The Story of Us ~ Part 4 in a Series A Day in the Life of a Transcriptionist

er wnd hw we gt ur xscrs bk so fst?

Translation: Ever wonder how we get your transcripts back so fast?

At Copytalk LLC, we know that you need your files back quickly, and they need to be accurate. Our turnaround time of four hours means that our scribes need to be able to get through your audio files as fast as possible, and they need to decrease time spent on fixing errors made as they type.

Our solution comes in the form of macros, which is what we call our keyboard shortcuts. Each scribe works in our proprietary software program, which is preloaded with macros to help our scribes type quickly and learn key industry terms. But they are also encouraged to make their own shortcuts. One of our most advanced scribes has over 10,000 unique macros! These can include words, phrases, numbers, and even variations on punctuation and capitalization.

These macros don’t just make our scribes’ jobs easier, but they help ensure that we are capturing not only your words but your meaning in the files. A great example of this is REIT. As an industry professional, you know that REIT stands for real estate investment trust, and many people pronounce the acronym “reet.” So when our scribes are listening to your file, they may hear you say, “reet.” A good macro would be reit, which automatically changes to REIT, or even reet. Some scribes prefer to use phonetic macros for acronyms. They can also make another macro to write out the complete phrase:

reet = REIT

reett = real estate investment trust.

Not only do these macros allow us to get your work back to you faster, they also make sure that our scribes don’t make industry-specific errors. Scribes not immediately familiar with certain institutions don’t have to worry about spelling, capitalization, or if the words are hyphenated. For instance, they can just type “ml” every time you say, “Merrill Lynch” and continue on.

These macros aren’t just useful for industry terms, either. People all across the country tend to use similar phrases in these files, especially when they’re scribing them for an associate to look at first. For example:

lmkiyhaqoc = let me know if you have any questions or concerns

This might look like gibberish, but it’s how we keep our promises to you. It’s important to us at Copytalk LLC that we create a quality product for you because we know that it is crucial that you keep accurate notes for all of your clients.

When you open up your app or dial into our phone line, you can rest assured that what you dictate is going to come back to you quickly and accurately. Sometimes, faster speed means lower quality. But here at Copytalk LLC, we have found a way for our scribes to type fast, be accurate, and return your transcript to you.

tbeob (Thanks, bye. End of blog.)