Really bad audio and account--sm
Posted By: MTMom on 2009-01-24
In Reply to: Does anyone that is currently or had worked for DSG find it rather difficult to get a good line - MAINEMT
Was a verbatim account and really bad dictators, lots of heavy ESL. So, yes. Very hard to make good line counts under those working conditions.
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I work for the DSG-2 side. One account has some bad audio sm
some of the time-not all. Otherwise I am happy where I am. I cannot speak for the other side which has different accounts.
audio
I just left them for the second and final time due to extremely bad audio files. I was assured this second go-round that the problem had been corrected but was not. I spent the biggest part of the first week - lasted about 3 days - trying to hear dictators, mainly ESL. The people I dealt with were terrific; benefits are some of the best; audio extremely poor. I figured no money could be made under those circumstances.
AUDIO HOURS
Can anyone give me any idea what to charge for an audio hour of transcription and how much time this equals out to? I was offered a freelance job of 30 hours of audio hours for TAT of 2 days and have never done this before. It is television production work. Thanks for any help!!!!
There is no way to do 30 audio hours
I can usually transcribe 1 hour of dictation, my easy stuff, in 1-1/2 to 2 hours. Even if you have really easy stuff to do, on the low end it would probably take at least 60 hours to transcribe, and mayve 90! Geez..even if you could transcribe it in real time...taking only 30 hours to transcribe those 30 hours, you'd be putting in 2 15 hour days to do it. Realistically, for 30 hours of dictation you would 60-90 hours of work.
How's the audio quality with TT? nm
x
Patti - about audio
Thanks for your input. I haven't taken the job yet, as I wanted to get some advice from others. Of course, the sample test he had me take was extremely clear! The calm before the storm! He said he would pay me $50 per audio hour. I'm thinking, if it takes me over 2 hours to do an audio hour, it probably isn't worth it. Maybe I'll just have to try it first and tell him up front what my plan is. Do you think $50 sounds fair?
Everything audio I was sent was horrible..
xx
medgarde audio
I was wondering if anyone else has ever applied to medgarde and had trouble playing the sound files?! I have been trying to get it to play for a day, and I updated the media player... I'm just curious if anyone else had this problem and what they did to fix it.
the audio is horrible on the new system....
I had my husband listen to a little bit of one of the doctors and even he said it sounded like mush. I bought an expensive pair of noise cancelling headphones and it is still terrible. I can handle the software, but the audio is another thing. I am ready to resign. Grrrrr.
I have had zero problems with ESL/audio quality/whatever. TT is the best so far for me.
nm
Getting paid by audio hour
I have not gotten paid by audio hour before and just wondered if anyone has an idea what good pay per audio hour is? It's straight typing for seminars/speakers. Any opinions would be greatly appreciated!
Good luck with audio
I have done seminars/speakers, etc and never again unless I listen to the tapes or whatever first. It all depends on where they put the microphone and their euipment. I got stuck doing a seminar and found out it was all about building a chip in a computer and had all orientals at the seminar - worse nightmare that there was. You would have to see how many lines you would get in an hour worth of the audio to figure out a fair price -- not in an hour of typing for you but the audio and the difficulty. I had 10 tapes from a 2 day seminar -- 60 minute tapes not all were filled on each side and their bill was well over 1200. Had another on the use of animal with sexually abused children for therapy, 8 to 10 hours of audio and that one was also over $1000. But I charged by line. It took about 4 hours to do each hour of audio when it was good recordings and up to 5 to 6 when poor. We did average about $25 per hour when typing but adding in the QA and listening again to make sure we did not miss anything brought it down to under $20. So then it would be a charge of about $80 per audio hour -- rough estimate. Again too many variables and I would not charge or be paid that way.
Posts here say you need about $2 per audio minute to
p
You'd do better to bill by the audio minute; I'd bill $0.75 per minute of audio.
x
I agree on the audio. Not sure what causes their problems with this. nm
:
DocQ audio from keyboard
CTRL + SPACEBAR to toggle on and off for play, CTRL + comma and CTRL + period for rewind and fast forward. Once you've tried it for a half a shift, you'll never want to see your footpedal again!
Unless your audio can speed up more than mine
I would say the person (people) telling you 3x as much as straight are just outright lying. I think I mentioned my speed, high also but never have tripled on VR and I keep my audio at full speed, cannot do more than the audio allows. I am very satisfied in the long run with Escription. I had so many straight reports yesterday, usually do the op notes but mostly discharge summaries on the weekends sometimes and so many ESLs, I could have pulled my hair out. What is strange, sometimes a particular dictator on VR and sometimes not? Don’t get that but wish all were. Good luck!
A wav pedal for the audio transcription part....(sm)
I honestly don't know if you NEED one or not...there may have been manual 'play/pause' buttons you could click on with a mouse, but I cannot remember for sure, so don't quote me on that. Reference books are definitely handy...I had to break open my AAMT rule book for a couple of things I wasn't 100% sure on, and even had to pull out my old dusty Dorland's that I've been using as a foot rest for some obsure thing I couldn't get a definitive answer off the 'net from.
Like I said, I enjoyed taking the test because I've honestly never tested before. I've only been doing transcription for 5 years now, and it was always with the same company, and still have oodles to learn. The part I enjoyed most though was the actual sample transcriptions. Fun to hear other voices and accents and type up material I never got exposed to before.
Just give it a shot! After you finish a 'block' of testing, it asks you if you want to stop and come back to it later or keep going. When you first sign up for the testing, it assigns you a log-in and password, solely for that purpose that if you need to take a break or plain ol' stop, you have that option.
I shoulda asked the interviewer how I did. No part of the test said anything like, 'Sorry, but you stink and you can go away now.' I guess if you pass one part it feels you are good to go onto the next? No idea honestly.
Go on...just do it. 
The two ladies that I talked to, both before and after testing, were very nice and I'm sure it's a great company. I just knew where I really wanted to be is all.
Sick and tired of poor audio quality (sm)
that seems to get worse and worse as the days go by? Remember when we were told that switching from tapes to digital would make all the difference in the world with regard to clarity and our production? Remember when we were paid more and had plenty of work? Remember when there was no working on Sundays or holidays?
Why is EVERYTHING MT going to the dumpster?
Why do these MTSOs accept reports dictated on cell phones? Can't they write in their contracts that cell phone dictation is not clear and it can also be intercepted by others and therefore unacceptable? Why don't the QA personnel who read our flagged comments about awful audio pass this information on to the client so that it can be fixed? It's getting worse and worse.
Back in the days when I had my own accounts, one of my dictators asked me to please tell him as soon as his equipment malfunctioned (in those days, it was batteries running low or a tape that needed to be tossed and replaced). He said there was no need for the MT to suffer with poor audio reports when there is a simple fix. So, what's the difference here when the idiots dictate on cell phones? Or there is a hospital phone with a short in it? Why can't these things be fixed?
My plea: If you are a QA person or MTSO getting repeated complaints about specific dictators' dictations being garbled or unclear, won't you please notify, and keep notifying the client until they are brought up to par. How about sticking up for the MTs for a change rather than protecting the client all the time!? In the end you are protecting everyone, including the poor patients whose reports are being dictated and transcribed.
I'm tired of MTs taking all the blame for this industry's downfall. If MTSOs and clients demand 2-hour turn-around time, how about improving the technology to make your unending demands more attainable? It's 2006. There is no excuse for the garbage I have to listen to day after day. No excuse at all.
Wasn't just fast, the audio quality (re-recording)
2
DocQ, hmmm, how to play audio from keyboard??
Can you share. Didn't know, worked on platform twice and nobody ever said this.??? Can you share?
That account in Texas was not a MQ account. They did not use DQS on that account until KS started.
They are moving 3 other accounts to DQS between now and January 1st. I asked. The MQ accounts they have gotten in the past did not go to DQS. I followed my old account, which is how I know, and it was Meditech. The account is still run by KS and is a big account too.
Repeatedly told another new account would come soon, but it never did. In fact, our slow account is.
everyone else's backup account. What a disorganized mess.
Then when we MT's are **thrown on** an account because of lack of work on our account
What is so hard to understand about that?
Then we have that account info filed away in a folder in our Outlook Express by name of account and can look at past emails sent out regarding that account. Not fun to be tossed on an account that you have never seen NOR ever received an email on. Sounds like business to me.
You are wrong about the account. KS dumped the account for several reasons. sm
It happened quickly and was unexpected but it was really for the best. Keystrokes does not string people along or lie to you. After being with MQ for too long, I am happy there, although it is not for everyone.
I really would give them a call as the other poster suggested. That whole situation was a nightmare for everyone including management but the account pulled a fast one on them.
I have the facts on this because I have a good friend at the hospital and what she told me matched what my manager did.
I know that they are trying to give more when so many companies are giving less and taking away more.
My account has lots of work..ask for another account/nm
**
The account I am on only requires 1200 lpd. Maybe it is that particular account. Ask them if they
have a lower one. Doesn't hurt to ask. I do anywhere between 1200 and 1800 lpd. Sometimes it feels impossible to do 1200, sometimes the 1800 is quick. Depends on the doctors and the day for me. I do average 15,000 per pay period though, which is 1500 a day. Not impossible by any means, and I never go over 40 hours a week. Most weeks, I am closer to 35 hours with lunch breaks and life.
I think it depends on the account. I have one account that pays sm
$2.25 for specials and one that pays $3.50. I was on one previously that did not pay them different at all, but they were all short and mostly PICC line placements.
I worked for a hospital that went to KS and they were not charging extra for the specials. I know what they charged per report, and there was no way they were getting rich on the difference after taxes and all that. I was suprised. I was in on the bid review and the average to charge was between $1.75 and $2.75 per report or 0.13 and 0.15 per line. There were 15 companies that bid on the account, and all were within those ranges.
I went to KS about 6 months after the hospital outsourced to them. When we were displaced, I accepted a different job in the hospital and hated it.
That is not true. It varies from account to account. I have
several internet accounts and on some you do have to input the patient information.
I know the account. It is "hybrid" account that is a version of sm
Meditech that is a cross between Meditech Magic and Client, more like Client than Magic. I have been on it since October now do 1500 lines a day; it took me a week to get up to speed but they really helped me. I only know which one because my lead told me that they are adding 10 people to it because KS is getting the whole thing now, only doing 1/2 before this. I love working for Keystrokes :)
Account wen to speech from almost the beginning of the account --
Don't like ExSpeech at all. Very bulky and cumbersome. Much better editing programs. I prefer to straight transcribe on ExText. Pay drops horrendously. But wave of the future for MT's.
The account I am on is internet only. I think it depends on the account. nm
nm
My main account must have been an overflow account. We would
go several many days of the month where we could not pull work, so we all had to go to secondary accounts and there are very few accounts that could absorb the extra people.
Our account is an acute care account
We are low on work too and have been for almost 2 months. We know what is happening to our work though as our supervisor admitted that the work is going overseas. Even though we have 24-hour TAT and we are transcribing reports as they are dictated, they still insist that the work dictated after 7 p.m. has to be sent to the offshore service. It makes no sense to me as we have coverage starting from 6 a.m. and throughout the day. I think it all comes down to bottom line and it doesn't matter if we have work or not because it's cheaper to send it overseas.
but hoping from account to account
without learning the accounts I am on will not help my line count, or help me. I need consistency in my work. I was told one thing, and am getting something totally diffrent. I know most jobs will be slow, but I was told one thing and now have to do something else. There is no work on a daily basis. I am a newbie to this field. I have a chance to work somewhere else stable. Sadly, I have to take my chances else where.
Maybe it differs from account to account
It seemed to me that I was getting my lines quicker on the new system. But that is just my opinion. I am sure that it differs from account to account.
Yes, jumped from account to account
Constantly rude office staff (especially payroll who often made mistakes). Poor technical assistance. Poor support on accounts. Very slow to reply to problems. Like to lay the blame for problems on an account with the MT instead of poor training and support by the office. 
Yes that was the account I was on and it was GREAT account...sm
So if they are going to mess several things up: 1) Pay for their employees, 2) Losing a big account like that one, 3) Hiring supervisors that just wanted to chit-chat and lose production then I would think that is NOT a company to go for. But I had to learn it the hard way - having my payday be weeks late during Christmastime. But I gave them the benefit of the doubt for 2 more paydays - they were late also....
The account I was on was ALL ESL. They were paying me 9 cpl, but the account was so bad, I
never made any money.
When you get switched from account to account
it makes it very difficult to attain their 12,000 line requirement. If you don't make your line counts, you get moved to part time and lose your benefits. If you are already part time, you get your line rate docked. In order to prevent this from happening, I used to have to work more than 40 hours a week. It seems that this is their goal...to keep everyone from having benefits...instead, they are losing their MTs. I was staying at OSi for only 1 reason and she seems to have fallen off the face of the earth. I am most definitely looking elsewhere. I'm gettin while the gettin's good!
What account or type of account are you on? nm
OT is based on account. One account may
run dry, but another is overflowing. OT is requested for that specific account probably for hte MTs covering that account as they are the ones familiar with it.
For each account is a different set of account specifics.
I left WMX due to consistent lack of work despite 3 accounts. My current company gives a primary and a secondary and there is enough work on one or the other to get my lines and then some. Still 2 different sets of account specifics, but only 2. Someone posted they had 15 accounts at WMX and were still out of work. I didn't work for MQ, but sounds like the same situation at WMX.
Thanks! Yes, the account is ExText, so we would be on the same account. sm
They are still hiring if you change your mind.
Also, I am working part-time for Encompass. The account I am on also uses ExText, and I would not hestitate to recommend Encompass to anyon either. I feel fortunate to have found 2 great companies.
If you want IC work, I am also still working on a limited basis for CardioScribes. It is just cardiology transcription and the work is easy. Their platform is Wordscript, which is a Word-based platform, VERY easy to use. However, I really prefer employee status now, plus with the above 2 jobs, I will be making about 1 cent more per line plus having benefits and my taxes taken out.
If you go somewhere else, or if you decide to stay where you are, good luck! 
Does it have to be an account your manager has or any account? nm
,
New Account
It's probably because they are hiring new MTs to staff a new account.
New account? - sm
Then why not spread the new work out to the MTs sitting there waiting for something to do instead of hiring new people to take work away from them?
It's definitely more than 1 account.
It happens each time they add or convert a new account to BT. They may get 1 port taken care of on one account and then it happens on another. When they first started transferring accounts to BT it was ALL the ports on some accounts. It has been a nightmare for MONTHS with this platform. Yeah, I'm sure they'll get it all straightened out eventually, but how fair is it to expect US to take the brunt of the loss for months while they get things in order and what does that really say about them and their concern for the MLSs?
Which is exactly why the account I am on
now dropped MQ and went with a different company. Major reliability issues. It makes me wonder how they get new accounts when they lose so many!
Really? They had about 99% ESL on the account I did!
Made about as much as the guy that cleans the grill at Burger King. No thanks.
I'm still new at my account
but right now I'm already at 200 lph. I'd rather now give the pay because it's unprofessional, but they offer a higher rate than any of the other places I applied at.
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