I realize that experiences vary by person, but I believe they are fair,
Posted By: and I am satisified w/ them. Axolotl2 on 2008-08-04
In Reply to: Read on several boards that Axolotl can be great - Huh?
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I think the person who caused the bad experiences (sm)
is not directly working with the transcriptionists so much. I think they've changed things for the better from what I hear.
It's not really fair to judge a person on how often
In this business, and especially when you're an IC, why should a company look down on an MT who has worked at different companies or changed jobs often, especially when work is slow at one company & they have to go looking for more work at another company? How is an MT supposed to stay at one company for years anymore when the companies are offshoring (leaving less positions for US MTs), running out of work for us, overhiring, going out of business, changing their platforms, cutting pay, etc., etc., etc...
Remember, this has been going on for 8 to 10 years no, so just because you perceive an MT to be a job hopper doesn't necessarily mean it's their fault or for the wrong reasons!
When MTs aren't making enough money with a company either because of little to no work to do, or if their company changes platforms that makes it harder to make a line count, what are they supposed to do? Stay there anyway? Sit and wait for work for days, weeks, months on end just so they can put on their resume that they are loyal and/or can hold down a job??
Newsflash, GOOD MTs hold up their end of the bargain when hired by these companies ... it's the COMPANIES who aren't living up on THEIR end! Why should an MT go broke waiting for work or losing income on a crappy platform change??
That's SO unfair to MTs and just out and out ridiculous. Burns me UP!
Didn't realize it was catty to realize that from 1/18 to 1/25 is a week and nothing happened. sm
Thanks for being supportive and kind.
It really can vary - sm
They sent us info on my hubby's policy when he switched jobs. It was about $850 for both of us per month. I think I heard something some place where the government is subsidizing COBRA in many cases now, where you pay only 35% of the policy. You might want to check out one of the government websites on benefits, layoffs, etc. I hope you qualify for this! 
SInce production can vary
depending on the dictator, available work, your energy level, etc., I would take the $15.00/hour. Good luck to you.
Um, your mileage may vary. sm
Your experience is your experience, not mine nor that of other long-time MTs with the company. Fight for an account or to be treated fairly? Wow, not my experience at all. 8 years with company, have watched it grow, have stayed with same manager, same acct (and added some) and am happy. It fits my needs but obviously not a good fit for you.
You know, in the MT world - one size fits all is not true.
Platforms vary, most are okay. You can get
a decent line count, and editing is good once you take time to learn it. Pay is good. They can be flexible. But they have some really horrible managers that could easily be replaced. Some are good, but many never communicate, some of the managers will tell bold-face lies just to protect themselves even if you can produce e-mails that show they did just the opposite of what they claim they said. But they are the chosen few so never try to report them or it will be your head on the platter.
I think it may vary based on your account
but they have always been very flexible with me. I have another hospital I cover on the weekends, but I know a lot of the MTs do work weekends, and I believe you are allowed to request a second account if you want extra work.
I can only speak from the account I've been on, but the workload is almost always decent. Sometimes we can get a little slow, sometimes their is more work than we can seem to handle, but everyone works together and gets it done.
From what I have read concerning some other companies, I'm pretty pleased with where I'm at.
Good luck! Have you already applied or just thinking about it?
My own experience; others' mileage may vary...
I survived the TRS-Transcend merger. My pay rate did not stay the same--it went UP.
Now think about that $900 (gross) per pay period thing. Pulling an outrageously low number out of thin air, if your rate was 7 cpl (hey, I said thin air, didn't I?), it would still take less than 13,000 lines in that half-a-month pay period to hit the mark. The higher the cpl rate, the fewer the lines it will take.
This is only 1 MT's experience; your mileage may vary. nm
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It will vary. Within a specific period of time, if they SM
post profit and how much profit, then they determine how much they will contribute, so you do not kwow when you sign up. Perhaps someone else can explain it better, but that is about it. I would not base my retirment on it.
Ad they had in Jan. said pay with spcs, but rates vary on different accts. nm
s
Line counting methods do vary
from account to account on this platform so ask lots of questions and try and talk with MTs actually working for a company using it before jumping in. I worked for a company that had session statistics disabled and I was very disappointed with the way lines were counted. I couldn't make it. The company I am currently employed with has this enabled and my counts are great. It may have nothing to do with the ability to view the stats but may have all to do with the way lines are counted.
It does seem to vary from day to day, at least on my account, definitely feel your pain but overall,
good company. I have ear buds and headphones from Radio Shack and I alternate between the two, seems to give my ears a break.
They do provide the PC, and account specifics vary. SM
I have emailed you just now. Thanks!
agree,the pay is going to vary based on individual experience
nm
A weekend required, may vary depending on account
needs. 12-hour window. Frequently no work on many accounts where others have nearly daily OT.
Axolotl has nearly all this except shifts are Tu-Sat and Sun-Th, and ESLs vary by account. NM
xxx
Aren't you cheery? Happy said "your mileage may vary" sm
I don't think the OP was saying that the company was perfect for everyone. Geez, rain on everyone's parade 'cause you don't think AAMT is squat. It was one person's opinion and thus at least a place to start.
My experiences
The worst QA I ever had was with JLG. They were constantly rude and condescending.
MAG Mutual was not good.
The others I worked with are no longer in service or have been bought out by other companies, so don't know how they are now.
Oracle Transcription was the absolute best. Wonderful.
These are not my experiences (sm)
I don't know about the 10 cents per line. I make 8.5 cents per line, but I feel like my accounts are pretty easy. I am a full-time employee, but I actually work as an IC with two other companies. Even juggling three companies, I easily can make 1200-1500 lines a day with OSi. If I don't work on my other work, I can do 2000-2200 lines. In the 2 years I've been with OSi, I've never been called when I don't log in on time. Obviously, if you are scheduled to work on Tuesday and you're not there, they will wonder what's up, but I've logged in an hour or two late before and it's not been a problem. If I have something come up, a doctor appointment, issues at home, whatever, I just IM my coordinator and tell her, and I usually get back a no problem. Everyone's experience is different. Mine has been very, very good.
My experiences
I have always been a hard a** when it comes to people calling and stopping by during my work hours. I've been doing this 10+ years and a good time of that from home. You have to be strong at first; but eventually, if you respect yourself, others will soon follow and if they don't, they aren't friends to you.
I'm so an*l about it that once my hubby had flowers unexpectedly delivered to the house. I didn't answer the door :)
They called him, he had to call me, and have them redelivered, and begged me to answer the door. LOL.
A cousin of mine that I have been going out with on occasion as of late was starting to come by ever so often and visit for a bit. She worked nights so this was more than convenient for her.
After a couple of times of her doing this, I started getting annoyed. The next time she stopped by, I invited her in. Said I was working on a really tough report and she was more than welcome to wait. I would be done in about 20 minutes or so. So I closed the door to my office and made her wait.
Its been 6 months and she doesn't come by anymore.
There is a fine line between being at home and not being at home.
You have to decide what works for you but if its to much, you just have to simply stop answering the phone and make sure people understand that you work for money. Its not play.
I've went so far as to ask one person if they would support me? They giggled and said no, why? I said if you don't leave me alone during the day and respect my hours, I'll lose my job and I'll have no money. So I'll come to you for help then.
If its important to you, you do something about it. Otherwise, live with the rules you've set already.
My experiences
*Does anyone knows if any of the transcription companies actually gives their MTs yearly reviews,*
I don't know about all companies, but I've been an MT from home for 10 years, in-house 5 years (prior). When in-house, yes, I got yearly reviews. Since working from home, I've never had a yearly review. I think I got a 90-day review once at one company. I've worked for several companies, small-to-mid size to mid-size nationals, no large nationals, some for short periods of time, one for almost 6 years. (see last paragraph below).
*feedback on their performance,*
With the more organized and mid-size nationals, I've gotten informal feedback (you're doing a great job! kind of comments) on productivity - but that is something that it concrete and visible and able to be scored against the company expectation. QA feedback has ranged from nonexistent to daily emails on blanks, being able to review the work I submitted the day before and compare pre and post completed reports, to just being told you're one of our best MTs! kind of comments. (see last paragraph)
*and/or raises.*
At the company where I stayed for almost 6 years, I got raises maybe 2-3 times. They were always related to the company needing more production from me or needing me to set up new accounts, help with setting up templates, etc. I have gotten several 90-day raises at different companies, earlier if they released me from review early.
There were 2 exceptions to the above for me. Both were small-to-mid size nationals. One (as an employee) gave me monthly reports on my QA scores. They later developed quarterly reports that included QA, performance, and team spirit (for lack of better term). One (as an IC) gave me charts for monthly QA and meeting my production versus my committment.
We all have our own experiences - sm
Because mine does not match yours does not mean what I said is a lie.
Everyone has to find their own niche in this business and what makes one person like a company will be the reason why another one dislike the same company.
Everyone has different experiences. sm
I have been with TTS going on 3 years. I make more at this company than I have at any other company in the 11+ plus years I've been in this business. No job is perfect, but I plan on being with TTS for as long as they will have me.
You and I have had different experiences
I have absolutely no micromanagement in the 2-3 years I have worked there. They have left me alone. Did you have issues as far as your work perhaps that might have caused them to want to manage you like that? I rarely ever speak with anyone so I have not run into hateful. I have run into someone I thought perhaps did not have the time that particular day to assist me but no hatefulness. I also see no disorganization. Different all around for you and me.
one of my bad Spheris experiences sm
I was approved for intermittent family medical leave to take care of my mom who is a paraplegic, however, when I would ask for the time off they wouldn't let me take off unless I got someone to cover my second shift and nobody would. Also they don't want quality, only quantity. Barely over 60% of employees have over 98% quality. They are also heavy into India.
I guess everyone's experiences are different
I guess everybody's experiences are different and what they can handle, but I've been at Amphion for about a year and a half. While of course, it's not perfect, I've found it's the best company for me and they offer the things that are most important to me. I looked at my pay stub and on my last check, which was 9/7/2007, I had made just over $31,000 this year. I think the people there bend over backwards to help you, I have never run out of work completely like I did with other companies (may have to go to secondary or even tertiary account but hey that's better than no work), they pay us OT (what other trans companies pay you 12-1/2 cents for lines worked in hours over 40 hrs), offer bonuses/incentives when things are behind, and I love their platform. It's a fit for me but I guess not for everybody.
No bad experiences, everything great so far
NM
3 companies, 3 VR experiences
company #1 - VR up to 300-315 lines per hour, straight 150-175. VR pay is 70% of base rate, so this is not bad. Do not use highlighter, but use editing and navigation shortcuts. Use foot pedal but not usually the mouse. This is an account I'm very familiar with and I find the platform easy to use. I have done VR with this company since day 1 so I can't compare my paycheck with pre-VR.
company #2 - working here for 7 years, VR started last year, and a new platform started last year too. I find the platform pretty cumbersome - lots of switching back and forth to different panels to check demographics, add cc, etc. And uses drop-down menus to pick headings - for this company I find VR to be a money loser. Used to make 10 cpl to cover all team accounts, income dropped with new platform, then dropped some more with VR... then my position was eliminated and changed to new account for less money for both straight and regular. VR rate is about 3 cents lower than base rate. New account has more than 50% difficult dictators, ESL and non-ESL. Fussing around with the headings and subheadings, which have to be fixed in VR as well as the text of the report - not getting more than 700 to 1100 lines in 8 hours. Even using hot keys. Need to pay bills so found another job.
#3. This is only my 3rd day. Using Escription. Much better quality of VR than I have ever seen before except for numbered lists -- the numbers are usually all off. Not too many panels to switch around to and no drop down headings. Using the editing and navigation keys and also finally getting the hang of the highlighter thing - except it's a red box, less distracting than the highlighter. And not using foot pedal. Approaching 200 lines per hour on VR and improving. Can take fingers off keyboard at times and drink something, stretch, etc. But this one only pays half of baseline rate. Only a few straight reports have come through. Love the account.
So - I have mixed feelings about VR and it really does depend on account, platform, etc. I do correct everything and still up names, etc.
Sometimes doing VR with all the function keys and highlighter reminds of trying to play my son's video games - uncoordinated.
I think it is one person. I had a few print outs from a few weeks ago and this person even capital
I have had a positive one. I have been with Keystrokes for 3 months and am very happy.
I printed them to show my manager but she told me that there are few bitter people out there and no one can do anything about them. My manager said that everyone can tell that it is the same few over and over again, for Keystrokes and a few other companies as well. Time to move on Ms. Anon. I cannot think why a company would go through the trouble of getting IDs and getting you installed just to ignore you after that. Doesn't make sense, does it? Are you sure that't the whole truth? You keep saying truth but it sounds fishy.
Exactly what I'm talking about RUDE! You are a very unhappy person. A happy person does not
respond in such a way! This is the reason SS has such a bad name.
Experiences With National Companies
Can anyone tell me their experience with national companies? I have been in the transcription business for a long time, but I have never been so confused by vague instructions by national companies! I thought it would be as simple as going to a site and picking up my work and then E-mailing it back! Is there any company that works like that? I'm spending so much time trying to fit into a format, going to different places, loading the work, etc., that I'm actually losing money! Is this just from being inexperienced with a long distance company or do they all operate that way? Please e-mail me with your opinions.
Accustat. Any good or bad experiences with them.
a
please share your experiences on either platforms
which one you think is the best in terms of production?
What experiences has anyone had recently with ETransPlus?
My wife and I are about to become employed MTs with ETransPlus. How is the level of communication between MTs and management? Any more information would be appreciated.
Pros/Cons/Experiences...
Basically the pros, cons, experiences with either.
So that explains why her experiences are totally
different than anyone else who works for Transcend on the BeyondBelief program. Unbelievable the number of glitches on that platfom that never seem to be resolved.
Anyone have experiences with Diskriter or Med-Scribe out of Fl that they could share.
Good to work for, good accounts, platforms and so forth. Anything that would help me make an informed decision. Nothing is worse than taking a job only to find out it is a nightmare. Been there and done that. Any help would be appreciated.
Looking for updated experiences with Transcription Matchmaker
I've scanned the archives and seen old posts where people gave their experiences with Transcription Matchmaker. Any current reports? Any folks who've had a positive placement experience with them?
Everyone has different experiences there. I like it and never ever made 3 cpl on editing. I make
a lot more than that and started at more than that. They treat their MTs fairly. I have worked there over 2 years and won't be leaving. I make a lot of money plus have decent benefits. They have my vote
There are not very many negatives, it is just that those of us with positive experiences at ANY comp
x
Most of my experiences have been as a part-time employee, so that may be different. sm
However, here is my take on things:
YOG -- Loved it there! I made great money, good benefits, and was left alone to do my job. Unfortunately, the owner sold out to MQ.
MQ -- Never worked there full time as I quit the day they bought YOG. However, at one point I had worked there part time and I ran out of work 3 days in a row while training and no one cared. Didn't take long for me to say goodbye, plus I was put off by their attitude at the time that people inhouse got more benefits than those working at home as they said working at home was a benefit. 
WestTran -- great owner, uses Iscriptor (easy to use). A few bad dictators, but generally not bad. Only downside was not having direct deposit, but checks were always mailed on time.
Webmedx -- not a good experience for me, but it did look like they had a nice benefit package for FT employees. I found the Enterprise system to be slow and cumbersome. I used to type 300-350 lph, but typing as fast and furious as I could, never made it past 240 on their system. Sound quality was awful, ran out of work, and supervisor was indifferent.
DTS in Oklahoma -- great people, but was working on an overflow account that used MedRite. What an awful platform! I would type and sit and watch it try to catch up with me. Slow and cumbersome. And no direct deposit.
TransTech -- great people, nice benefits at the time, pay so-so but good incentive tier.
MDI-MD -- great pay at the time because they were compensating for the MT having to pay for LD. Ran out of work at times, but eventually got up to 5 accounts and was able to bounce back and forth and got my lines. Direct deposit, always on time. Down side is statutory employee and have to mess with the taxes thing.
CardioScribes -- great people, all cardiology clinics. Direct deposit, but uncertain pay days, although you always do get paid. Work for me has been slow, although I see ads advertising for more help, so that is frustrating. Also IC work, which is a down side for me anymore.
Encompass -- I am just starting there part-time, but everyone I have encountered has been friendly and helpful. The dictation so far has been easy. They offer direct deposit and even some benefits for those working part-time.
eTransPlus -- I will be starting there full time. I have not done any actual work so far, so cannot comment on that, but the benefit package seems nice and the incentive tier seems easy to achieve. They offer direct deposit. Right now, they are offering a sign-on bonus, so that is a nice plus.
I have been around for 100 years or so, so I probably have forgotten some, but that is my experience that I can remember. Of course, everyone's experience is personal. As I have said before, one person's hell is another man's heaven.
Good luck to us all in finding a place we want to call home. 
I am not a hateful person but that person screamed at me for 45 minutes. sm
She said all transcriptionists are idiots.
Anyone ever been fired or "et go" with FutureNet Tech? Any bad experiences? nm
nm
I think we all have had nightmare experiences. I recently started a job that was "starving" fo
more work than you can imagine and then 2 days into it, NOTHING.. plus the software was a pain in the beeeehind!!! This great opportunity turned out to be a waste of time. Hopefully things get better for you. I quit..making $4 an hour was not my idea of surviving.
Any personal experiences with Northeast Transcription; good, bad or ugly?nm
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If you do a search on here you'll find mixed responses to the experiences people have had with th
nm
InterPro present or past employees care to share your experiences
I'm to take the test tomorrow. Thanks in advance
Unless something has changed, health insurance rates vary state by state, so we may not have the
info you need. I'm an IC so I don't have benefits.
I think you all need to realize
That MDI would not have never been created if not for Liz and Sue McGrogan....remember this is a company that they built from scratch. So without Sue's input MDI would not be what it is today. Kudos for her and the $$$ her business has made over the years. I don't care where you work you are not going to be able to please EVERYONE all of the time. It just doesn't work that way...Oh and by the way...I am not management and I don't even work for MDI...I work for hospital in Florida.
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