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There is no way I would use any VOIP company

Posted By: sm on 2009-02-13
In Reply to: VONAGE - An

for dictation. I used Skype, and I used Packet 8 for home service. I have known people who have used Vonage. They are entirely too unpredictable and the sound most times is horrid. It might be okay for home use if you didn't call much, but there is no way I would use VOIP for something as important as dictation.


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VOIP - If I am not mistaken VOIP requires a high speed connection.
:(
VOIP
I think I'm going to try Vonage/VOIP, too, as I'm paranoid about getting back charged by a regular company.  I already have used Qwest ULD before and got a letter after a few months threatening to terminate (there was no 5000 minute limit when I originally signed on), but fortunately I just cancelled it and there were no back charges.  I don't see any minute limit with Vonage, but I have noticed that both the residential and small business plans have the same limitations which say things like continuous call forwarding (not sure that that is).  I know a lot of transcriptionists use it and seem to not have problems, so I'm going to give it a try.  I don't really know what else to do unless pay by the minute, but it'd cost me a fortune, even with a low rate plan.
VOIP
I have been using Vonage and yes it is true that if your internet goes out you have no phone service but you can set it up quite easily to automatically forward any calls to a cell phone or any number you want if your internet or electricity goes out.  My internet rarely goes out and I have had no problems with my Vonage service.  It did require some tweaking at first but I love it and I am saving so much money over Bellsouth that I had previously.
VOIP and 911
If you are switching to VOIP for telephone service, whether it is Vonage or another company, please make sure your 911 dispatch center can find you should you need them.  The location of a land line phone and more and more cell phones (eventually all because they will all have GPS) will come up on computer-aided dispatch systems.  This is not always the case with VOIP.  When you choose your provider, give 911 a call in the late evening/early morning when they are not so busy, tell them you have a new phone system and inquire if a location comes up for you on their computer.  Actually, anyone who moves or otherwise changes their phone number can (and probably should) do this.  The middle of an emergency is not the time to find that 911 thinks you are somewhere you aren't.
VoIP
I use Vonage and I have that same problem. Sometimes it depends on the time of day. Let me know if it gets any better and with what company. I was told that AT&T does not like to help with that.
I have VOIP s/m

And yes, if the power goes out, so does your phone.  Power does not go out that often.  I do have a cell that is a prepay phone for when I'm on the road, etc., so in case of power outage, I can use that as well if I need to.  Just think about it, if the power is out, your not working anyways...


Now I do have a generator as well, so if and when the power does go out, I can get that set up and use that as well. 


Voice quality is just like the regular landline for me although I know some people that have had problems with different services.  It is normally because of a setting that you need to adjust on your end. 


 


AT&T VOIP has been great! (nm)
nm
Lanier and VOIP
I use digital phone with Time Warner for my Lanier account. I also kept my unlimited LD with Verizon as a back up, but use the digital phone service for my Lanier because I'm afraid that Verizon will catch up with me. Therefore, I have TWO lines, one land one (Verizon), and one VOIP (Time Warner). Both are unlimited LD, but if the cable goes out, I still have my land line. Hope this helps.
VOIP and internet - sm
Yes, the Lanier is plugged into the phone line just like your C-phone. The phone line is connected to the cable modem, so the phone line and your internet connection come through the same modem (I think...not sure of the technicalities). The VOIP is half the price of my land line with Verizon, and VOIP is truly unlimited, while Verizon watches the minutes.
I would go AT&T or Vonage VoIP instead
of hassling with unlimited long distance since ULD becomes an issue for MTs.
VoIP problems
I have had three different VoIP companies over the years, all at the request of my employer. I never lasted more than a week with any one of them and now I absolutely refuse to do that again. Had the same issues you have with the foot pedal and I was not using a C-phone nor a wave pedal. The audio quality would be choppy, there would be gaps where multiple words were missing, etc.

Out of those three different companies, not one could fix the problem, though they all acknowledged that the choppiness could be an issue "for some people". Lucky me!

Hope you fare better!
Anyone using VoIP (internet phone) with a
DVI or C-phone to transcribe, and does it work well?  If so, what company do you use?  Are those companies cracking down on transcription like the regular LD carriers?
My employers forbids us to have VoIP because...
it fouls up lots of things.  Also, I have a friend with Vonage and we are constantly cut off, or it sounds like she is talking from the bottom of a fish tank.  She hates it. 
VoIP plans are the only ones without restrictions
x
Anyone use VoIP phone system
and are you having problems with connectivity?  We switched to internet-based phone service a few weeks ago and recently I started having problems with downloading the voice.  I get the report but without any voice.  If you have had this problem, how did you remedy it?  I'm about at my wit's end.  Thanks!
VOIP and internet connection - sm
I have VOIP with my cable provider, Roadrunner, and I can use my Lanier at the same time as I am on the Internet, no problems.  In my area, this is much cheaper than unlimited long distance phone service with my land line provider (which I kept, by the way, as you have NO phone if your cable goes out).   I have not had any problems at all.  Hope this helps.
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.   


my concern with VOIP with a C-phone is
how is the voice quality? I would be interested in something like Vonage as I can take that with me and travel.
voip.com has true unlimited
I called this morning and questioned her extensively on whether it was truly unlimited, and she assured me it was. www.voip.com - not to be confused with the generic voip service like Vonage. She did say that satellite internet users would probably not be happy with the connection, but I have DSL and it works perfectly. One warning - it disconnects at exactly 5 hours, so you have to remember to hang up and re-dial in prior to that.
Question for Vonage/VoIP users

If you are using Vonage for MT, do you use the residential or small business plan, and how many minutes a month do you use?


Thanks!


VoIP in lieu of landline phones?

I read a little article in one of those free local trade publications which discussed ways of saving money on everyday household costs. VoIP was listed as a way to save a ton of money by using your Net connection for your phone service.


The article didn't explain how it all works. Is anyone doing this? Do you hook up your phone to your cable connection or are you using some speaker system/software on your PC to make calls? I just don't get it. All I know is that they said you can call anywhere in the world and it doesn't matter, it's a fixed inexpensive monthly cost. I also don't know if you trade your landline telephone number for something through thte VoIP service.


So, I'm intrigued but totally in the dark about this concept. TIA!


I had VoIP back in Nov with my cable provider and then went with another IP and just used..sm
my landline because they did not offer VoIP.  Now my IP offers it  and it works great other than the pedal.  Thanks for your help!
VoIP and foot pedal issues

For anyone using VoIP, do you find that your foot pedal does not always respond? IOW, you lift your foot from the foot pedal and the dictation continues along? Or, you have to press the foot pedal twice to get the system to respond. Sometimes, I'll press the rewind pedal for a second and I'm thrown back to the beginning of the report. --- My C-phone and foot pedal are both  new, so it's not with my equipment. And AT&T says they don't support my equipment (although they were helpful once before).

Any suggestions to resolve the problem?


Lingo that is who we use...VOiP, $22.95/month, six months already, no probs.
You might want to investigate further the post someone made about 2007 and VOiP. Seems the government is all hot and bothered because they need to tap phones and cannot do so with VOiP. They probably will end up taxing and surcharging eventually, as well, but for a while it can save you a lot of money...
Has anyone used Sun Rocket VOIP? If so, how is the voice quality and service? nm

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.
cable phone and VoIP are the only TRUE unlimited
I can't find a single phone company that has TRUE unlimited. I've used VOiP in the past through Vonage with no problems. I got rid of it only because I didn't need ULD anymore, and they when I started needing ULD again I decided to switch to cable phone and internet. I bundle my cable, internet, and phone all together at a pretty reasonable price. Cable phone works great and no problems with heavy daily use.
What Company is This? I have been hired by a company that is sending a foot pedal.. Don't want t
.
The company cutting cpl, the company stopping paying for headers
:{
Good of the company? As IC, I am my own company. Not my problem if she has problems as long as I do
:P
Accepted a job with a new company, gave two weeks notice to my old company..

Old company, let me go before two weeks was up.  New company, said they were having trouble getting me set up and my equipment ready, but they would pay me while I waited.  It's been a month, still no check from new company even though I was told it was "in the mail."  I have no income and am at a loss. 


I have a signed offer letter from the new company, contracts, etc.  I applied for unemployment, but old company is saying I quit and technically I am currently employed with the new company!  New company is not returning calls or answering email.


What should I do!?!?!?!


I started sending my resume out today, but the process of getting a new job will take at least two weeks and I need money now to catch up on what I'm behind!


My telephone service is VOIP, but it s through my cable service, along with my cable internet. .
We have had VOIP for about a year now and I love it. I really can't tell a difference in traditional service, except the price. One of the best calls of my life was to Bellsouth to cancel our service!
You don't want to work for this company. Call your current company and
tell them that you have decided against the new position and tell them that you would like to stay. It is cheaper for them to let you stay than to train someone new. A company who could be so tacky as the one you just spoke of is one you do not want to work for. You can rescind your resignation. If you are a good MT, they will be glad you did.
With my company, ICs use their own emails, employees have company email.
x
COMPANY INQUIRIES belong on Company board, please!
Goldbird
....3 months later my old company rehired me; can you return to your 1st company?
nm
Local radiology company, not transcription company
who has only 5 transcriptionists and are not hiring at this moment. We all work at home and get great benefits, no insurance out of pocket and 22 days paid vacation in the first year, after that it goes up. I feel very fortunate to have found them, but again I chose them because they did not do production, so now that they are, I'm a little disappointed.
I think it varies greatly from company to company...sm
I was hired five months ago by a national straight out of school at 8 cpl. I think it just depends on your knowledge level and ability, and of course, what the company is willing to pay.
i think it varies from company to company and/or location

VR company? Not when the MT company owns its own VR equipment. n/m.
xx
I have my own company email with my new company.
I can't answer your questions in your original post, I can tell you that with my new company, I have my own company email account, and I much prefer it. My old company had us use our personal email accounts, and they listed everyone who received emails in the cc line. They really never maintained those lists, and I received emails from them for a full five months after I quit - that despite my repeatedly asking to be removed from lists. Because the list had been passed from one person to the next in the company, I kept having to block sender after sender. Finally I replied to all, for each and every email I had gotten over a month's time. Well, that pretty much ended it.
I like to keep work and personal separate as much as possible.
It can vary from company to company.
If a company is on one coast and you on the other it can affect shift time, meaning usually if you want to start work 9-10 instead of 11 you could for 3rd shift, etc. 
Buy your own... company computers are for that company only!
x
some of what you want to know varies from company to company,
client to client. The services each have their own QA grading system and you will get a copy at hire that tells you everything they deduct, and for how many points. This usually also includes formatting, such as wrong dates, right exam/wrong patient, etc.

You will need to know your punctuation and grammar first and foremost and use it properly, this is what you do. THEN if the client requests garbage in/garbage out (usually because they don't trust leaving anything up to us), you give it to them even though it hurts -- and should not be marked off QA for it.

Where do you study? Colleges with the 2 yr transcription course in my state make you take a year (or 2) of English grammar. No offense, but it's pretty much a 5th/6th grade review (is vs are, doctors' vs doctor's).

blanks will be limited, usually to 2, before you cannot send the report to client.

Wrong shortcuts - pay attendion to detail.
Varies from company to company
My first company I chose specifically because I knew they had a mentoring program and you had 12 weeks of "mentoring" to get up to speed. The training was very thorough. The first week was all training classes. There were very limited samples (1-2 per doc if at all). I worked there 6 months and never made their production quota, but they didn't care. When I asked my account manager about it, she said they knew the account was very difficult 95+% ESLs) and she wasn't worried about my production, that I was doing well.

I have also worked with companies that just did a training over the phone (usually about an hour) just to learn the platform. Then they did full QA for a day or two and then I was on my own. For both of these companies, I could review all the past reports of the doctors on the platform. That was really nice. I didn't have production requirements with these positions, just a daily schedule that I had to stick to. They just wanted to know when I would be working.

My recent company gave me a 10-minute training over the phone and gave me a couple of samples of a couple of the harder docs. I then had to submit 3 reports to the account manager to review, and then I was off on my own and was required to meet production immediately.

So it all depends. Each company is different. Good luck on the new job!
Try the company board with name of company.
x
My company did
They accessed and I watched what they were doing. It was an odd occurrence for me to watch...amazing, actually. I was amazed at the technology, but I suppose everything was okay, cause not had any problems from it. Like I said, I could see everything they were doing. It was like they had control of the mouse and I was watching with them sitting beside me!
My company did....
I was having major problems and they had to gain access to fix it. He told me that after our session, access could not be gained again. My husband (who is a computer nerd) confirmed this.
company
the company is e-Tranz out of Snellville GA
which company?
There is Transcription Solutions, Inc. in Texas and there is Transcription Solutions of South Carolina. 
a company I got a job with
They say that as an IC I should carry insurance due to if I type something wrong or whatever they will not back me unless I am an employee and the Dr. or client can sue me......