Pay with Dict8

[Chrissols]

Looking for people from the previous thread that closed as must of been full?

@Gally123: It is disheartening isn't it. As a professional you know that the PA/Sec is going to listen to that note (or even the private consultant - to refresh his/her memory if they don't have a sec/PA); so be told that you will be monitored following such a polite note made me completely crest-fallen. We are having such a difficult time right now without (in my opinion), unwarranted comments - I think it is shocking!!

@danblack87 - I think in your case it shows that some of the proof-readers are on a power trip. We are all self-employed and many of us who do it full time rely on it for our income and so we do not want to receive a letter terminating our contract, therefore they can say what they want in a not too friendly manner as - unless we line up another job (ie something like T-Pro) we won't leave.

Just as an aside - when DICT8 moved offices a few years ago and I received the letter with my pay cheque notifying me of their change of address, it was on pink paper, which could be seen through the envelope window and I immediately thought I was being given notice!

@Gally123: Just to further impound how I felt on that day RE the e-mail to me from Dict8 about the notes box - I queried. Unfortunately, I was told that the Consultant had made a complaint about the typist not typing the note in full ... so, I guess Dict8 had no choice but to make it my responsibility (and I quote from DICT8 'harsh I know'). That made it even worse, so I actually cried - I have never had a complaint in my life. ,. . . Be careful out there guys re. the notes box .

@danblack87 -nice to know that DICT8 felt some sympathy then, but such an example shows that they should pay for notes left in the box - perhaps they should have two boxes- one for messages left by the doctor that is paid on the same rate as the letters and a separate box used by us typists to leave our queries on their dreadful dictation.

@ Gally123: Actually, that is an inspirational idea. Maybe then we will not be so shy of picking up tasks with multiple notes !!! .

@Gally123 - I agree 2 note boxes is a great idea - maybe as we have suffered so badly in the last few months DICT8 will take pity on us and do this :) so we can reclaim our lost earnings.

Further to the conversation we were having yesterday about the Notes Box: We haven't/I haven't had a News Letter for a long time. Perhaps it would be helpful if Dict8 sent one particularly adding in a paragraph about the notes box; specifically stating that the Note from the Dictator must be typed in full? [The scenario I experienced was as a direct result of a complaint by the Consultant that the message had not been typed as dictated]?

@danblack87 - as per previous messages on the last thread - DICT8 stopped the newsletter 2-3 years ago.

Perhaps in future, if that consultant dictated a similar long note could it be typed as a sort of memo to ensure payment? I have had tasks were doctors did dictate letters to their secretaries regarding various requests/instructions.

I imagine you avoid that particular doctor now.

@Gally123: I have not come across that Consultant's dictation again and actually would make a point of typing that task!!! .
I have typed a note as a memo in the past i.e So if they dictated 'Angela please can you do this and that') but was pulled up on that by Dict8 "please put such messages in the Notes Box". C'est la vie, If I was the recipient of such a message (directly to a sec) I would have preferred a memo in the NHS setting. i.e. someone else in the office could have typed that letter and would have to pass the message along, usually by e-mail or handwritten note .

As it is generally considered that we are taken advantage of with the notes box in that we are not paid for doing this work in many instances - which is actually illegal, but if we press DICT8 on that all they will do, I am sure, is terminate our contracts, one way we can try and recoup some money is by typing names using as many characters as possible - ie Anne instead of Ann, Shaun not Sean, Catherine not Kathryn, Geoffrey not Jeffrey, Gayle not Gail, Stewart not Stuart, Clarke not Clark etc. These are all common and would not raise any eyebrows as spellings. Any more? (Davis/Davies I find depends on the dictation)

@danblack87 - yes, it seems to depend on how the doctor phrases his request, "note to" is for using the notes box, but if the word "note" is not used it might be open to interpretation but if I was in that situation I would query with DICT8 whether it was "work" that needed to be paid, or not, but as yet I have not been in that situation, as if any task starts with a long request I reject it.

There was a case (when reading news reports of the status of contract employees and whether they should be regarded as 'normal' paid employees ie with holiday and sick pay, rights etc) that an employer cannot request a person do something and not pay them, along the lines that if an employee is paid from 9 am to 5 pm therefore (as some shops have tried) you cannot insist someone starts work with set tasks at 8.30 am , such as stock shelves, check the till; in this instance employment starts at 8.30 am and should be paid as such. I cannot remember the example that was similar to DICT8 but it was judged unlawful.

I do wish the dictator would spell the names out but 99% do not. I have come to understand that I am a mere remote, robot. I wouldn't dream of extending lengths of any names (I just go with what I know).

GOOD/GOODE, DAVIES/DAVIS, BROWN/BROWNE, CLARK/CLARKE, COOK/COOKE, Josef/Joseph .. the list is endless.!!!

As we're all puzzling over it, I can only assume there is no official answer as to why we don't get paid for typing in the notes box. I just can't think why Dict8 would have chosen to use this set up in the first place, as it does disadvantage the transcriber. The more I think about it, the more unfair it seems, as a lot of what goes in there has been dictated anyway and, as I said previously, any notes we have cause to generate ourselves are relevant to the document. As you say @Gally123, we are doing work that we are not receiving payment for, especially when you consider how many 'free' lines we must've all typed over the years.

Hi everyone,

I’ve been typing for Dict8 for years now but only have one specialty, and with the decline in typing over the last year am now going through the process of applying with T-PRO.

I just wondered what happened with the online meeting? I have one booked this week with them and am having a worry! I can’t get my microphone to work on the pc so am having to use the iPad. Will this be a problem? I wondered if they expected you to download software.

Also I don’t have a foot pedal as yet as I use the keys for dict8. Should I buy one ASAP or I’ve heard you can get one through T-PRO?
Thanks for any help!

Hi there,
I too worked for Dict8 for many years and due to decline in work applied to Tpro and have been working for them for two weeks now. My initial interview was via TEAMS, and they sent the link to me via email You just log in on the date/time arranged and you have a virtual meeting. Laura who did my interview just showed me virtually an outline of the system. Hopefully it will work over an IPAD, not too sure about that though. You will then be given a team leader who will guide you through any problems you have and proof read, quite forensically I have to say, initally. They are very helpful and you communicate with each other via a "bot". My first day I was terrrified, I was not even sure how to play a task!! An awful lot of the work is VR and you can either re-type or edit the letters. I now find the system really easy, and have no issues at all.

I too did not use a foot pedal, just the shift keys for Dict8. They will send you a foot pedal if you need one - I think they deduct about £40 for this out of your first payment. You do have to load that onto your system, but again there are instructions how to do this. I actually got my husband to do it as I am a technophobe and he did it with no problem. I would wait and let them send you one, mine came through within about two days.

Good luck with your interview. You will be absolutely fine. Sometimes it is hard to get out of our comfort zone isnt it, but honestly if you have done years with Dict8, then this will not challenge you too much. Look forward to hearing how you get on.

I too had only one specialty in the end with Dict8 - - but Tpro expect you to cover quite a few specialties, and that is fine with me. There is so much work on the system, currently about 2500 letters waiting to be typed!

I would not worry at all. I too was panicking but in the end it is not all that different from Dict8, just a few different things to remember from the way Dict8 do things.

Hi, my interview with T-pro very quick, just a case of whizzing you round the system then you're good to go. I too started two weeks ago, but am still finding the accents a little challenging to say the least. This is probably because I have no experience whatsoever in the specialities I am typing so do not know the jargon etc which makes things quite slow in my case. Hopefully it will get easier, although I definitely prefer Dict8, just a shame about the lack of work. As @Lucylizzy123 said above, there is certainly no shortage of work with T-pro so it's just a case of picking up speed.

@Lucylizzy123 how many are you managing to get through? I find it really tiring as having to strain to hear. Certainly hope it gets easier 🥴🥴

Hi Chrissols
I have done 400 tasks. I too struggle a little but think the VR can help - although some of the rubbish it comes out with is crazy - but at least it can you give you the nuts and bolts of the letter. There are a few specialties I struggle with, so much slower than I would be with Dict8. So I guess averaging 35 letters a day? Not sure yet how to bill them, do they pay per line or per character do you know?
During the last two weeks I have not bothered doing Dict8 work, just trying to get aquainted with Tpro system.

@Lucylizzy123 That's probably my downfall, I have only done 200 tasks, but have been doing more Dict8 (purely because I find it easier). I seem to have mainly four specialities, none of which I have done before. I am not sure how to bill them either, but think we send an invoice by email, and its per character - something like 0.0011 per character. I had a very reassuring email from T-pro before saying they were no longer checking my tasks so that's a positive and makes be feel a lot better.

They are still checking mine - thoroughly! I too prefer Dict8, but feel I need to move on.

I think I would prefer them to keep on checking at the moment lol.......I am so afraid of making mistakes it's taking me so long.....I am picking the short ones, whereas with Dict8 we grab the long ones......a few weeks down the line and all with be fine...... At least with T-Pro, once it all becomes like second nature, we can plan when we want to work and be guaranteed to be busy, then take some real time off.....instead of refresh refresh refresh for hours on end

That is exactly how I am looking at it. I am so tired of wasting my time refeshing too. I want to work either a full morning or afternoon, and be done. I dont want to sit endlessly at the screen pouncing on the odd task that comes through. I feel my days can become more structured again - hopefully.

Thanks both for your helpful replies!

You’ve made me feel a lot better. I think with working for Dict8 for so long it’s hard to leave your “comfort zone” but needs must and it will probably do my confidence good to have a new challenge.

The volume of work at T-Pro sounds really positive so fingers crossed it will all work out well. It will be nice to not worry about lack of typing (and money!) and just be busy all day. I’ll keep you informed!

Sorry if this had been answered previously, what is the pay rate for Tpro please?

The pay for T-pro is slightly less than Dict8 but they have a bonus system if you want to work a lot