Focus vs Keystrokes
Posted By: my2cents on 2007-03-23
In Reply to: Keystrokes vs Focus Infomatics??? - ocg
I don't know anything about Keystrokes. However, I currently work for Focus. I am not aware of any incentive program. For the most part, there have been lots of promises that have never come to pass. Account start dates have come and gone. The queues are often empty. Frankly, I don't understand how they can keep hiring more people when they do not have enough work for the employees and ICs that already work with them.
If you like working evenings/nights, it is possible that there will be as much work as you want. However, I have found empty queues at midnight, so the work flow is impossible to predict. I definitely will never depend upon Focus for a paycheck large enough to live on; it's just good for a little extra pocket money. After waiting several weeks for an account to start up, I had to find an additional job. The good news is that Focus offers you a very flexible schedule; you just have to be there when the work is available.
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Keystrokes vs Focus Infomatics???
Any info on either company (good or bad)? I'm contemplating on which company to go with. Keystrokes has more cpl pay, but Focus Infomatics has editing (which is something I've never done). They say you can double/triple your productivity on editing vs. transcribing. They have incentive program, Keystrokes does not. I've been a self-employed Transcriptionist for 10 years (total of 18 years experience in hospitals, clinics, etc) and have not worked for a company before. I'm looking to make the RIGHT choice the FIRST time and not have to move from job to job because of not being satisfied. Who would your vote be for? Thanks for your opinions/information.
Focus, focus, focus on your work. It's amazing what you can do! nm
x
Did Keystrokes sell to Transcend? I thought Keystrokes was buying up companies sm
but I heard from another service owner that they sold out to Transcend. Anyone know if that happened?
keystrokes ad..can someone tell keystrokes their banner ad needs a hyphen...quality-minded
nm 
Did Keystrokes sell to Transcend? I thought Keystrokes was buying sm
small companies but another service owner told me that she heard that Keystrokes sold to Transcend. Is this true?
I posted this down below but meant to post it as a new thread. Before I apply with them, I would like to know as I left Transcend a few months ago and do NOT want to get back into that mess.
Not only that, but I would MUCH rather work for Keystrokes than Spheris as Keystrokes doesn't
Only Keystrokes. Worked at MQ until I came to Keystrokes. Started at sm
Keystrokes PT, liked what I saw and experienced, gave notice to MQ and went FT. Have not look back since. I had previously worked at 2 hospitals, for MDI, Transcend and MRC until bought by MQ. I plan on retiring here as long as they stay as they are.
No, Not with Keystrokes, visiting friend and using her pc, she got job with Keystrokes
I forgot to change the Name. I do not think Keystrokes is hiring anymore now. Would like some info about Diskriter though.
Ditto, Keystrokes is a wonderful company with wonderful people! I love working for Keystrokes!
I am just not making enough money. They are a great company though, just ask for a back up account.
Been with Keystrokes staying with Keystrokes
I was there for the promises and guess what Keystrokes is making good on those promises.
I get vacation time, 401K, and even AFLAC. My pay is great, always on time as well as accurate.
I have my main account and have been given back up accounts for which I have been fully trained and am comfortable typing on. I have great leads, great tech support and plenty of work.
Am I biased??? Yes I am biased. I am grateful everyday that I was given the opportunity to work for Keystrokes and their team. I am grateful that my company's owner is a fellow Transcriptionist that goes home at the end of the day and works like the rest of us so she knows what a hard job I have and I know that she is working to make things better for me because unlike other companies I have worked for she understands what it is I do.
Please accept my apologies that you were unhappy with Keystrokes and chose to move on before all of the promises came to fruition but don't begrudge those of us that stayed loyal and are now reaping the benefits of a GREAT COMPANY WITH GREAT BENEFITS, LOTS OF WORK AND THE KNOWLEDGE THAT THERE ARE MANY MORE GREAT THINGS TO COME!
I just want to say Thank you Lee, Jeff, Becky, Karyn, Martha, Annette, Paul and everybody else in the office for all that you do.
Keystrokes does not go by keystrokes, we go by lines. sm
1200 lines per day comes out to 150 lines per hour. Most transcriptionists are able to do 200-250 lines per hour, so this is not unrealistic, nor is it unreasonable. The hospital that I used to work at prior to coming to Keystrokes had a minimum of 185 lines per hour. The service I worked for prior to Keystrokes had a minimum of 200 lines per hour.
Focus. sm
I worked for Focus doing editing and was not happy with the company. I applied for a transcription postion and was hired on the spot for an editing position. Little did I know that I was editing work from India, which did not sit well with me. I was using the Netcare platform and hated it. I could not work for this company knowing that they were sending their work overseas and taking away our US jobs - but I had many good laughs while editing of what was actually dicated from the doctors and what was transcribed by the people in India. 
Focus
No, I did not until I was hired. I live in Mass and their offices are also in Mass. I applied through an ad in the local paper. When I met with them at their offices, I was told I would be transcribing for a local hospital account and also doing some editing, which was not the case when all was said and done. I never did do any transcribing and lasted only a short time doing editing. I agree that the line counts differ from your own and is something to be careful with when working for this company.
Focus
I have worked in transcription for 8 years at local offices and just have started working with Focus. I have trouble not having jobs available during the hours that I agreed to work. I was given the impression I was taking an editing position but so far have only done transcription. Please give me names of good companies to work for.
Focus
If you visit their website, it says they are based in Mass with offices all over the US. I could not find anything about India anywhere on their website. They may be Indian, but I was hard pressed to find that info. Also, if you Google them you will get negative posts about them being an Indian company (all from this site), but I have yet to see anyone actually back that up with concrete evidence. I guess you'll just have to decide for yourself. They wouldn't be the only company that is Indian anyway. There are companies that advertise on this site that outsource.
FOCUS, RUN AWAY
I worked for them and most of the office staff is Indian and they treat their employees horribly. They cut the all the editors pay. Most of the accounts are have horrible dictators. You can't make any money. They don't respect the MTs/editors.
RUN AWAY FROM FOCUS
They treat their employees terribly. The office staff is mostly Indian and they have no respect for their employees. I would not recommend working there. I know, I USED to work for them.
Focus
They currently pay .08 cpl for transcription and .04 cpl for VR editing. You can either be IC or employee status. I currently work for Focus Infomatics as an Independent Contractor and love it. I do not do VR editing. I have worked there for approximately three months. Everyone has been very kind and helpful. The account I work on keeps me very busy and I am making very good money. They did mention VR editing to me when I was hired, but I have not been set up to do that yet. It will be my decision to do that though. They do offer benefits if you are employee status and they have direct deposit. So far I have no complaints whatsoever!
FOCUS
Anybody out there who works for Focus doing editing on voice rec, can you tell me what the average lines per hour are that you are able to achieve. Thanks a bunch for any info.
Focus
I am so glad to hear somebody else out there has the same problem I have.
Focus
The same thing happened to me at Focus. I am at another company working on the same platform and make alot more money as well. There is something going on with the way they count lines.
Focus
I started with Focus a couple weeks ago and love editing. Only drawback right now is running out of work but supposedly more accounts are coming on board soon so hopefully it will pick up then. I have no complaints other than low workload.
Focus
I worked for them last year and loved editing, but I had the same problem with running out of work.
Focus
I currently work for Focus and I am very happy there. There have been some changes made within the company lately including a new QA manager, which was greatly needed. I have plenty of work and make a good line rate. No complaints.
Focus
Yeah, and I see they have an ad today about needing MT/editors immediately! What's up with that? I have no work to do but yet they need them immediately!
Focus
I currently work for Focus (about 2 weeks now) and have run out of work almost every day. I love editing, but when there's no work, it doesn't pay the bills. I see today they have an ad to hire again.
Focus
I have been hired by Focus and I am supposed to start Oct. 9th. After reading some of the posts, I have really thought twice. I work P/T now and make about 400 every two weeks. Will I get that working P/T for Focus? Also, do they offer direct deposit to P/T or just F/T? Thanks!
Anybody know anything about FOCUS
Focus
You will never ever get an increase out of this company. Also, really, really poor response to concerns and hard to understand tech support and supervisors.
NAH, bet it is Focus. nm
Most frustrating and underpaying company I ever had the misfortune to almost donate my time to. Got out quick. There are other Escription companies that may give the same cpl but man do you get more lines and make more - telling you just how dishonest Focus really is.
Isn't that the new name for Focus? If so, run away! nm
s
Are they still Focus?
I saw all the stuff about Focus but nothing recent about Acetera.
The did NOT used to be Focus...sm
I just talked to them regarding a position and that is one of the questions I asked. They are an independent 2 year old company that is NOT a part of Focus Infomatic. They have done some work for them, but are not affiliated in any way. I was also offered a position, as they found my resume information on Monster.com, and being curious asked. FYI.
Focus
Thanks for the information. I will be running as I am an IC and work privately for a group in town that has outsourched to India and I have lost 4 Drs because of this and I am now down to 1. I cannot believe this outsourching to India for a cheaper rate and all jobs are being lost here in the US. I am going back to school for my coding CPC as I have done billing for 12 years and I feel transcription is going to the birds.
Thanks Again. 
Focus
They are in India, I have seen pictures of where they work. They have mostly men doing their transcription. Stay away.
Pay at Focus
What percentage of your 2000.00 per pay period is editing and transcription? Thanks. Do you work on more than one account?
Focus
I applied with them and took the time for the entire test. You have to pass the first 2 parts to go on to the transcription. I thought I did well on the transcription, but just received an email that I did not pass. No phone call, no score, nothing....Then I read on this site many negatives. Maybe a blessing that the door did not open....
Focus
I had worked for Focus for a little over a year and finally just got out and got a job with DRC. I did speech recognition editing and as far as doubling your line counts, forget it. There were so many mistakes, it would have been faster to type the report from scratch. As far as an incentive program goes, there is one in place but it is extremely difficult to meet. Just to make 9 cents a line, you would have to do 2000 lines a day if you worked five days a week. Even though DRC pays by the keystroke, I was STARTED at what equals out to be more than 9 cents a line.
Focus
I worked for Focus for about a year and a half and really had no complaints. Yes, your supervisor will be in India, although I really only talked to him over instant messenger. I never had any problems with them harassing me about how much work I did, and my quality was good so that wasn't a problem either. My pay was always on time direct deposit and I was an IC so I could work whenever I wanted as long as I got my account done. I was the only one doing this particular account so I wasn't in a pool or anything. I did not like the voice recognition editing that I did. There were so many mistakes, I felt like it would be quicker to just type the report from scratch but that could have been the particular account I was doing it on. Not a bad place to start out I don't think.
Focus
The replies are still down there and they are not all negative. I like working for them. My account has a combination of standard transcription and voice recogn. editing. I just started a couple of months ago PT and I am making more the longer I work and get better at the editing. The only problem is a language barrier with the Indian staff but personally it hasn't been a problem for me yet.
focus
Focus Infomatics?
Focus
Anyone out there know anything about Focus Infomatics? TIA
Focus
Truth be known, I've had my doubts and complaints about Focus. However, believe me, I've experienced worse. In less than 2 years of experience, I have met some really bad companies. Some pay as little as 5.5 cents per line for straight transcription. Right now, Focus is offering me the best pay rate of all (for night shift, 10 cents/line transcription and 5 cents/line editing) on a user-friendly platform (EditScript). So, for now, I'm happy enough. It's not for everybody. But, as in all other aspects of life, everything is point of view, and I wish that I hadn't wasted so much time trying to find greener pastures; as I haven't found any yet.
This is obviously my opinion and I own it. I realize that you may not share the same opinion and I do understand your concerns and respect your differing opinions.
Focus
My experience with Focus has been neither all good, nor all bad. For instance, the first account that I was hired for in January did not show up or turn out to be the humongous account that it was supposed to be. As far as I know, it still hasn't come up to its expectations. During that time, I was forced to seek work elsewhere, just to pay the bills. I did complain to the Focus managers, but the response was generally something like, sorry for the inconvenience. At the end of February, a new account came along. To be honest, this new account reminds me of a spoiled child; it sounds like a big baby that needs a pacifier and needs its way all the time, with some really weird specifications. But, it does provide plenty of work. Currently, things are going well. However, I am not saying that I intend on counting on Focus for anything stable. It's just meeting my needs at this time (see my posting above). However, it has been my own personal experience over the past 20 months that Focus (as it is for me today) is a better opportunity and a better fit for me than anything else I have encountered. But, I'm still looking. IMHO, it isn't safe, in this MT business, to keep all your eggs in one basket, especially if you need the income to just survive, as I do.
Focus
I have worked for Focus for about 6 months and have no complaints. Everybody I have dealt with has been very polite and helpful. I like the platform and thought it was easy to learn. My experience seems to be totally different from others. Don't know why, but that is how it is, so keep an open mind.
Focus
I have worked for them part-time for a year now and I love it! I was a newbie when they hired me after MT course graduation and they trained us until we were ready for DSP( direct submission privilege) to clients. I maintain a greater than 98% accuracy and get valuable feedback from them on a consistent basis. The only bad thing was that in the beginning I was limited to a clinic account only and it would frequently be low on work and I had to get a full-time job. I now have 3 accounts under my belt and have more work than I can handle.
Although I am dealing with Indian co-workers, we mostly communicate through IM and they are very thoughtful and courteous to me. This is my first MT job, so I have nothing else to compare it to. I have just never had a bad moment with Focus and will probably work for them for a long time.
I know Focus will.
And I had an email from Alpha this morning saying they train. Doesn't hurt to ask DeVenture. They've gotten a lot of new eScription work recently.
FOCUS
They have good points and bad points. I just wanted to add that there are more than just a few large and small companies in the USA that are getting work from Focus and subcontracting it to US MTs, taking a cut of the pay in the process.
I recently responded to an ad for a company that offered a higher rate of pay for 3rd shift and was using the EditScript platform and/or Dictaphone ExtText as well at Netcare. Upon further questioning, it was revealed that the proposed work was coming from FOCUS. However, this company was going to be paying less than if I worked at FOCUS directly. So, beware of this apparently new program. It seems to be a new initiative on the part of FOCUS to recruit these US companies, though I cannot figure out the rationalization for it.
Focus
Again, I guess I am a lone voice in the wilderness but I like working for Focus. They pay on time. I was never deducted for errors because I really don't make any serious ones. They ARE very strict about QA. The training and platform were much simpler than other American companies I had worked for. Yes, almost everybody is Indian and they can be hard to understand but they have been very curteous and well organized, much more so than a certain American company that I quit after 2 weeks. I have been with Focus for almost 6 months and have no complaints.
Focus
Never worked there but read the archives - not one positive word about this company.
Focus
I don't understand why you say there is not one positive thing. I have posted that my experience so far has been positive and another person posted some positive things also. Yes, they are an Indian company but I am telling the truth about my experience.
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