September already

Well that was a busy August!  When we got to 7,500 minutes of transcription to be completed within ten days we did feel as if we were creaking a bit at the seams.  We’re very grateful to our clients for the work, and to the excellent transcription team for turning it all around to such a high standard, but it doesn’t do much for the stress levels.

But we survived!  The August bank holiday hit (not a holiday in Scotland, sob) and things are a bit calmer.  Lots of people on holiday at the moment, we’re getting out of office messages popping up left, right and centre as we upload transcripts back.  We should be thankful for the breathing space and the chance to catch up but no, it wasn’t long before we had the “oh, it’s a bit quiet” conversation!  That normally means a deluge of work starts arriving so we won’t be quiet for long.

Unfortunately Lesley had to hand in her notice in August.  A change in family circumstances meant that she finished with us on 21 August.  We’re sad to see her go - she wasn’t with us as long as we would have liked but she was great fun and made us smile.  Hence the call a couple of weeks ago for some admin assistance.  Luckily two of the transcription team have been able to step into the breach and provide cover for the next three months.  This will give us time to review our requirements for admin cover and decide the best way forward.  So, thanks Jen and Sam and welcome to our crazy world!

Emily has also gone back to college to do her HND.  Unfortunately her timetable means we won’t have her all day on a Friday but she’ll be about, honing her transcription skills and helping cover through the holidays.

We also have another person helping us with the quality control.  Jackie H started working with us on an ad-hoc basis in the middle of the busy period and her feet haven’t touched the ground since!  She's coped with everything we threw at her and we’re so glad to have her on the team.  Jackie and Jen T will be helping me with the quality control as and when required going forward.  Hopefully this will give me time to keep on top of all the admin that goes with running a busy business and to do some business development - something I’ve missed over the past eighteen months.

I often get asked what the quality control entails - so here’s a whistle stop guide to what we do.  When a transcript comes back to us from the team we check a few things initially:

·        Is the header page completed correctly

·        Does the number of minutes and number of speakers correspond with the internal database (which really helps to provide a second check when it comes to invoicing

·       That the layout is correct and any client specific instructions about identifiers, etc, have been followed

Our main aim is to be consistent.

Then, listening to the first couple of minutes of the recording while reading the document, does anything jump out as being amiss.  This might be a higher number of inaudibles than we would normally expect, mis-hearings or punctuation changes.  It’s amazing what you can tell from that first couple of minutes. 

If everything is looking as we’d expect then we do a spot check of the rest of the document.  We relisten to anything that’s marked as inaudible or highlighted for checking (which is why it’s so important that they’re highlighted and time stamped so we can quickly identify them and skip to the appropriate part of the recording).  If we can we fill in the inaudible we will do - sometimes a fresh ear just makes the difference and can pick out what’s being said.  Once we’re happy that we’ve got as many of the inaudibles as we can then we double check that the end of the recording is there and then the file gets sent back to the client.

Quality control isn’t about proof reading - we can’t proof read every document in full.  With the instructions and feedback that we give we try to ensure that everyone has as much information as possible to enable them to produce the best transcription possible.  And you do - and our clients tell us that.  We send out job satisfaction questionnaires daily for a randomly selected batch of transcripts asking clients to score us on:

·         How was the quality

·         How much effort did it take to get the transcription completed

·         Would you recommend us

We consistently score highly across the board - which is a great acknowledgement of the work that everyone puts in on behalf of the clients.

So, I can’t put it off any longer, I definitely have to get back to reconciling invoices - my most hated job of the month! 

Let’s hope September is busy but not as crazy.  Laura’s off to her sister, Ashling’s wedding in Cyprus shortly.  I can’t wait to see the photos and see all the dresses.  I know they’re going to have a fabulously happy time.

Speak to you soon and please leave a comment if you would like to.

Dawn xx