C-phone answers.......

I have used a C-phone for 15 years.  This is a unit that looks like a phone with extra buttons along the bottom.  It is plugged into a phone line and you dial into the # they give you to retrieve dictation...if it's not a toll-free #, you will want to be sure you have unlimited long distance on your phone plan.  I have 2 phone lines, but if you don't then you will need either a cell or some other way for people to call you.  Once in the system, the reports will come up as set up at the location you are dialing into.  You can interrupt a job, but you cannot send it back into the pool for someone else to type.  BTW, does your current employer know you do this, because where I work that is grounds for dismissal and is called cherry-picking.  The only way you are going to learn how to do a difficult dictator is to muddle through and learn them, not sending it to someone else to do and giving them the crappy work you don't want. 

• Cphone questions - MTinAL
  • Skipping reports on C-phone - Barry Watts
    • Transcription clerk..... - C-phone user
  • C-phone answers....... - C-phone user
    • Cphone - MTinAL
      • then she would have told you how as well. - mimi

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Hi, A C-phone is a dial-in type set-up.  The hospital that I type for uses them.  Basically you have a phone number you dial into, enter a password and go directly into your pool setup.  The hospital I work for covers the phone charges, but another account I have had required you to have unlimited long distance.  You are listening and typing from the actual recorded dictation.  Once completed you sign off the job and then the next one comes up.  You don't download files of anything like that.  It's as if you were on the phone listening to someone talk while you transcribe them.  You have a foot pedal to start/stop and functions that will speed up and slow down the dictation.  If you have any questions, email me.  I have used one for 14 years. 

difference.  Also, have you tried a different headset?  Also someone told me one time that there is a microphone under your volume control on the right corner of the C-phone.  It's a tiny hole.  If you break off a Q-tip and stick that into the hole that will squelch a lot of background noise and that worked as well.  As far as getting your C-phone service, I heard that Dictaphone is "sunsetting" C-phones at the end of this year.  Meaning, they aren't going to service them anymore as they are considered an obsolete technology.  So, I would contact Dictaphone and see what your options are.

I know very little about Lanier equipment.  I've not used it as extensively as Dictaphone.  Is there a local appliance repair place in your area?  You might ask one of those places to take a look at your equipment and see what they think.  Kinda scary, cause they could do more harm than good, but maybe worth a shot.

Not much help, I know.  But I thought I would share what tiny bit of obscure knowledge I do have. 

Anyone else experience this problem with their C-phone?  Is there a problem with my C-phone?  At first I thought it was my telelphone line and called the phone company.  They sent a technician out to replace the lines and check the house, but the hum is still there on the C-phone.

It's driving me batty!

through cable, have you tried to take an incoming call?

We only have one phone line.  I rarely get/make calls and when I do we have cell phones.  I just started working with a C-phone and got digital phone.  I can go a month and my phone not ring, so far have gotten 3 calls today, but I'm afraid that if I try to answer the phone that I will lose my report. 

I guess I could pull up a report and have my husband call on his C-phone and test it that way and then if I lose it no biggie. 

No matter what I do, every national I have worked for, I end up running out of work.  As you, when the work is there and there are no difficult dictators (which is rare anymore) I can transcribe probably 1600 lines/minutes a day. 

Right now today, which has been the norm the last couple of years, I am lucky to get 1000 lines/minutes in a day, only because of difficult/no work. 

Also, I work on up to 5 accounts, and still run out. 

Maybe it is a longevity thing, I am new so do not get the work?  Have you been long at this company so that you never run out of work? 

What am I doing wrong?

No, you don't need a regular modem/phone line if you have wireless internet and are only going to be working on DQS.  No, you don't have to rent their computer.  Just tell tell them you don't feel comfortable using or renting their computer and that you will be sending it back.  You don't need to explain working for other clients, etc.  Tech support will help you get DQS installed on your computer through the internet.  DQS looks intimidating by the manual, but the manual is extremely detailed and there mostly to help you in case you forget something later on.  DQS is fairly easy to learn and use, so don't worry.

Can someone with a Lanier LX230 help me out?  I have the quick reference card to program the machine but I need the instruction manual.  Does anyone have this?  Is it small enough to fax me a copy?  I would like to see if this thing is working or not but I don't know how to hook it up.

Thank you so much

Tabatha in Charleston, SC

First thing - DON'T MOVE, let him move. 

Second thing - WAIT FOR THE FT JOB.

Third thing - Be getting that child support coming in.

Going to court over child support or placement of the kids is not additional stress I need right now. If we can work it out ..out of court we will. If he starts having fits, I told him I will be in that courthouse so fast his head will spin.

And, a 2 bedroom is not an option. Must be a 3 bedroom. I would need to have my own room to do my typing if anything. With a 1 and 2 year old, typing in the living room will not work and I will not even try it. Thank you for your post.

1.  Usually yes they can, but there wouldn't be any real reason to do this  unless you're one of the people that downloads work and sits on it for several hours without returning it, and don't answer the phone if someone calls looking for the reports you have.

2.  There are at times ISP or phone line connection disruptions (depending on how you obtain your work) so you shouldn't assume that it's the company kicking you off on purpose, especially claiming that they want the work to go to certain people without having facts to prove this.  I'm not going to say that it can't happen but if you believe this to be true then keep a log of how much you lose your connections and whether or not you get any of the reports you had previously downloaded back when you reconnect, and take it to the higher powers in the company if  you're confident that you smell a rat so to speak.

Hi -

My husband is Bipolar and we've been married 15 years.  The only times he gets really manicky or depressed is when his medications have been changed or when he doesn't take them regularly (not often).  Once he was at a meeting for a week and by the time he got back (he was out of state and didn't pack his meds) he was in a phase of increased mania and "off".  Please remember Bipolar is a real "medical" problem affecting brain chemistry and be supportive of your friend.  If you are close enough friends for her to reveal her Bipolar, you should be close enough to tell her you'll help her through this. You should feel comfortable voicing your concerns to her about the safety of your children.  You should also be firm and insistent (but not pushy or rude) that she should see her Psychiatrist or MD regarding her meds, as she obviously recognizes she is "not making any sense".  A simple med change may be in order.  Sometimes Bipolar people don't think they have a problem (especially when they are in the manic phase and are "invinceable") and will refuse to take their meds because there is nothing wrong with them.  Since she obviously knows she is not making any sense, she should be open to discussion and maybe your support is what she needs.  Bipolar is a terrible burden to those who carry it, because they cannot fix it and it involves medications for the rest of their lives.  However, Bipolar people can be extremely successful in whatever they do, as long as their meds are working and they are taking them as prescribed. I hope this helps answer your questions. 

ok.  I don't have to look up patient information.  I do have to look up physicians if they are cc'd on report, names not addresses.  work 2 main accounts.  work 5 other accounts as a backup.  been an MT over 15 years, at this job 6 months.  was not looking for a job but got "head-hunted" and switched.  employee.  took 2 weeks to get to speed.  not sure what you mean by platform.  worktype I like best is ops, but I do H&Ps, discharges, consults, etc. etc.  no radiology.  acute only.  line rate .09.  type whatever comes. 

the point I'm trying to make with this is that no matter what you type, you can use your shortcuts to the max.  I think most people have never had anyone show them how to make shortcuts that will work for them. 

Many thanks!

1)  He does not hold any taxes.

2)  NO benefits.

3)  Same salary regardless, but I do transcribe everday of the week except Saturday. 

Thanks - It helps to get some input from you'll. I feel totally embrassed to ask for a raise.    

Most programs have a built-in spellchecker. Not all of them are the best in the world, but they suffice. It's a good idea to have a MS Word-compatible spellchecker on your own computer - that way if the spellchecker on the program you are provided isn't adequate, you can type the word into a blank MS Word document and check it on your own medical spellchecker.  Saves a little time versus Googling it, especially if you keep MS Word open but minimized.  

Text Expanders you have to supply, if they don't have a full version of Word (and a lot of them don't).

Some companies will supply hardware as well as software, such as C-phones, computer foot pedals, etc.  Not all, but some.

I don't know if you have mentioned your age in any of your other posts.  As I said in a different context, I would not advise someone who is in their 20s or 30s to go into this field, because I believe voice recognition software and other innovations will make it obsolete within the foreseeable future.  I only have 11-12 years to go until retirement, so I am going to try to hang on.  But if you are young, I would advise you to at least consider a different field.

Just my two cents.   

Recorders name the files with letters and/or numbers. Once the file is off the recorder, it can usually be renamed manually before uploading. (My docs just hand their recorders off to the OM who takes care of all that for them.)

Having said that, if your docs are really phobic about renaming or just don't want to be bothered, depending on the recorder, you can have the dictator dock their recorder and use software to take it off the recorder and upload directly to your FTP site. Specifically, the higher-end Olympus recorders can do this.

You could set your FTP site up so that each doc has their own folder and when they upload, they can only access their specific folder. The voice file(s) would just keep the name given on the recorder but you would know which doc was which by the folder the voice file was loaded to.

Hopefully, this answers your question.