Australian Tax Office - Help Don't Hinder Small Business

Tax, a subject we all love to hate, unless of course you are an accountant or ATO employee. Dealing with the ATO is always frustrating, long long delays just to get to talk to someone and then when you do finally get through having to go over yet again the extensive history of a small/medium (SMB) business relationship which unfortunately never ends.

In our latest blog post we use our blog as a platform to rant about an ATO experience today. More frustration, plenty of anger and some disappointment in the total lack of help and understanding for Australian SMBs who continue to stay afloat in these uncertain economic times. Forget the fact that we continue to contribute to the Australian economy, continue to employ Australians and continue to not receive benefits of any kind - some slack needs to be cut.

Managing Cashflow In Business - Sometime You Have To Sack The Client

Cashflow is essential to any business. Often certain clients can regularly affect your cashflow which in turn can cause a detrimental effect on your business. Are these the kind of clients you want and need? We recently had to let a client go, click here for our story:

What Exactly Is Transcription ?

"What is transcription?" is a question I am constantly asked when I meet people. So I thought I would blog the answer.

Essentially it is the transcription of spoken word to text. Sounds simple? Well there are great number of factors involved in a) recording the audio correctly and clearly and b) having it transcribed. Recording it clearly is handled by our sister company Dictate Australia Pty Ltd advise and supply the best quality digital voice recorders in Australia from Olympus and Philips.

Transcribing audio requires specialist skills and specific software. The Transcription People transcribe a wide range of audio for a diverse range of businesses. From financial report briefings for Coca Cola and AMP to individual patient reports for doctors, to focus group meetings for market research companies, interviews for journalists and podcasts so that a transcribe can be placed on websites.

Read more about what is transcription on our main transcription blog.

Olympus Australia Digital Dictaphones - All .ds2 Recorders

Olympus Australia have been active this year following the lead of Olympus US and Europe by re-vamping both their notetaker (WS series) and dictaphone (DS series) range of digital voice recorders. The revamp of the digital dictaphones has just been completed and the range now comprises:

• Olympus DS-5000 & DS-5000iD (replaced the DS-4000)
• Olympus DS-3400 (replaced the DS-3300)
• Olympus DS-2400 (replaced the DS-2300)

The biggest point of difference with this new range and one that affects transcription businesses the most is the recording of audio in the new DSS Pro digital audio format which produces .ds2 audio files instead of the older .dss audio files. This can cause problems for some smaller transcription businesses who rely on free transcription software like ExpressScribe. As DSS Pro is a licenced audio format it can not (yet) be played by the free transcription software, instead you will need and official Olympus transcription kit like the AS-2400 or AS-5000 or you need to upgrade your older kit (AS-2300 or AS-4000) to the new DSS Pro transcription module.

The Transcription People use a mix of Olympus transcription software and Express Scribe.

The complete range of Olympus digital voice recorders and transcription kits are available from our sister company Dictate Australia - along with free, friendly advice.

What Does A Proofreader Do In A Transcription Business?

The Transcription People, one of Australias leading outsource transcription companies utilises a large team of Australian and New Zealand typists and a small proofreading team. Often we are asked about our proofreaders, why do we need them if we have transcription typists?

We see proofreaders as an integral part of our business and one of the key ways we manage our quality control. Having two separate people review the audio, the typist and the proofreader we dramatically reduce any transcription errors and maintain a consistent feed of transcribed documents back to our clients.

Read the blog post from one of our proofreaders, Anne.

Virtual Assistants Taking Care Of Business - Guest Post

Alexandra Popovic is one of Australia's better known Virtual Assistants or VAs. Alex has kindly written a guest blog post for us explaining exactly what is a virtual assistant?

Click here to read Alex's post on our blog.

My Guest Post On The VIP Virtual Solutions Blog

As Director of The Transcription People Australia and avid user of the Twitter micro blogging phenomenon I was pleased to be asked recently by one of Australia's top 100 influential Twitterers Alexandra Popovic (aka VIPvirtualSols) to write a short blog post on her site about the difference between transcription typing and general typing.

Alexandra is a Virtual Assistant, they help their clients virtually, i.e. generally from their own home office with tasks that a P.A. would generally perform in office. VA's make up a large number of job applicants at The Transcription People the article on the difference between transcription and typing should be most relevant.

Which Digital Voice Recorder suits me? Lectures, conferences and on the run interviews.

This week we will look at small compact digital voice recorders that are light weight but still pack a punch when it comes to audio quality and sound pickup.

These recorders would typically be used by students to record lectures, attendees at conferences who want to record conference speakers, journalists to grab sound bites or market researchers doing out in the field interviews or focus groups.

Below is a brief summary of what this typical user needs:

• I want to record single speaker (i.e. only me talking) recording my notes.
• I will be recording interviews and meetings with a few people both in my office or out and about with background noise.
• I am a journalist and need to grab sound bites while out and about.
• I am a student and want to record lectures I attend.
• I am going to a conference and want to record the audio at a conference.
• I want the ability to record directly to my computer hard drive bypassing the inbuilt memory.
• I do not need the ability to rewind audio, hear what I just said and then tag audio on the end, much like the old style analogue dictaphones. I am happy just hitting record to start and stop to end the recording.
• I use a Mac. I use Windows XP. I use Windows Vista.

The best recorders for you would be the WS-311M, WS-321M or WS-331M.

All three units function exactly the same way, the only difference is the unit colour and the amount of onboard memory which effects the total amount of audio recording time.

All voice recorders come with multiple recording modes, we always recommend that you use the highest quality recording mode for your audio, in the case of these recorders that is STXQ (STereo eXtra High Quality). The maximum recording time for these three units on STXQ is:

WS-311M - 512Mb storage - 8hrs 45mins
WS-321M - 1Gb storage - 17hrs 40mins
WS-331M - 2Gb storage - 35hrs 30mins

These recorders are not just all round excellent recorders but they can also store your files and photos on their inbuilt memory and even have the ability to play back MP3s.

For more information on the WS series recorders from Olympus please contact the team at Dictate Australia - sales@dictate.com.au

Which Digital Voice Recorder Suits Me? Focus Groups & Meetings

Each week The Transcription People will be giving advice on digital voice recorders that would best suit certain individuals and circumstances. Last week we looked at a digital voice recorders that suit a single speaker, note and letter taking professional, these types of recorders are commonly known as digital dictaphones.

This week we are looking at a digital voice recorder that can be used to record focus groups or meetings. The key with recorders for this type of scenario is that they have to pickup large numbers of speakers spread across a fairly wide area. Maybe five ors six people around a table, 14 people in a boardroom or a large number in a classroom o lecture hall.

Below is a summary of what this typical user needs:

• I will mainly be recording large meetings or focus groups.
• I may want to record single speaker notes and letters but I do not require a rewind/review function. I record in one take.
• I am ok using a recorder with batteries but I also want the ability to plug my recorder into mains power.
• I want the ability to record directly to my computers hard drive bypassing the inbuilt memory (Windows only).
• I do not need the ability to rewind audio, hear what was just said and then tag audio on the end, much like the old style analogue dictaphones. I am happy just hitting record to start and stop to end the recording.
• I use Windows XP. I use Windows Vista. I use a Mac.

Then the recorders best suited to you are:


The Olympus DS-30, DS-40 or DS-50 all offer outstanding audio quality and pickup and are perfect for focus groups and large meetings. They record in .WMA (Windows Media Audio) format which can be easily played back on any Windows or Mac computer.

Any questions about the Olympus DS-30/40/50 can be directed to the friendly people at Dictate Australia who are always happy to help with advice an information.

Which Digital Voice Recorder Suits Me? Single Speaker Note Taking & Letters

It is difficult to find a Digital Voice Recorder that best suits you and your needs as there is so much information and the choice can be very overwhelming. At The Transcription People we receive audio daily from a range of clients all with different needs when it comes to their audio.

Each week we will blog post more information on Digital Voice Recorders to suit the needs of various individuals.

In this post we will look at professionals who need a digital voice recorder for individual note taking and/or letters. Traditionally these are doctors or lawyers although professionals from other industries are now embracing note taking. These types of individuals usually have alot of experience with older analogue or tape dictaphones and therefore need similar functionality in their digital recorder. Making the leap from trusty old tape dictaphones to the digital world can be very daunting. Here is a typical summary of this users needs:

• I am a professional, I need a digital dictaphone to record notes and letters.
• I need to be able to rewind what I have just said and add audio on the end. I stop and start my dictation due to interuptions like phone calls or clients.
• I will be mainly just recording single speaker audio and the occasional interview.
• I want to be able to power my recorder by battery or mains power.
• I want to put my recorder into its dock and have it automatically recharge itself and send the audio to my typist or online transcription business.
• I use a Mac. I use Windows XP. I use Windows Vista.

The best recorders for you would be the Olympus DS-2300, DS-3300 , DS-5000 or DS-5000iD models.

The functionality of the above recorders differs. For free, no hassle, information and advice contact the team at Dictate Australia at sales@dictate.com.au

Finally Foot Pedals For Express Scribe In Australia

If you are anything like me, making the transition from the old tape transcription systems to digital was easy, well almost, using the function keys instead of the trusty transcription foot pedal took some getting used to with Express Scribe.




We have been looking for good quality transcription foot controls in Australia for some time. Now that we are linked with Philips Dictation on our online store, Dictate Australia we are now able to provide just that - sturdy, well made, USB transcription foot pedal controls sourced here in Australia.

The Philips Digital Transcription USB Foot Control is what we have been waiting for. Easily installed, just install the supplied driver, plug into a spare USB port and away you go, a foot control for Express Scribe.

The USB transcription foot pedal is selling for AU$150 plus $16 postage. Next day delivery is possible down the Australian East coast for orders received before 12pm Sydney time. So if you need one in a hurry you know where to go.

Use Your iPod As A Digital Voice Recorder

We recently discovered some very neat accessories for owners of iPod Nano's and the bigger video iPods. A couple of innovative companies, Griffin Technology and XtremeMac have created microphones for these iPods allowing the owner to record audio and in effect turn the iPod into a digital voice recorder.



When compared to the cost of a new digital voice recorder the microphones for iPods can give you a substantial cost saving, both the Griffin iTalk Pro and the XtremeMac MicroMemo retail for less than AU$100.



We recently added both the iTalk Pro and the MicroMemo to our Australian digital voice recorder store, Dictate Australia and in the first month the MicroMemo is prooving to be very popular.

So, if you own an iPod and are looking for a new digital voice recorder you might want to consider a microphone for your iPod as an alternative.

The Transcription People - USA

This week marks another milestone for The Transcription People. We launched our American website www.TheTranscriptionPeople.com


Our geographical location makes Australia the perfect place for the USA to send audio for an overnight transcription service which can be back the next working day. Not only that, with a country of native English speakers clients in the US know the service they will receive will not only be fast and accurate but also grammatically correct.

Our physical location is not the only benefit. Value for money is also another driving factor bringing business from the USA down under.

Now that we have opened our doors in the US we look forward to welcoming more international clients to our growing list of very happy customers.

Happy New (Financial) Year !!

Passing quietly into the new financial year 07-08 in Australia on 1st July we officially dropped our old trading name "AMC Professional Office Services" to become "The Transcription People" and to officially launch our new website www.thetranscriptionpeople.com.au

We started from humble beginnings with just one typist back in 1998 and have since grown to over 20 experienced transcriptionists located all over Australia and New Zealand. We originally started out as a Virtual Assistant business, offering a full range of outsourced secretarial services but we quickly found that transcription was our niche.

With our new name and new image we plan to continue to grow our client base and expand further into the US and Europe with transcription franchise opportunities now available in the UK, USA, New Zealand and China.

For our existing clients and prospective new clients we hope you like our new image and can rest assured that we continue to provide the very best in transcription quality and customer service.