DIGITALCAT USERS

[Kwanna Collins]

Hello everyone, I am thinking about purchasing the DigitalCat software and have a few questions. First, how is their techical support? Second, Is it user friendly? Third, does it have a number conversion feature, I am not good with numbers? Forth, what are the pros and cons about the software.

Thanks, and I appreciate all responses.

[Greta Duckett, CCR, RPR, CRR]

Hi, Kwanna
I am a rep for Stenovations. I have been using digitalCAT for almost ten years.

The technical support is 24/7. You can call on Saturday night at midnight and get someone. Sometimes you may have to leave a message, but they will call you back within 15 minutes or so. They understand that the horrible things never happen during business hours!

There is a 90-day free trial. If you decide you don't like it, you don't have to buy. They will convert your dictionary and do your page layout for you. You just have to send them sample pages, and they do all the setting up for you.

It is very user friendly, and the transition from another software is made easier by pre-set keyboard accelerators which mimic other softwares' standard keys. They have free training at their offices in Charleston, West Virginia. It is two days long, with an optional third day which goes over Windows and Windows Explorer. The file management is Windows Explorer, which is Windows file system.

There is a numbers conversion option in the translator, and I use it. Some folks do not. There are about five things you have to learn to make it work. I am one of those who writes what I hear. It does all the formatting for me.

Feel free to ask any further questions,

Greta

[Judy]

It is a VERY stable program (pro), but the reason it's so stable is because it doesn't have as many bells and whistles as some of the other programs (con, at least for me). You know how it is, the more things you load on, the more likely something's going to go wrong. What can I say, I like bells and whistles.

Depends on what you're looking for in a program on whether it'll be a good fit for you. Play with it for the free three-month period and see if you like it.

Can't attest to whether Johnny is a genius, but he is suuuuuper nice.

[Greta Duckett, CCR, RPR, CRR]

LOL, Judy!

I believe that Johnny is a genius. The LightSpeed is the evidence.

I started on digitalCAT when it was a very new program. I worked for a firm of ten reporters. We would come up with what we wanted the software to do, call them and tell them, and within a week, we would have a software build which incorporated our ideas. Awesome. They're still doing that, with a breif suggest in the works. The same thing is happening now with the LightSpeed. We tell him what we want, and he makes it happen.

I'm a commercial -- I like the company so much, I went to work for them!

Greta

[Ellen Rubin]

I don't have Digitalcat, but I went to an Anita Paul seminar a couple of years ago and there was a reporter there with Digitalcat. She had a lot of problems learning the system, and there were not a lot of people on it so it was difficult to ask co-workers questions. Her system did not seem to be similar to the different CAT systems the rest of us had.
I would strongly recommend that you look into Eclipse CAT software from Advantage Software. The number conversion is great. Technical support is available 24 hours a day. There is an Eclipse forum online where you can ask questions and will get responses from other users as well as technical support. I have been other other systems but this is the best out there. If you're not sure, ask for a Demo. As a matter of fact as for a Demo for every company you are considering, including Digitalcat! Good luck

[Judy]

I'm on Eclipse too. I did a short stint on DigitalCat for about a year and then returned to Eclipse. I love the features of Eclipse. As Ellen said, not only can you go to the Eclipse site and ask questions (and have them answered by numerous people, usually at least one Eclipse tech support person), but you can go to Keith Vincent's site (kvincent.com) and get a ton of useful tips, hints, tricks, and instructions. But before a war erupts, I must say that I'm pretty sure that the other CAT software companies have useful sites too.

[Greta Duckett, CCR, RPR, CRR]

Thanks, Judy!

digitalCAT does have many support options. The support is 24/7, and you always get to talk to someone, even at midnight on Sunday. Isn't that when all the horrible crashes occur? lol

Anther DC support option is the Stenovations forum, which is monitored by yours truly.

One of the great things about digitalCAT is that you can try it for 90 days, and if you don't like it, you don't have to buy it.

Let me point out one thing about all the software. If you skip formal training, you will never get the full benefit and understanding you need to be sufficient.

Greta

[Tami]

Judy,

I get my Eclipse next week!!! WOO-HOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Judy]

What took you so long???? Just kidding. I'm sure you'll love it. You've played with Clay's, yes? So you're somewhat familiar with it?

[Tami]

I was skeeered. 22 years on Procat. Old dog . . .

[Tami]

I can't wait for the bells and whistles. I feel I've been mute for too long. :)

[LuAnn Parks]

I'm no longer reporting (due to a severe hearing loss) but I used DigitalCat/Stenovations for almost four years prior to my quitting, and found it to be easy to use and reliable. Not having a software key is a godsend! Tech and customer service were good. The men beind the scenes are super smart and very computer savvy, and very eager to help with a problem when it arose. I wasn't into all of the bells and whistles, as I've read in this discussion that most of you like, so that was okay, too. The only beef I had with them was after I had to quit reporting, I still needed to have access to my transcripts for additional copy orders that came along or for appeal records and such. When I contacted Stenovations with my dilemma of no longer working as a reporter but still needing access, they were insistent on continuing to charge me $79 a month to have this "access"...even though I was no longer using it to create new transcripts. If that wasn't enough, I questioned them as to whether or not I could own the software (have a permanent/lifetime software code) after paying $79 a month rent for four years. I mean, why couldn't we now own the software after that length of time? You can do the math. But after four years, it adds up to what other sofware programs cost, if not more, to purchase and own for a lifetime. I haven't reported in close to two years. I switched my reporting efforts to legal videography, and use my headphones during depositions and create DVD's of depositions now. Stenovations and I still have this open issue. :-/

[Glen Warner]

LuAnn --

First, condolences on the hearing loss ...! I know that has to be tough.

Next, I was curious as to how the Stenovations payment plan worked as well, because when I did the math, it didn't add up as I expected ... so I sent them an e-mail asking about the specifics.

I got this in response:

There is a bit of confusion on both the price and the payoff. The price of the software is
3,495 to purchase it. The monthly payments of 79 a month do begin immediately following the 90-day trial. However, we take the first 12 payments and apply it to the purchase price. So it is at that 13th month of payments where the user decides whether they are going to purchase the software outright or "roll into" our leasing plan where in no future payments of 79 dollars a month goes toward the purchase price. If you
choose to lease at 79 a month, there is no tech support or update contract necessary as that is included within the lease.

That said, if the client knows they want to purchase the software, they are not relegated to paying only 79 a month. They can pay 200 a month or whatever they choose. By so doing, they can have all or most of the
software paid off in the first year at no interest.

Also, at the convention, Johnny Jackson announced that when a student graduates, the student can use digitalCAT's professional version for free ... for SIX MONTHS, vice the three months stated in the sales literature.

This will allow those slow-paying lawyers to finally pay you before Stenovations sends you that first bill!

Just guessing here, LuAnn, but it seems as though this wasn't spelled out properly for you at the time! That's why I asked the question: I don't want anyone I point to digitalCAT getting any unpleasant surprises because I didn't know about this potential problem ... but I know now, and can guide my readers appropriately.

I hope.

--gdw
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"For a Good (steno) Time ...."
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