Outsourced Transcription at my firm...

Karen - There is not much you can do about an erased recording... Hope this helps!

I have worked as a legal assistant/secretary for 30 years. I would like to start doing legal transcription work from my home and would like advice on getting started (i.e rates) and where to best advertise my services.

To Legal in Rusk:
I have determined that the most effective billing is to charge one penny per word typed. In this manner, it does not matter what size the margins are, whether it is in 12 point or 24 point, whether it is single spaced, double spaced, or triple spaced. It just doesn't matter. A typical double spaced legal pleading has about 250 words on it. A lot of people charge $2.50 per page double spaced. But in doing it that way, you have to keep track of margin size, font size and all that. By charging a penny a word typed, you eliminate all that. And it allows you to type at 30 words per minute, 60 words per minute or 120 words per minute - whatever you feel like doing, and the client's invoice is unaffected. Obviously, the faster you type, the sooner you will be done. But that is true no matter what. So, if a client has a 2 paragraph letter, that's fine. It won't cost him very much. If he has a 20 page pleading, it will cost him more, but your fee won't be based on how much time it took. Either way, you earn the same amount of money: a penny a word.

The second issue is whether or not to use those internet based typing programs. I personally think they're okay, but basically a bunch of crap. You get much better results from having your own tape transcriber (with foot pedal) and going out and getting to know your clients, face to face. That ALWAYS works best. As for marketing, the absolutely best way is to map out where you want to go pick up and/or deliver your finished work. Also, do not limit yourself to law offices. Insurance companies, real estate companies, wholesale distributorships (of almost any product) - all these resources are good potential clients because they all have letters, documents, advertising campaigns, etc., for which they may well not have anyone in the office who has the time to work on them.
I hope this helps.
Good luck.

Blair Sloane in Warrington, Pennsylvania said: I hate transcription. Makes me feel like a brainless loser; a peon. Is there something wrong with me?

I'm not a transcriptionist, but sounds like your are in the wrong job. Even a garbage collector is not necessarily a "brainless loser", "a peon". All work contributes in this world: garbage collectors, janitorial personnel, doctors, delivery drivers, pilots, home care workers, transcriptionists... etc. Can't you see this?

Blair Sloane in Warrington, Pennsylvania said: I hate transcription. Makes me feel like a brainless loser; a peon. Is there something wrong with me?

Get another job, and don't put people down for doing "peon" work. Sounds like you should upgrade your career to use your brain more since you are complaining about feeling brainless. Go back to school or something. I don't know. A person can feel very satisfied doing "simple" work, and that's probably where they belong with God's gifts. Go where God wants you. Sounds like He wants you to use your brain more or something. He probably gave you a very intelligent mind, so look for what will satisfy you, and don't put people down for doing any type of "peon" work, not ever.

Jackie in Monroe, North Carolina said: How is digital going to affect the work of medical transcriptionists? I want to take a course in medical and legal transcription but don't want to take them if they are on the way out. I would appreciate any advice on this.

Don't do it!!! Medical transcription is a dying profession. My hospital just outsourced our department a few days ago. I worked there 21 years, had a great job, made good money and am now reduced to basically sweat shop mentality, production only at 9 cpl, now paying over 300 a month for benes, and no retirement other than what you put into it. Also they have dictation systems where the transcriptionist is totally eliminated so not sure even how long we will be with the service that took over our hospital's dictation.

cherco in Bellingham, Washington said: Don't do it!!! Medical transcription is a dying profession. My hospital just outsourced our department a few days ago. I worked there 21 years, had a great job, made good money and am now reduced to basically sweat shop mentality, production only at 9 cpl, now paying over 300 a month for benes, and no retirement other than what you put into it. Also they have dictation systems where the transcriptionist is totally eliminated so not sure even how long we will be with the service that took over our hospital's dictation.

I would have to agree. My experience. Started in MT over 10 years ago. Good hospital job hourly with incentives for production. Decent benefits and option to work from home with only 1 day per month in office. Cherry job for a single Mom with 2 little kids. Lasted 2 years. Hospital gathered over 150 transcriptionists and told us they were outsourcing (to a company overseas in India who would give transcription cheap- but forget about mistranscriptions/quality and security of sending medical records overseas - health system could care less... all they see is the almightly buck). So all of us got a 90-day warning and job assistance (yeah rigth). Mostly all the companies they had at a Job fair for us were private services who paid piecemeal (by the lines) with little to no benefits. Nothing comparable to what we had with the health system. I later worked for another hospital which eventually did the same thing. I have worked for National Transcription services, as the above poster said 9 cpl, paying quite a bit for benefits. Nothing to say they want 98% accuracy on all resports or you will be fired. That is fine - quality DOES matter most -BUT if you drop down below a minimum production levels not only will your pay suffer to retain quality but they will remove your health insurance for not makiking line counts. I just took an hourly medical secretary job. Tired of working in a sweatshop

Sally in Danville, California said: Has anyone had any problems using an outsourcing firm for transcription??? I enjoy transcribing but it takes up the majority of my time. I will be happy if it will give me more time to get things done!!!

Sally,

I'm the gal for all of your transcription needs. I have been providing my transcription services to the legal industry for the past 10 years and would love the opportunity to provide my services to your firm! Look me up on Facebook (choff10031) or e-mail me at choff10031@hotmail.com!

C J

Sally in Danville, California said: Has anyone had any problems using an outsourcing firm for transcription??? I enjoy transcribing but it takes up the majority of my time. I will be happy if it will give me more time to get things done!!!

I know this post it dated, but if you are still looking for transcriptionists - please review my website. I might be of service to you.

Sally in Danville, California said: Has anyone had any problems using an outsourcing firm for transcription??? I enjoy transcribing but it takes up the majority of my time. I will be happy if it will give me more time to get things done!!!

I don't think we have any firms for transcription in Memphis, TN. If anyone knows of one, please inform.

i have switched jobs about two years ago and am doing transcription out of my house full time. The part of this job that makes it 1,000 percent worth it is that i can take it anywhere, do anything with my time that i want and i can still get my work done and turn it in. It's completely portable so if i want to travel once a month for two weeks with my husband, i can. Even if i have to work 2-4 hours every day while i'm traveling, that beats showing up to an office any day of the week.

Yeah, some are outsourcing to ESL people but you know, you get what you pay for and a lot of people (i mean a lot) think it is ridiculous to send English-speaking work to them. Plus, most court systems won't allow you to do that anyway, take the work overseas, so it's an issue, but not really a big one, i find. Most people don't want to edit their transcripts as much as they have to with an outsourcing company.

An example i like to use is if you need a pair of jeans. Sure, you can go to Wal-Mart and get the cheapest pair of jeans there, but there's only a very small chance they will last anywhere near as long as a pair of Levi's or [insert non-Wal-Mart brand here]. Same with shoes -- sure, you can buy them at Payless, and they will cost you less, but don't expect them to last as long as a pair of Eastlands or [insert non-Wal-Mart brand here].

I am an unemployed legal secretary and have been for over 1 year and there are just no jobs out there. I am also taking paralegal courses on line during my "down time". I have been thinking that I too would like to do telecommute work at home and my question is how do you start? How would you go about marketing your experience and skills and what price would you put on your experience and skills? Any and all assistance would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I have worked for the online company, SpeakWrite, for ten years, approximately. It is legitimate. You have to take some tests, purchase a foot pedal and then get started working. I'm not sure if they are hiring right at this time; they may be. But when they are, it allows you to work and get paid for your work.

Best of luck!

I am desparate for work at home. I have been a legal assistant for 30 years and my attorney moved to another town. If anyone can direct me to an actual company and their contact information, I would sincerely appreciate it. Thanks.

I am interested as well! Any advice on how to market oneself to individual law firms in one's area to do freelance work at home would be appreciated. Also, how much to charge would be a plus! Thanks.

When I was doing freelance transcription, I charged a penny a word. I know it doesn't sound like much, but it's basically $2.50 per double-spaced page. There are two giant advantages: 1) You can use your word processor's word count to compute the bill; and 2) [and this is the best part] it sounds way inexpensive. But it's actually quite competitive. Also, after you've done a quality job on a few $5 or $10 assignments, you stand a real good chance on getting a large project. Penny a word.

I have worked as a legal assistant/secretary for 30 years and my attorney moved and closed my office. I am looking for at-home legal transcriptionist work from home. Can anyone give me names of any companies I can contact, especially in the Austin, Texas are. You help will be appreciated. Thank you.

I have worked as a legal assistant/secretary for 30 years and my attorney moved and closed my office leaving me unemployed. I am looking for at-home legal transcription work. I would appreciate it anyone can give me names of any companies I can contact (especially in the Austin, Texas area). Thank you for any help you can give me.

I was a legal secretary/legal assistant for 14+ years and have been doing at-home (received/sent via email) transcription for a workers' comp firm in CA for the past six months. That assignment has now ended and I'm looking for another firm to transcribe for. I generally have a 24 hour turnaround time and am available to type 7 days a week. If anyone has transcription to be done or can point me to anyone hiring, it would be much appreciated. I've taken a few jobs on oDesk but just can't compete with the $3 per hour buds from India. Thanks!!

What is oDesk?

For anyone here "getting an itch" to search for odesk and scams and whatever, DON'T. I just did. I went to one website, was immediately taken to "something", and then my Norton popped and told me an attack was just blocked.

ODesk and eLance are where freelancers of every possible thing can look for gigs. Employers post the job and take bids on it. Which sounds fine but you have people in India, Bangledesh, Nigeria, etc bidding 56 cents an hour, $3 for an 8 hour audio file, etc. And don't get me wrong, I don't begrudge those folks for putting out bids. If I lived in a place where $3 USD was a fair wage, I'd probably bid that low too! But for those of us who live in the US, it just isn't doable. Can you get work on there? Yes! But it's very difficult to make a living at it.

Yes, I agree that ODesk and Elance used to be good places to get contract transcription jobs, and I was a paid subscriber to Elance for years until entry of the foreigners. I complained to Elance that we (the US-based folks) couldn't win jobs unless or until we bid what the foreigners were bidding and that was impossible for me so I have cancelled my paid subscription to Elance. I don't think there's one contract website for US-based workers only and that's what we really need. I have found out from people who have posted projects on Elance that the foreigners are not doing the job that a US-based contractor would provide and therefore I have seen several projects posted recently where they specifically said on US-based providers should bid! FYI, a few other contract type websites are www.Freelancer.com and www.Guru.com -- you may want to check them out too!

Ingobi - the only one this is going to help is YOU!!! You got your e-mail in there so people can contact you directly to give you work. No pun intended, but American work. We need our jobs too.