Based on experience, there is not much that a transcription company can do when it comes to the choice of software that will be used in typing the transcribed dictations. If the customer uses Microsoft Word, then the transcriber will have to use MS Word. If the client uses open sourced software, then it is recommended that the outsourcing firm use the same program when submitting reports.
There are newcomers who wholeheartedly proclaim tremendous savings through their use of free (open source) software. In my opinion, they either have customers who use linux or most probably, they do not have any client. I kid you not.
In medical transcription especially, the finished document makes extensive use of formating. Every clinic and clinic has its own logos, headers and document format. They also have their own way of presenting their patient reports. If a client (clinic or hospital) uses MS Word, a transcriber cannot simply use any open source software, save it as a "*.doc" file and expect that it will be delivered and used seamlessly at the client's end. Based in the experience of a number of transcribers, a ".doc" file saved using an open source program can be opened using Microsoft Word. However, there will most probably be some formatting problems in the new file. Among the problems that may be encountered includes normal letters that appear "italicized", funny characters that were never typed such as "$%^&)9" suddenly appears in the middle of a sentence and letters that were typed in "Bold" appearing as normal. My I repeat.. Based on the experience of a number of transcription companies, a document formatted and saved using MS Word are easily opened and edited using other programs. However, the edited document, even when saved as a "Microsoft word file", will look funny when opened using MS Word. "Backward integration doesn't work", says one operator of a transcription company
The reason why clients outsource transcription, or any service for that matter, is that they want to lessen their workload in order to give more focus on their main concerns. Doctors will want to heal more patients, lawyers will want to be able to give more attention to their clients and businessmen will want to devout more time to making more money. Those clients are making use of outsourcing because they do not want to spend so much time writing reports and other things that are not their primary concerns.
Therefore, an outsourcing company's job is to help its clients and not make them spend so much time erasing those "special characters" (that are now present in the transcribed document) and arranging the formatting of their reports. I am sure, that any outsourcing company that commits this kind of error will end losing their clients.
I do not know why these errors occur. In my limited knowledge, a "*.doc" document is nothing more or less than a "*.doc" file. The fact that the extension is ".doc" should mean that any software capable of opening a ".doc" document should not cause any error in the formatting of the opened file. I have consulted a number of users and they all agree with me -A word file created using an open source document will not be the exact document when opened using Microsoft Word. Most probably, there will be some discrepancies that will have to be taken care of.
If you are a transcription company or any BPO firm for that matter, you wouldn't want this errors occurring simply because you tried to save in software costs. No provider will want to piss of any of its clients.
There are newcomers who wholeheartedly proclaim tremendous savings through their use of free (open source) software. In my opinion, they either have customers who use linux or most probably, they do not have any client. I kid you not.
In medical transcription especially, the finished document makes extensive use of formating. Every clinic and clinic has its own logos, headers and document format. They also have their own way of presenting their patient reports. If a client (clinic or hospital) uses MS Word, a transcriber cannot simply use any open source software, save it as a "*.doc" file and expect that it will be delivered and used seamlessly at the client's end. Based in the experience of a number of transcribers, a ".doc" file saved using an open source program can be opened using Microsoft Word. However, there will most probably be some formatting problems in the new file. Among the problems that may be encountered includes normal letters that appear "italicized", funny characters that were never typed such as "$%^&)9" suddenly appears in the middle of a sentence and letters that were typed in "Bold" appearing as normal. My I repeat.. Based on the experience of a number of transcription companies, a document formatted and saved using MS Word are easily opened and edited using other programs. However, the edited document, even when saved as a "Microsoft word file", will look funny when opened using MS Word. "Backward integration doesn't work", says one operator of a transcription company
The reason why clients outsource transcription, or any service for that matter, is that they want to lessen their workload in order to give more focus on their main concerns. Doctors will want to heal more patients, lawyers will want to be able to give more attention to their clients and businessmen will want to devout more time to making more money. Those clients are making use of outsourcing because they do not want to spend so much time writing reports and other things that are not their primary concerns.
Therefore, an outsourcing company's job is to help its clients and not make them spend so much time erasing those "special characters" (that are now present in the transcribed document) and arranging the formatting of their reports. I am sure, that any outsourcing company that commits this kind of error will end losing their clients.
I do not know why these errors occur. In my limited knowledge, a "*.doc" document is nothing more or less than a "*.doc" file. The fact that the extension is ".doc" should mean that any software capable of opening a ".doc" document should not cause any error in the formatting of the opened file. I have consulted a number of users and they all agree with me -A word file created using an open source document will not be the exact document when opened using Microsoft Word. Most probably, there will be some discrepancies that will have to be taken care of.
If you are a transcription company or any BPO firm for that matter, you wouldn't want this errors occurring simply because you tried to save in software costs. No provider will want to piss of any of its clients.
