Dictation Options -- Dial in vs digital recorders

We get a lot of queries from people about whether to go for a digital recorder to dictate and then upload to our site or just use Dial-In dictation phone line. It does not matter to us. We want to provide all flexibility to our users and provide multiple options for them to send files to us namely:

• Dial-In phone line: Toll free number to dictate from any phone, at any time
• Web upload and ftp: Use digital recorders to record dictations and then upload to our website for transcription
• Email: Email the recordings to us for transcription
• Mail: If you are still using old cassette tapes, you are in luck. We will gladly accept your tapes through mail and transcribe them as well. Final transcripts are emailed back to you.
• Fax: Sometimes you may have some documents which you want retyped. You can fax those to us and we will send back word formatted documents which you can then edit

So our service is all about providing flexibility and ease of use to all our users. We always welcome your feedback and suggestions to continuously add and modify features to meet your needs.

Dial in Dictation - Tips on dictating for best transcription

The accuracy of transcripts largely depends on how clear the dictation is. If the words are not audible, the best transcriber in the world would still not be able to type it. We can type only what we hear. So it is very important for the users to follow some basic guidelines to ensure good quality dictations. Here are some basic guidelines for dial in dictation:

1. Always dictate in a quiet environment when possible. Ambient noises can interfere with your voice and make the dictated words difficult to understand. You may not realize it but dictations from places like airports, restaurants and even from cars while driving generally pick up a lot of external noise and are pretty difficult to understand.

2. At the start, you may want to specify which type of document it is, which template should be used etc.

3. Try and spell out uncommon names, terms etc to avoid any confusion.

4. Speak clearly and at a good pace. If you speak too fast, transcriber might have a difficult time understanding you.

5. Include punctuation where applicable. Simple instructions like new paragraph, full stop, comma can go a long way in ensuring an accurate transcript.