Your not alone...Quantity not quality is the focus today!

• I make decent money at my - current MT job, but . . .
  • You're wonderful, Current MT. ;) If I forget to tell you SM - MsIndigo
  • Your not alone...Quantity not quality is the focus today! - Catnapper

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If the company wants shoddy work, let them keep outsourcing to foreign countries.  If they get sued, they deserve it.  The office where I work will shortly be sending our work to India and doing away with us.  I saw a few reports from India, and they can't even spell our doctors' names correctly.  Their grammar is awful, not to mention the terminology.   Quality no longer counts, and I no longer want to work for companies that don't care about quality  They can take transcription and India and shove it!

I maintain 99% accuracy above on my reports.  However, the original question was regarding personal preference, and I have stated mine, and I respect your opinion as well.  :-)    I do think if I was working in an office or hospital setting, the setup you mentioned might be more profitable in the long run.  There are too many interruptions and such when you have other people running in and out, phones ringing, etc. 

I doubt that anyone but me really cares about the lines per hour it takes for me to do a report.  They just want an accurate report in a timely manner.  I take pride in my work, and would never just slop something out for the sake of the almighty buck.   And, as an added incentive, I work for 2 companies, and one of them has my name on each report.  I don't have a problem with it, but I did think it was a bit unusual at first.

Oh well ... I must confess that what I'd TRULY like is to be paid lots of money to just sit and play Battle Phlinx on Pogo all day long, but as of yet, no such luck.  

my ShortHand would type only the first letter of an expansion and then take all the letters away!  I checked and the Type It button is grayed out!  I have restarted the computer and looked on the Shorthand Help menu but can find nothing that applies.  Can anyone please help me ASAP?  I am lost without it!  TIA

But this article states it would only affect new customers right now.  So I am upset over nothing.  I went through heck with BellSouth when they charged me a surcharge of an extra 50 a month and then would write a letter saying I had to switch to a long distance service and pay by the minute because of my "excessive" use. They told me the unlimited charge was for an average of an hour a day not somebody who worked out of their home and I needed to switch a business plan at over 200 a month charge.  I switched over to cable because of that and then to read that cable was going to charging on a per use fee and not a flat monthly fee it upset me.  It is the nature of our work, VR, only paying for VBC, having headers and footers taken away, now being charged for being on line, etc.  It just seems that everything is done to keep to insure less money.

On the negatives!  What about the children who were born into this poverty through no choice of their own?

You take the negatives only in this tragedy, what a very closed mind you have

I have worked at Focus for just over a year now as an IC and I really like it there.  Everyone is very pleasant and helpful.  Any problems or concerns that I may have are addressed right away.  I have plenty of work to keep me busy.  They offer benefits if you are employee status, but you can also choose to be an IC.  They also have direct deposit.  I do transcription only, but they also have VR if you want to do that (you don't have to if you don't want to).  I work on the Dictaphone ExText platform but I know they have other platforms as well.

The bottom line is that they are a great fit for me.  I have had a really great experience with them.  No complaints at all.   

I also work for Focus, and I have to agree that they are the best company that I've worked for (or interviewed with) so far.  So far, I've worked for 3 other online companies and one local hospital.  Plus, I've interviewed with (and ended up turning down positions at) at least 10 companies since January of this year.  Add to this number those who won't give me a chance because I only have 2 years of experience (it apparently does not matter that I've had between 99% and 100% QA ratings in every MT job that I've had so far) or don't live in the required state or don't own a C-phone, don't have access to unlimited long-distance phone service, or some other such thing. 

The flexibility at Focus can't be beat.  I don't have to get permission to change my schedule to fit my needs.  Whenever I have a question, someone is available via IM, email, or telephone.  The pay on my favorite shift (third) is better than I've been offered anywhere else.  I also have 5 accounts, so if one doesn't have any work, I can generally find work on another.  I am an IC, but they do offer the employee option, last time I heard, and the premium for health insurance for a family was less than $400/month. 

My only fear is that they are sharing the work with so many other companies that I'm afraid of what is going to happen to the individual MTs like myself.

These are my experiences and my opinions, and are not open to debate.  But, I am happy to share the good, the bad, and the really UGLY about any experience that I have had with any MT company in the past 2 years.  Overall, it has been a true temporary nightmare, but I am very happy now at Focus, and have decided to stop searching for greener (USA-based) pastures; I'm not so sure there ARE any.

Focusing and not getting distracted is my toughest chore.  When I'm on point and working, I'm a great producer.  It's the getting there and staying there that's an issue for me.

I found a clock chime program that chimes every hour.  I initially got it to remind me to get up and stretch so I couldn't get so stiff, but it helps me stay focused, too.   When I want to get silly and I let myself get distracted, I know that I'll have 5 minutes coming with the next clock chime, so I get myself back to work a little bit easier.

This company has offered me a job.  I have never heard of them before.  Anybody have any info on them??? Good/Bad.. Thanks.

 Can anybody tell me anything at all about Focus  I heard they are a good service to work for.  Anybody   ??

Hello-

I am a newbie who is supposed to start at Focus and was wondering if you are stil happy with them? I am also going to be doing IC status, not employee. How much work do you usually get per day (hours?) Thanks for your help!

Amanda

pay her the $100.00 which, by the way, is not measly to many people, especially if they worked for it.  Two wrongs don't make a right!!  MTSOs have to understand that you must pay subcontractor MTs on time, especially if you have a signed agreement, even if they have a 50% error rate in reports and the client doesnot pay until 2010.

And I agree with the other poster, what was your subcontractor doing with your client's contact info?  Did you have her sign a non-compete clause in your transcription agreement?  If so, and she still contacted your client, then you still pay her the $100 and let her know she is in violation of your agreement, too, because her contacting your client is interpreted as competition.  If not, this is a learning lesson for you.

Beware of quality-based deductions!

Posting this because I want to get my line count up. I work as an IC and can work anytime I want to... when I type I do about 200 an hour so it is not the company line counter, as reason why my lines have been pretty low.  I have been in this business a long time though and find it hard to sit and focus.  If I could just even do 2 hours at a stretch and do that 3-1/2 times a day it would be great.  I just get so tired, bored, I don't know what that I cannot seem to tolerate the length of time needed to sit. I am making a fine line count for part time and meeting my contract, but I sure would like to earn more money and the work is there.  Anybody having the same struggles? Any input would be highly appreciated.  BTW: I tried setting a timer, giving myself little goals, even long-term end-of-pay check treats for myself, but the boredom or tiredness or something is just too strong. Thanks again for any ideas.

I have been working as a Transcriptionist since 1999, always from home.  For the first 5 years I could pound out the lines and sometimes work 9 or 10 hours straight and get an awesome line count.  About 2 years ago I started losing my focus and would get sidetracked by other things in the house, but I was able to meet my line goal most days.  Last year I decided to rent an office away from home with a neighbor who also works from home and I was a little more productive there, but still distracted.  Now, I am back home again and I feel like I would rather be doing anything than transcribing.  I don't want to give up on it because I LOVE the flexibility it gives me!  I am currently transcribing for two different clinics (not working for someone else) and I work as an IC for a national part time. 

My distractions are:  Internet, housework, sometimes my family although I'm working on re-training them (and I invested in a pair of noise-cancelling headphones so I don't have to hear them when I'm transcribing ) 

I know I'm not the only one who has gone through this so if you have and you have any tips that workd for you, I would love to hear them!  I need to get out of this rut!

Thanks in advance for your advice

Focus is an Indian company, you know.  Most who have been there were not happy, and many MTs only go there because they are fresh out of school and find it hard to get the experience they need.  Just FYI.

again

I am thinking about applying to FI and I was wondering if there is anybody out there who has worked for them at least a little while.  I checked some of the archives about Focus but is there anyone who likes working for them?