Welcome, to anyone else in here...???

[Batya]

I am an interning voice reporter; trained and interning in NYC.
I do depo's only.
I'm using AudioScribe's system, which uses SpeechCat and Dragon.
I like the work, and can't wait to START GETTING PAID!!
Love to hear from any other voice writers--

[Deborah L. Willoughby]

Hi. I'm a voice writer and I also use Audioscribe. How long do you have to intern before you can go out on your own and start getting paid? Are there many voice writers in NYC?

[Batya]

I don't really know how many V.W.'s there are in NY, but there are about 10 of us, trained by, and either working for or interning with Lex Reporting . The training's short, and the interning stage lasts till they decide you're competent enough for them to hire you. Somewhat subjective, but supposed to last about 4-6 months. Where are you? With who did you train? What type of work do you do?

[Deborah L. Willoughby]

I'm in Louisiana and do mostly depos, settlement hearings and medical review panels. I've done some courtroom work but I'm not that crazy about it. I'd rather stick with depos. I freelance for different firms in the area. I didn't do an internship at all. I was lucky enough to start working right after I got my certification. Good luck to you in your internship. Hopefully, they'll put you on the payroll pretty soon! If not, I'd suggest getting your name out there and trying to get work from other agencies. I wish you the best.

[Batya]

What certification is that? Also, what is your avarage level of accuracy in your original drop-down text? How long does it take you to scope a 1 hour depo? Do the agencies you work for have any supervision over their reporters' accuracy? Do you ever use a scopist's services? Do you think I ask too many questions? Thank you in advance, either way.

[Deborah L. Willoughby]

Louisiana requires certification before you can work as a court reporter. You may only use the method in which you are certified (pen, steno, or voice). I haven't had Audioscribe all that long and am still training it and learning all the features the program has to offer. I haven't used it yet for full transcription so I don't really know what my accuracy rate is. I know that it gets better every time I train and correct, though. As far as agency supervision, no, the agencies I work for do not supervise or check my work (that I know of). I email my transcripts to them, send the exhibits in the mail, and they do all the production work. Never had any complaints. In fact, I've only actually met two of my firm owners in person. The rest of them I've never seen. I've only spoken with them over the phone. No, I've never used a scopist. No, you don't ask too many questions. That's how we learn, so you just ask away!

[Batya]

Thank ypu, Deborah,
You're very gracious, and helpfully informative.
In which method are you certified?

[Mary Ann Payonk]

Hi, Batta. I'm not a voice reporter. I'm a machine reporter (realtime) in Washington, D.C. There must be a market for voice writers in NYC, and you've obviously looked into it. Or maybe you're going to be looking for work somewhere else after you're through. Are you staying there in NYC? If so, what kind of work are you looking forward to? I just don't think of NYC as VW-friendly, but maybe I'm wrong. (Left my original post but edited after I've read other replies to say I just wondered what the market was like for voice writers in NYC.)

M.A.