hearts.

 

Recently I was asked to be a friend by a male who upon checking out his profile I noticed he had 33 shared friends.  All 33 were business connections.  I readily accepted and then went back to check out his profile further.  In my business, many of my referrals come through social media outlets, so I wanted to get a gander at what he was working on and see if there was anything I could offer, anything I could share, comment on, etc.

 

Well, after noticing that he did not have a complete profile posted, no job, no activities, no publications, no nothing I knew something was wrong.  I sent him a message and asked him what he does.  I asked him how he knew me and /or my connections.  Was he a writer, journalist, publisher, transcriptionist, student, parent of a disabled/special needs child, parent, green enthusiast – anything that would be of interest to me?

 

I realized that he had connected to one person and then went down the list of that person’s connections to connect with others, and others readily connected thinking the same thought I had – he knows so-and-so, it is okay.

 

I credit my suspiciousness to another connection who let all of her connections know about another scammer who wanted to sell diamonds to a friend of hers, constant chat requests, and then pow – the scam begins.  This guy, after responding to my request for more information, said that I was suggested by Facebook and that he was a lonely heart.  (I bet).  Of course I was suggested.  He already had 33 of my friends, and was now up to 36 after an hour of connecting.

 

I disconnected our friendship, posted a status update to alert others.

 

I know my connections.  If not personally or professionally, I know my connections know them.  I know their profile and what they do and what they are into, and before I connected with them, I checked past status updates to be certain they have commonalities with me.  I refrained from this “knowing step” on this individual and it could have been disastrous for any one of my connections, or me.  At the very least, it would have been an inconvenience I nor my connections needed.

From now on, I will go back to my usual steps in evaluating my connections and friend requests and be a bit more cautious and not just assume that because they are connected to a “friend” that we are a good social media network match.

 

Some people may feel as if having tons of connections is networking and valuable.  I feel like having connections that have something significant to offer, to share, and who possibly even want to share my information is priceless.

 

 

http://www.clktranscription.com

Speaking well and spreading some love for NCHSoftware.com (@nchsoftware)- they truly do have something for everyone!

They say if someone has a problem with you, they will repeat it over and over again, but if they like you, they usually will make referrals when asked, but never just converse about a company as they do with a complaint.  I am hoping to change that with a wonderful company that I have had the opportunity to deal with for over 9 years.

NCHsoftware.com which offers sound recording, playback, conversion, and editing programs.  Along with the programs, they have an awesome team of tech staff to help when that rare (believe me rare) glitch occurs with the programs.  They don’t stop thee, they have many programs for other disciplines, but since transcription is what I do, I will speak only to that – for now.

As many transcriptionists starting out in this business soon learn, there is a direct and constant need for quality programs such as the express scribe player that NCH offers.  The wonderful thing about Express Scribe, is that there is a free program that serves our purposes almost 100 percent.  And being able to say “yes, I can handle the audio medium” allows the transcriptionist to take on projects without having to lay out even more money and learn new programs just to handle a file or two – and NCH has a converter too.  Now they don’t convert everything, but a vast majority of the mediums can be converted using Switch – again a free program can be used with a premium upgrade if needed.

I think the fact that as the transcriptionist field is growing in demand, the idea that there is a company that caters to us, with affordable and quality products is outstanding.

As a transcription company owner, I am often asked, “can you do this” or “can you do that” with audio files.  I rarely have to say no because I have some wonderful software from NCHsoftware.com that allows me to record, playback, convert and even enhance audio files so that I can do my job in a much more efficient and effective manner, even with the difficult audio.  And when I can do my job that easily, I don’t have to forward a cost on to my clients, nor do I have to worry about meeting their deadline due to the difficulty of the audio.

I refer all of my independent contractors, who are fresh out of school for this wonderful profession to NCH to get setup without having to put out even more money, over and above the thousands they just spent on education and training.  In this economy, every dollar counts.

Whether you are a student, business owner, journalist, musician, transcriptionist, or anyone who uses or works with audio files at all, check out NCHsoftware.com – I bet they have something there for you as well.  Audio, telephony, and business software – http://www.nchsoftware.com/software/index.html

I follow them on Twitter @nchsoftware.

http://www.clktranscription.com

Voice Recognition – Not For Me. I never speak in fluid sentences all the time without changing thoughts or ideas.

How often do you stutter, forget the question, start to say something and then find a better way to say it?

 

Using voice recognition may seem easy for many, but if you want clean, clear reports there is nothing that can replace a human ear listening to your words and knowing what you mean/meant to say.

 

Voice recognition may seem easy for many, but you have to train the software to your voice.  Are you saying PRN or pee are in?  Is your audio always clear enough to know the difference?

 

Do you ever speak slowly and clearly all the time for a person to understand all the time?  Imagine a program listening.

 

How many times have you heard ‘can you repeat that’?  How many times have you said ‘okay, okay, right, right, right” during an interview and if transcribed every time would make you appear as a valley girl?

 

Do you want your ers, uhms, and the multiple yeah, yeah, yeahs transcribed in your report?

 

Do you want to have to reread the report multiple times when finished so you can be sure to catch those potentially unprofessional comments from being left in your report?

 

When someone asks me how I feel about voice recognition I tell them this – I speak fast.  I change my thoughts mid sentence, I may even forget where I was for a moment.  I make strange noises when I get lost in thought.  I don’t say every word perfectly.

 

Your time and money is too precious to have a program type your words, just to spend more time correcting and perfecting them.

 

Let CLK Transcription show you how a human ear can be used to listen to your audio and human hands to type your report, cleaning it up where you decide it should be. Your time can be spent on that next interview while the transcription is done in a professional manner, fast and accurately.

 

So when thinking about voice recognition – why not try using a human to recognize your voice to give you the best quality transcripts possible for a cost you can afford?

 

We may not be professional bloggers, authors, journalists, or webinar hosts – but our clients are!  Find out why they say we rock!

 

http://www.clktranscription.com

CLK Transcription, Inc. is a USA-Based and Operated Transcription Company with expertise in all specialties of the medical profession.

Oncology          Orthopedics     Hematology     Pediatrics          Rheumatology     Infectious disease  Psychiatry          Physiatry     Radiology     Pathology          Dermatology     Cardiology     Pulmonary          Plastic Surgery     Ophthalmology     Chiropractic, Clinical and Acute Care, and more.

We assist professionals with their professional needs transcribing audio from:

v  CONFERENCES / SEMINARS v  TELEPHONE CONFERENCES v  BROCHURES v  STATIONARY DEVELOPMENT v    MEETING MINUTES     INTERVIEWS v   VOICE MAIL v ELECTRONIC SIGNATURE DEVELOPMENT, and more.

 

Organize Your Audios and Save Time and Money

When sending files to a transcriptionist, name the audio files so you know what is on them, and the transcriptionist can confirm the information supplied.  Many times clients will send a file named by the equipment they use (ex ws00001) with no information as to what is on them, or tell us “this is an interview with Joe Schmo”, when in fact, upon listening to it, we find that the interview is in fact with Jane Doe.  When this occurs, we here at CLK Transcription will verify that this it is the audio the client meant to send us.  It may add some time to the TAT, but in the end could potentially save you time and money.

 

Doing so will alleviate the cost of transcribing an audio that you either didn’t want to have transcribe or was already transcribed.  And saves you time by not having to wait for the wrong file to be transcribed in order to get the correct file completed.  When files are received and seen as named by the equipment, CLK will add the interviewee’s name to the completed report’s filename when possible for tracking purposes.

 

Oftentimes, clients send multiple files and we work them consecutively, so if a duplicate is sent even a day or so later, unless the same transcriptionist handles the file, we would not know it was a duplicate.  (We have even had files sent as duplicates months apart, and if and when we catch it, we inform the client.  Some companies may just pull the old report and send it along and then bill for something that was paid for months ago.)

 

Also, there are some instances when an interviewee is in fact interviewed several times, so we would not stop transcribing just because the name is the same.  It may not be the same interview.  This is particularly difficult with physicians.  When they send a potentially duplicate file, we have to transcribe it because unless confirmed as an exact duplicate, the difference of one word or phrase (medication, history or treatment for example) makes the entire report ‘new”.

 

The addition of a name for your audio is also important for organizing your files for future reference.  Here at CLK Transcription, we name your report the same as the audio file, and include the length of the audio in that name.  This is great because you can now match the audio to the report and even know if the entire audio was received or was there an error in the download.  Also, the addition of the length of audio allows CLK’s clients to track their expenses when paying by audio minute.

 

Many of my clients will use the name of their audio when discussing the topic elsewhere (e-mail, etc), allowing all information regarding that interview to be sorted and saved together, even setting up folders in your Word history to keep all documents for the same topic / interview together for easy reference later.

 

So, the next time you save an audio, consider giving it a name.  It could very well save you time and money.

 

Here at CLK Transcription, we know that saving YOU time and money allows us to do the same.

 

Check us out for more information.  We would love to add you to our team of clients.  http://www.clktranscription.com.  Mention/retweet this blog and save $5.00 off your next invoice of $50.00 or more.

Do you get your voice mail transcribed free? Do you get what you pay for?

Many people come to me and say “why offer voice mail transcription?  Many people get it free through their telephone service provider.”

Here is my answer:

Those providers use either speech recognition software or an offshore, ESL, transcription company.  Either way, their messages are full of errors, mis-communcating what the message really conveyed, sometimes causing your clients unwanted stress!

There are hundreds of websites devoted to posting the errors people receive through these providers.  (Checkout http://technologizer.com/2010/08/22/worst-google-voice-transcription-errors/)

So, if the only reason you continue to use those services by those providers is so you can see what comes across next, do not use CLK Transcription.

At CLK Transcription, a human listens to the voice mail, a human types the voice mail and a human returns the transcript in an easy to read email.  You get the first 5 free every month through December 2010.  Our rates are nominal and you get quality service, fast.  So for a cost you can afford, you get better quality service.  You get more than you pay for.

When you pay nothing for everything, how do you expect anyone to take pride in the work you request?  Those providers simply cattle prod your work through because it is the phone service they care about.  Offering you the transcripts is what got you to them, and for most companies, getting you is all they care about.

CLK Transcription cares about every facet of a project and every client we receive.  There are no contracts, just a confidentiality agreement.  Whether it is a small project or a large project, a one time assist or a long time client, we take pride in the work we do.  Over 90 percent of our clients are referrals.  We do our best to keep them happy and when we don’t, we learn, understand, and make whatever changes are necessary to the service we provide.  Transcription is what we do. It’s not just what we do, it’s who we are!

So, if you get your voice mail for free, are you getting what you pay for?

http://www.clktranscription.com Find out how we can assist you with your transcription needs.

Your regular project is just as important to us as it is to you! Don’t have your TAT pushed aside because someone else has a “priority”!

Here at CLK Transcription, we try to treat every client as our only client when it comes to meeting their turn around demands.  Many of our clients know each other and have referred each other to us, and we know keeping one happy, means keeps them all happy.

People have often said, “when someone likes you they will repeat it, but if they do not like you they will repeat it over and over again.”

We want to change all that.  We want to have CLK repeated over and over again because we assisted in your transcription needs and never missed a beat with another project on our plate.  We love hearing “you rock” when we give our clients with the quality they demand at a cost they can afford, all in a timely manner that lets them get their job done in a smooth manner.

The independent contractors I work with are just as important as the clients I have.  Without them doing their absolute best and being happy with me assigning them work, I could not offer the services I offer to the clients we handle audio for.

In working for other companies, I had heard many times “that project can wait” or “just load up that IC, she’s a workhorse” and I cringe when I think about a client’s TAT being brushed aside, or a IC being so overworked that she wears herself out.

In doing the best job possible, we all have our limits.  Clients cannot be overburdened with stress wondering if their work will be completed on time and the transcriptionist cannot be so overworked that she rushes or even worse, drops the ball all together and misses deadlines herself.

Many times we receive STAT or priority files from a client.  We handle them as we would any other, but we have some wonderful transcriptionists that are available just for those types of files, so that whether we received one or 20 files in a day, your priority is handled without pushing someone else aside, and without stressing the transcriptionist with an unreal deadline herself.  Every client’s files remain active.

Handling the work this way allows every file we receive today to be returned today or within 24 hours, meeting your TAT and allowing the transcriptionists time for their own personal responsibilities as well.

Yes, there are times when the larger projects come, multi-hour, multi-speaker interviews, conferences, and seminars that take us a bit longer, but even in those cases you can usually start seeing a return of part of the project within 24 hours and a completion within 3 days, depending on the size.

Unfortunately, we have had to turn away projects from some of our most prized clients because of their TAT and our workload when they contact us with a multi-hour project due in a few days, but even those clients come back.  Why?  Because I won’t add to their stress by saying I can handle it and then blow their TAT when I know I can’t.

Thankfully, those exceptions are few and far between.  My clients with those larger projects allow me time to plan and get ready for them by giving me a heads up to expect those files.  Most times a day’s notice is all it takes.

So when other companies say they can handle your large project, ask them not only if they have the transcriptionists on duty to handle it, but how much work gets pushed aside that belongs to your friends and colleagues in order to handle yours?  Because the next time they have a larger project, it could be you that’s pushed aside.

We love transcription. It’s not just what we do – it’s who we are!

CLK Transcription, Inc comes highly recommended by some of the most amazing journalists, ghost writers, authors, blog radio and webinar hosts, and corporate companies in the world.  Let us show you why.  Allow us to help you with your transcription needs and make you a part of our family too!

Check us out on:

Twitter = @CLK_Shortcake
Facebook = http://www.facebook.com/people/CarolLee-Streeter-Kidd/1234760098

and

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tobyhanna-PA/CLK-Transcription-Inc/100158850050342
LinkedIn = http://www.linkedin.com/in/clktranscription

Some helpful programs for the transcription of audio files

As a transcriptionist I have the opportunity to see many different file types cross my desk.  I have also had the ability to really research the programs, free or not, that work best for me in converting the audio and playing the audio files.

First and foremost, ExpressScribe by www.NCH.com.au is a wonderful free player that works wonderfully with or without foot pedals.  You can adjust the audio and playback to make the job of transcribing the audio so much easier.

The upside to this audio player software program by NCH is that they also have a converter, Switch, one version is free and an upgrade for a nominal fee.  The free version is usually enough for the individual transcriptionist who may have file types that they would prefer to convert to mp3 or wav files.

Another great program for conversion of audio is X2X Audio converter which is also free – http://www.x2xsoft.com/productlist/audio.html.  This does additional file types and I have found it to actually be a bit faster in the conversion process.

In addition, when tapes are received and you would like to convert them to MP3 files, I absolutely love the polderbit sound recorder and editor, which is not free, but for anyone who works with tapes or even records to MP3/wav it is well worth the nominal fee for the program.  http://www.polderbits.com/recorder_uk.htm.  You will of course still need a tape player/record player/cd player and a male to male audio extension cord to go from the player to the sound card of your computer, but for me, this program is priceless.  It is not free, but allows the ability to clean up the audio while being recorded, which is an invaluable tool when handling tapes.

DVD’s are an animal all their own.  In order to extrapolate the audio from these creatures I use the iSofter program.  It is easy to use, is a bit slow, and there are some quirks to it sometimes, but the tech support is always right on.  Again, this program is not free, but well worth the cost.  http://dvdtoall.isofter.com/index.htm

Some other programs I use on a not so frequent basis, but are useful just the same

http://www.avs4you.com – AIFF files to mp3

www.PCDictate.com – to convert the newer DS2 files to mp3.

Now I agree, many of these do much of the same conversions, but each have a little special difference as well.  As someone who receives multiple files in multiple formats, I found having several makes my day go a bit easier.  When one doesn’t handle what I need, I have a backup.

Having the ability to handle all forms of audio, allows my clients to just worry about developing the audio, and not what format works for transcription.   That, in turn, allows me to assist them in saving time and money when I handle their audio for transcription and develop the quality reports they demand.

There are admittedly hundreds of programs to choose from, however for me, these are the ones I have trusted over the years.

So, if you find yourself in need of a player or converter, check them out.  You may find you like them too.

www.clktranscription.com