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ABOUT - Guide To Dictation |
Our transcription team is highly proficient at their job, but audio quality plays the highest role in ensuring that we meet and exceed our 98.5% accuracy aim. Please have a read of the following text, which may prove helpful for you and us.
Dictating is an acquired skill. If you dictate, you might enjoy reading some of the "Dos" and "Don'ts" of dictating - if you can take it. Some have said it is a "real eye-opener."
Some dictators should ask for help from their transcriber regarding dictation technique but, for whatever reason, cannot. We have therefore published this very basic set of guidelines to help those who may not want to ask for help. The following points are simple and basic to follow when dictating reports. They are certainly not complete. If you follow these recommendations, transcribers will be more likely to produce a transcription of your dictation in an accurate and timely fashion.
Please do...
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Learn about your recording equipment; how it works; how to maintain it. |
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Assemble any papers, reports, before you start dictating. |
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Make sure you are in a quiet area so your dictation can be heard clearly by the transcriber. |
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Identify yourself at the beginning of your dictation and state what dictation you are doing, i.e., what type of reports and the date you want reflected in the reports. |
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Say "Hello" to the transcriber who will be transcribing your tape. It is surprising how many people who dictate fail to acknowledge the person who will be transcribing their dictation. Even if your tape is sent to a "transcription pool" and you therefore do not know who will be transcribing it, a short, friendly word at the beginning of each tape can sometimes lift the spirits of whoever is transcribing your work. Many transcribers enjoy doing work more for someone who sounds friendly. |
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Always state then spell full details of: addressees, full names, mailing addresses, subject matter etc. |
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Try to use the same phrases in each of your report types. Be consistent in the way you approach similar reports. Make sure you use the same headings whenever possible. This makes it easier to transcribe your work and lessens the chance of error. |
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Speak clearly and at a regular pace. |
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Pause slightly before speaking when starting your recorder and pause briefly before stopping recording. This prevents words from being "clipped." |
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Speak with inflection in your voice. Monotonic voices tend to put transcribers to "sleep". |
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Speak with your mouth at the recommended distance from your particular brand of microphone for optimum sound levels. |
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Edit out any errors you make. |
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Spell unusual words that may represent company products, diseases, drugs, or procedures not normally found in the mainstream of daily work. |
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Always include punctuation, especially when starting new paragraphs. |
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Include "open" and "close" quotation instructions. |
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Have your dictation equipment serviced at least yearly. Putting it in for service during your vacation is a good time. |
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Get a colleague's dictation tape and, using a transcribing machine, sit down and spend just one single hour trying to transcribe his/her dictation. I absolutely guarantee it will be an eye-opener. |
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Please do not... |
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Use old recording tapes. Make a habit of buying new tapes at least once a year if you use them daily. Discard damaged tapes immediately and only after erasing them. |
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Dictate in a noisy area. Extraneous noise can make it difficult to hear dictation accurately. |
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Mumble. Speak clearly without letting your voice fade-out at the end of sentences. |
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Eat, drink or chew gum when speaking. |
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Make errors and then say "strike that" or something to that effect. Use the "cue and review" feature found on most current dictation equipment to erase your last statement. Erasing your own error also negates any chance of misunderstanding on the part of the transcriber as to what was to be "struck" or erased from what you dictated. |
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Try to spell words you don't know how to spell. If the word is unusual, just say it as clearly as possible and the transcriber can usually confirm the spelling if required. |
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Say "period" for the end of a sentence. The proper phrase when dictating is "stop" or preferably "full stop." |
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Shuffle papers, open drawers, rearrange your desk, rip paper off examination tables, or make loud sudden noises when dictating. |
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Forget to say "End of Dictation" at the end of your dictation, so the transcriber will know there is no more dictation to the end of the tape. |
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Burp, slurp, cough, sneeze, eat, drink, chew gum, clear nasal passages (and other ghastly things) while dictating. |
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Dictate while driving. It's dangerous and the sound quality is usually poor. |
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Please click here for some more information regarding redundant or confusing words and to see the International Phonetic Alphabet (provided for your reference if needed). It's actually pretty interesting. |
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