I've been screwed over by the big phone companies too, but once you switch to a business line,
Posted By: WI MT on 2006-03-09
In Reply to: LOL - Babe
a lot more options are opened up to you. Talk America has an unlimited long distance business line for $49.95. I've been with them for over a year now. I also tried calling cards, which are an even bigger rip off.
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I could switch to DSL but the phone company charges 50 extra a month for being on line for more than
So either way I will have to pay more. I guess no one else here is affected or concerned by this but the article said that other companies would follow suit if Time Warner has success. The article said it would affect the teleworkers who are on line for long periods, not the people who just use cable for reading their email.
I would check into a business line. My phone company offers one for around 55 dollars, with truly U
I am going to remove the LD from my home phone, and use the business line for all calls, then I will only have to pay about 35 above what I'm paying now. Not ideal, but the best deal I could find.
May have to change phone companies, have switched to job using a C-phone. sm
Currently have Embarq (formerly Sprint), and my usage will be going up about 12,000 minutes a month. What phone companies offer really unlimited for a flat rate? TIA.
I've changed them between an old phone and new phone, but the same company, i.e. Nextel.
x
I changed my line to a business line, talked to a supervisor sm
at SBC, told him what I was using the service for, and got the okay to use it -- $49/month unlimited.
I have also used The Neighborhood, and their unlimited is truly unlimited. I also explained to them when I signed up what I was using it for and their comment was "unlimited means just that -- unlimited, no matter what." I cannot remember how much they were, but it might be worth checking into for you. (www.theneighborhood.com)
Good luck!
it certainly is not pay worthy at 4.5 line or 3 line. I know the companies cram it down our throats
nm
If you use LecStar as your home/business phone service read this....sm
They had a judge sign a Chapter 7 bankruptcy order on 10/2 and have begun cutting off phone service to residental and business customers. I found out about this when I attempted to make a long distance call today (I had the unlimited long distance home phone plan) and got notification that I had no long distance service available. Upon calling them the representative told me that they're working on cutting phone service to everyone and at any time I could lose service. I've called the "mega" phone service for my area, BellSouth, and signed up to switch hopefully before the line is disconnected by LecStar.
Interestingly I had signed up for their service through a cooperation they had with my power company. The power company just found out yesterday about the bankruptcy and services starting to be cut off and is in the process now of calling every power company customer who had phone service with LecStar and telling them what is happening so that hopefully no one else will be caught off guard with a disconnected phone service.
but all phone companies offer....sm
Privacy Director - I have had privacy director for years thru my phone company (bellsouth) and I get NO telemarketer phone calls EVER. *S*
If you've been in the business
26 years you ought to know how the game is played. The out of work situation isn't exactly something that's just suddenly come up. Those who insist on "sticking to a schedule" are only fooling themselves. One minute out of TAT and up goes the recruiting ads, more fingers are hired and poof, the work is gone. If anyone expects to make a living in MT, then you grab the work when it's there; if you don't someone else will. Sorry, that's just a cold, hard fact of life. No sympathy from here. I don't like having to rearrange my schedule either but I do like getting a decent paycheck.
Business line.
My phone company rep asked me if I advertised. I told her no, that I worked for a company as an IC. I was told that as long as I did not advertise that number as a business number that I could take the personal use rate. This does not answer the unlimited issue, because the company did not have an unlimited plan.
Is it legal or phone companies to monitor...sm
your phone line usage? I know of 5 different MTs now, two in California and one in Indiana, two in Illinois, that have had phone companies call them and say that they are illegally using the phone line for computer modem or what not and that they have to stop or will be charged biz rate of 3 cents or 5 cents a line, depending on the state. Some of the girls use a phone line to get the dictation but a modem to do the work and they are still being told this.
At 3 or 5 cents per minute, for me that would be over 400 bucks a month and that is quite a HUGE chunk to pay for working with what we do make.
How can they do this legally? You are not doing anything wrong AND if they are monitoring the lines, they would hear the voices of the dictation so they would not think this is just modem usage for hours.
Anyone know if this is legal to do? Since AT&T went with SBC is is worse bz now the ones that switche to SBC are getting hit by this too.
Dot
I've always verified every line I've typed (I have my ways) -sm
If you're supposed to be paid a certain $/line, that's what you should be getting no matter how they do billing unless of course it's specified in YOUR contract with THEM.
BTW, I've never caught a company cheating me ever.
Shouldn't need a business line
This "business" thing seems to vary. When I asked them about a "business" a/c they told me I didn't need one. Now I am running into MTs all over who have phone cos bugging them about usage.
LOL - it says "unlimited long distance" - it doesn't matter if you use it for friends or for dictation. I'd be curious to see what happens with a lawsuit, because they may lose.
Business a/c's are generally for people with multiple lines and special needs re quick repair times. It has nothing to do with how much you use the phone to call one number.
I'd try confronting them with this. Ask them - just what is a "business" a/c for. Because when I ask AT&T, or Comcast for that matter, they tell me exactly what I SD above - people with multiple lines and needing fast repair times, special wiring, etc. Not because they use the phone a lot to call one number.
I've had a few service-oriented business of my own, though (sm)
they were not in the MT field. I dealt with the rude, hostile and nasty clients by having TWO sets of prices: One, lower set for the easy-to-deal-with people, and another, HIGHER set of prices for the hard-to-deal-with ones. And if they were REALLY negative, they weren't worth working for at ANY price, and I simply referred them to a competitor who did a lousy job, and that I didn't like.
I've noticed a lot of business owners
have their own way of doing things - sometimes too extreme for me. They either have done so long their way - they don't realize things have changed since they started - or they go by the BOS down to the letter - each and every single letter - and possibly your accounts have not followed that closely in the past - or they are just picky as all get out and have a huge ego and want to make you feel inferior. There is also the possibility you may be doing some things 'wrong' - but if you have been in the business for 20 years - cannot be that serious - and obviously you know what you are doing!! I have run into absolutely crazy things in the last year with different MTSOs.... you dont' even want to know!!
I use SBC unlimited with a business line. It is called sm
Complete Business Solution. It is actually costing me $12 a month LESS than than to have a residential line. I called them, they switched it over that day and I have been with them for 2 years, working 8+ hours a day, 6 days a week. I kept the same phone number too!
Sometimes if I can't get off I say, "I"m sorry. My business line is ringing. Can I call you
``
There are some companies that offer dialup and C-phone connections. Try those! I'm in the count
x
Maybe you could just put your past supervisor's names with the companies phone number?
I know exactly what you mean. It's hard when you work at home and don't really work closely with anybody or with anybody other than your immediate supervisor and QA people who actually get to see your work.
Have you ever worked outside the home? Maybe you could put previous coworkers or supervisors. If you don't have a number, just put the company's number on there.
Good luck and God bless!
No, I've worked in doctor's business office.
That is what the insurance company allows, not what they dictate. Who is to tell the doctor how long he can sit and talk with his patient. It is up to him. True insurance companies get together to decide what is the appropriate amount for the doctor to "charge" for a service but I've literally seen where the doctor sees the patient all of 2 minutes after patient is worked up by techs, but they still get paid for that visit.
I've heard with Dell if you tell them you're a business,
you'll get someone from the US. I already have two HPs but tried it anyway. I used to say home or home office but said I use it for business and still got someone from India but he spoke very, very good English compared to some I've spoken to in the past.
C-phone and phone line
I have cable for my Internet so I have my C-phone on my regular home phone line and forward my home phone number to my cell phone.
Business line with Talk America, $49.95/month unlimited for transcription
x
Is it customary to count headers/footers in this business when doing line counts? Thanks. nm
I've done both, but for different companies
I would say QA is faster, so if they pay the same, the potential to make more money is with QA. Again, that is depending on the rules of the company, but with VR you end up having to change a lot more text than you do with QA.
Phone line
With the only company I worked for to dial in, I paid for the phone line. They even requested that we have two phone lines, so that they could call us, if needed, while we were working. This was not a requirement, however. I had a second line put in anyway, so that I could get personal calls while I was working. I was an employee at the time. They did, however, provide an 800 number so that it was not long distance. When they stopped doing that I moved my office to my mom's, where it was not long distance, but I paid for the line here. I considered it a trade off to not have to drive the 35 miles one-way to work in-house. I did have full benefits with that company. I am an IC with the company I am with now, and I pay for the phone line and the DSL. I provide the computer, and the company provides the software, and I have no benefits. If your employees continue to have the same benefits that they had inhouse, they probably would not mind paying for the phone line, but I am sure they would appreciate it, if you can afford to take care of that.
Phone line help, please if possible
I hope I don't confuse anybody but here goes.
Back in 1988, I had 4 phone lines installed in my home. 1 is personal, 1 for my dial up modem (also personal), a business line, and an 800 number which the phone company tied to another personal phone number-I'll call this number 123-4567. (This was the only way the phone company could do it at the time).
As it stands now, I get a bill for the 800 service through Sprint, an 800 bill through MCI for the calls I recieve, and a bill through MCI Small Business for the office phone and 123-4567. I also get a bill from Verizon for the 123-4567 number (I think that's the one) that is a minimum $5 charge a month. I'm really getting triple billed for 1 line.
As of Jan., I want to disconnect my 800 number, my office phone line, and my modem line, but leave the 123-4567 line for my doc. MCI told me I can't disconnect my office line without disconnecting the 123-4567 number.
Am I supposed to wipe the slate clean and go without any phone service then get new service with somebody? It's been so long since I had to deal with something like this and I'm so confused. 
Can anbody make any sense out of this? TIA.
Is it your phone line?
Sounds like a problem with your phone line. What type of long distance are you using?
Look up your C-phone on line....
nm
Thanks, but can you tell me what a C-phone is? I've seen them mentioned on here, but have no ide
nm
I've done mttest for quite a few companies,
but none have ever asked for SSN at the end. I would either leave it blank, or send a message to tech support listed at the bottom, asking what you could put in there to make it go through, but that is too private to put over the net, when you don't know what they're doing with that after a test. It's not an offer, it's a test. They don't need your SSN.
I've worked for several companies using this VR
I make on average $20-$26 an hour with the editing at 4cpl/straight typing 9-10 cpl 65 char with headers and footers and templates. I've been using it for several years though. There are several job ads for this software.
DSL does work through the phone line
I have mine through SBC. They sent filters to put on each phone line. Does not interfere with phone usage.
Since the modem is plugged into an electrical outlet as well, you will lose your connectivity if the electricity goes out.
You seem overly worried about no electricity. lol ???
Dont need phone line?
I have DSL but I have to be plugged into the phone line. Do you mean you can have DSL through the phone company but just use it for internet and not a phone line? Sorry if I sound stupid but my area just got DSL. Im in a rural area and we were still using dial up until a few months ago. My company, however, does pay for the internet connection $30.00/month.
and not the phone line to your house
We had a war with Earthlink over this. It was their responsibility to contact Bell South about the problem, but they said it was our responsibility (we have a DSL line). We finally dropped them and went right to Bell South. Everything was fine for a while and then the problems returned. The service tech played a hunch and checked the underground wiring in a hub(some green box about a block away) and that was problem. He took care of the wiring and the problem has never returned.
Do you have a phone line connected? sm
When I first got DSL, I couldn't fax, either. I discovered that I needed to have an adapter that plugs the phone line to the computer. It's a little box that has two jacks and the DSL line is connected to it and then you run a separate line from it to your computer and then you can use the fax utility. I will see if I can find what that adapter is called as I forget right at the moment!
Is C-phone for land-line only?
Won't pretend I understand VOIP but I know its available with my broadband.
VOIP as second phone line
Is it possible to use VOIP as an extra phone line instead of investing in a second land phone line? I'm going to be working at my mom's a couple days a week. She has one phone line and DSL. At my house I only have dial-up. I have an account that requires two phone lines with no DSL, one for dictaphone, one for Meditech. I really hate to ask her to pay for another land phone line and was wondering if I could use VOIP. Thanks for any input.
what would the second phone line be for? (Sorry, my message got cut off before)...
basic PC/phone line
Windstream (Houston area) charges about $16 a month for just a basic, no-frills line. That's why I hoped to hear if anyone else had any luck with MagicJack. I got one, but something just isn't working right. May be an OE (operator error), tho!
2nd phone line question
Unnamed national MT co told me when hired that I would be reimbursed for a 2nd line and that the line could be a cell phone.
I am hooked up to internet with Comcast (42.95). I are being asked in an e-mail if I had a 2nd phone line - Yes or No answer only - and I am unsure what to type.
When I did have 2nd phone line when hired, it was incapable of being used on my account (tooo slowwwwww) so I had it disconnected and got a cell phone.
Thanks!
How to re-record off phone line?
Does anyone know how to re-record transcription off a phone line? TIA
Ditto below - I've had a refurb phone
nm
I've had that dreaded phone call twice before. Once was
a lab error, and the other time was precancerous but was resolved with in-office cauterization (painless), and that was 20 years ago!!! So, don't worry - very small odds of anything really bad. 
I've never used Verizon, but I tried using Vonage with my C-phone and ... SM
I didn't find Vonage to be very reliable. Some days I would have no dial tone and the phone wouldn't be working and I would have to reboot my high speed modem, reboot my router, and then reboot my Vonage modem. This happened a lot after thunderstorms and ice or snow storms. Some days I'd be working and lose my connection. I had trouble with dialing out even though I could receive calls and had to wait for Vonage to fix a server problem.
It just got really annoying for me. I mean the unlimited long distance was great, but I need something more reliable. My local phone company ended up offering an unlimited long distance package at a reasonable price and I jumped at it. Now I've got a regular 'ol analog phone line with unlimited LD and I pay about $40 month and that's with an in-line service package which means if I have any jack or line problems, I don't have to pay extra for a technician to come out and fix it for me.
MT companies without line count req.
Does anyone know of any MT companies that do not require a specific weekly line count and lets you set your own hours (part-time)? I need something about 10 to 15 hours a week. Thanks.
what is the companies line rate?
And how long is the internship?
Need info or true ULD companies. I've
not paid attention to past posts because I never thought I'd need it. Have chance for a position, but need ULD - like now. I'm on the east coast. I have DSL and my ISP is Earthlink. They have something called truvoice where it looks like I can get true ULD, but because I have DSL I still have to maintain my land line. Not sure if I could use DSL, phone, and tru voice all at the same time.
Dedicated phone line is what I was afraid of...
I just spoke with Time Warner and they do not allow you to have two separate phone numbers. Right now all the phone jacks in my house are wired through TW, so I can't even go through Fair Point for one dedicated phone line. Has anybody else had this problem and what have you done? Any ideas other than give up on this job because I don't really want to do that as everything with this company "fits" and the account would be perfect for me.
Lanier & digital phone line
Does anyone use a Lanier with a digital phone line (not VOIP)? Anything else required to make this work?
thx.
I've heard C-phone with VOIP works well (sm)
and a lot cheaper, too. Forget the costly unlimited long distance and business plans! It may be a good idea to have another phone-line as a backup for your C-phone in case DSL/cable goes down.
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