Dictate Life-Changing Moments

Last weekend, I was over at my friend's house to celebrate her son's second birthday. Besides the little boy, she also has two girls, one being a one-month old newborn. I sat there watching the children running around and playing and the newborn sleeping in someone's arms. I am expecting my first child this winter. I got to thinking about the baby books that we have the best intention of keeping to record those precious moments. With all the chaos going on around me, I would be shocked if my friend told me she was able to record all those moments into baby books, especially having to record two books at the same time.

As new parents, we always have the best intentions to record those important life-changing moments. However, being able to sit down and remember to write down these moments is not always the easiest thing to do, especially with a newborn baby in tow. Instead of attempting to write these moments down, call TTE's system and dictate these moments. You'll be able to keep your hands clear to take care of your baby, but not have to worry about forgetting these incredible moments. You'll then be able to wait for TTE to transcribe these moments and you'll receive a book-quality transcript back which you can place in your baby book, knowing that no part of these moments are forgotten.

Have You Written Your Letters of Love?

I love when my family gathers for Thanksgiving, Christmas, birthdays or just weekend get-togethers. Besides doing a lot of eating, my parents always talk about the "days of old" when they were kids, what they did for fun, what jobs they had growing up, what my grandparents were like when they were my age, and so on. All my grandparents passed before I was 20 years old, and we lived in a different state from them, so I cherish any stories that my parents can relay regarding my family history. Now that my mom is turning 79 this year, and my dad just turned 81, I worry about keeping those stories for my children.

About three months ago, my mom decided she was going to start writing down her thoughts, her memories of her childhood, what life was like living during WWII, the Cold War, what they were doing when JFK was assassinated, home-delivered dairy products and being the last family on the block to get a TV (black and white, mind you). She started writing this down on a notepad, but told me that many times she would remember a story while at the grocery store, or in line at a bank, or while driving in her car, and by the time she got back home, usually forgot what she had wanted to write down.

I suggested that she nix the pen and notepad and instead dial into TTE's dictation system. Now, when she has a thought or a memory that she wants to capture for her family's Legacy Journal, she picks up her cell phone and can immediately dictate her thoughts. TTE will keep the audio, compile all her recordings onto one CD or transcribe her thoughts from the audio recordings into a final legacy journal. What a wonderful way to share grandma's thoughts with my children and grandchildren - a CD with grandma's voice sharing her adventures, my history.

If you or your folks are getting on in years and you would like to preserve your most treasured memories, with your own voice, give TTE a call and we will get you started creating your Journals of Love.

Using Transcription in Documenting an Investigative Statement

Recently, Steven N. Malitz, attorney and partner at Arnstein & Lehr's Litigation Group, and David Zulawski, senior partner at Wicklander-Zulawski & Associates, Inc. wrote a blog entitled "Taking and Documenting a Statement" for the General Counselor describing the best practices for taking and documenting a statement in investigative interrogation. Mr. Malitz and Mr. Zulawksi suggest, under the heading of "Types of Statements", that an investigative interrogator should record a witness's or suspect's statement and then have the recording transcribed and included in the file or case management system.

TTE specializes in transcribing recordings for the legal and investigative communities. Simply record the statement either by using a recording device or dialing directly into our dictation servers. If you use a recording device, just email the recording to us and we will transcribe the audio file into a publish-ready document and deliver it to your inbox. Should you choose to record directly into our dictation system, we will be notified of your recording and will transcribe the audio straight away and send the finished document to you via email.

World's Top Ten Languages

Here are the top ten languages in the world, including native speakers and estimates of secondary speakers:

Mandarin Chinese (1.12 billion)
English (480 million)
Spanish (320 million)
Russian (285 million)
French (265 million)
Hindi/Urdu (250 million)
Arabic (221 million)
Portuguese (188 million)
Bengali (185 million)
Japanese (133 million)

(Source: http://www2.ignatius.edu/faculty/turner/languages.htm)

TTE has the resources to translate and/or transcribe all of these and more!

Notable Meetings: Put Down the Pen!

One of our prospective clients recently commented to me that she has been after management for six years (yes, six years!) to have their weekly staff and sales meetings transcribed, as well as their online conference calls. She knows that notes have to be taken at the meeting, but finds it hard to participate if you are constantly looking down at your paper hurriedly jotting down all that is being said.

Folks, you've got to give up the pen! Rather, bring a digital recorder to the meeting so that you can participate fully. When the meeting is over, simply upload the recording to you computer and email it over to us to be transcribed. In a few short hours you'll have a professional quality document returned to your inbox in MS Word .doc format. All of your meeting notes in an easy-to-use document. It is that simple.

What if you are online holding a meeting? Simply hit the record button and then send the file over to us, or let us know where the file is and we will be glad to retrieve it and get started on your transcription.

And if you are on the telephone? Be sure that we are the first call you make before you bring other parties onboard. Just dial into our server, put in your access code, and the system will start recording. Now all you have to do is dial the other party/parties and just hold your meeting as normal. When you are finished, hang up and we will get started right away transcribing your call.

So, do you want to make the most out of you next meeting? Then put down the pen and participate! Record your meeting, send it to us, and we will do the rest.

Creating Great Audio Recordings

Soft or muffled voices, words mumbled or spoken quickly, people speaking at the same time, background noises. Things that occur over and over again in everyday conversation, many times when we aren't even aware of it. Yet in everyday face-to-face conversations and meetings the essence of what is being said can often be understood by the accompanying body language or written materials. Understanding can come in spite of challenges from voice projection, speech articulation or background noises because of contextual clues. With audio recordings, however, the opposite is true. The more difficulty with voice projection and articulation the speakers have, the faster someone talks, the more often people speak at the same time, the noisier the environment, the farther away someone is from the microphone - the less understandable the audio is since there are no contextual clues. To help ensure a successful dictation and transcription project and to achieve optimal audio recordings, TTE's CEO Terry Thompson offers the following six tips:

1. Pick a quiet area to record your meeting or conversation andminimize background noise.
2. Give all speakers individual microphones or use a Polycom unit with large group recordings. Individual recordings can be done with transitional phone handsets. For optimal recording, speakerphones should not be used, since they only clearly pickup the voices closest to the microphone.
3. Speak clearly and slowly.
4. Have only one speaker at a time. If several people are on the line at the same time, do not talk over each other.
5. If you are using a cell phone, you will get the best results speaking in a quiet room and not using the speaker function of your phone. Driving in a car while being recorded is not recommended; it is not only hazardous, but does not pick up well.
6. Send any company-specific terminology that might be used with your transcription request.

Committed to Achieving Work/Life Balance

I was sitting at the kitchen table yesterday with my sister-in-law talking about balancing work and family. She works part-time, is back in college at the tender age of 51, has two college-aged children, and is married to my brother (a job in itself!) I’ve run a transcription and translation business for the last 23 years, have a husband, two girls, six cats and two dogs. Whew, I get tired even thinking about it! It did get me thinking, though, what do I do to achieve balance in my work and home life?

First Priority: Take Care of Your Health

My first priority is taking care of my health. If you allow yourself to get rundown, poor health can have a detrimental affect on all other aspects of your work and family life. I’m a morning person, so I get up at least an hour before everybody else starts rolling out of their beds in the morning. This gives me time to have some quiet time, eat breakfast (the most important meal of the day), and get ready to do my exercises. Once my youngest daughter is picked up by the school bus, I’m off to the gym for some aerobics and weight training.

Second Priority: Maintain Boundaries

The next thing I try to do – and believe me, all of this is a constant work in progress – is I maintain boundaries. Even though I run my business out of my home, I’ve made sure I’ve dedicated a place just for work. When I first started my business, many moons ago, I had my office desk and PC in my bedroom. What a BAD move – I woke up in the morning, saw my computer and immediately sat down at my desk and started working – before breakfast, before showering or even brushing my teeth. Then, later in the evening, I would always seem to drift back to my desk “for just an hour or so” to get in a little work before going to bed. Trust me; the glow of the PC does not look like the soft glow a candle.

Third Priority: Stick to a schedule

Next, I stick to a schedule. Okay, this is probably the hardest for me since I work out of my home. I’ve found it’s very important to keep your work separate from your housework. In other words, taking 10 minutes here to throw in a load of laundry or 30 minutes there to vacuum the house eats up valuable work time. Block out whole segments of time to work and only work. If you need to fit in housework or errands, then block out that time beforehand and use only that amount of time that you’ve scheduled. You’ll be more productive and find you’ll get more done on both fronts.

Fourth Priority: Delegate, Delegate, Delegate

Learn to delegate! This was difficult for me to learn, but now I’m a pro. (Just ask Scott, my production supervisor.) It took me a couple years to be able to “let go” of certain tasks. For a long time I thought I was the only one who could possibly do a job, to completion, and with the quality that my business guaranteed. I’ve since learned to delegate and trust that others are fully capable to do the work, and care as much as I do about the business and our services. It has opened up all sorts of time for me to work on other things – like creating new services, networking, bringing in more business – and spending time with my family! In other words – quit “making the donuts.” Until you learn to let go of the production side of your business, you’ll never be able to grow your business.

Finally: Be Kind to Yourself

The last thing I do is to be kind to myself. I am one person and there’s only 24 hours in a day. If I don’t get to a particular task, I put it on the top of my list for the next day. I’m a list person, so keeping a to-do-list works well for me. I celebrate my accomplishments. When I check off a major task or project, I allow myself time to read a good book, take a hot bath, or go get ice cream with my kids. I also dedicate at least Sunday, if not Saturday and Sunday, to my home and family. NO WORK! This is something that I feel is so important, especially in this crazy, fast-paced world, to reconnect with your husband/wife and kids.