Indraft Tips

If you see yellow highlighting on a returned document it means we had difficulty understanding the dictation and/or the passage highlighted requires your attention. Similarly if there is blue highlighting then it is a reminder to you that there is a gap to be filled or a reminder of some sort that you have requested.

Please try to use the NATO alphabet (see attached) or anything similar, particularly when dictating postcodes or spelling names. This helps avoid the common errors which can otherwise occur of s/f or n/m being misheard. For those without the requisite military experience any variation will do so long as the meaning is clear! It also helps if you can repeat figures for sums of money and the like.

Please remember that at least initially that we will have no information from your files. So we need names, addresses, references, headings and salutations. Also what may be common parlance to you within the office will not be so familiar to us so using initials, for example of a work colleague, may not result in their full name appearing if that is what you intended. As time goes on these sorts of things will resolve themselves but initially please bear this in mind.

Eating, opening and closing filing cabinets, wandering away from the microphone and rustling paper whilst dictating has an adverse effect on the quality of the voice files and thus on the standard of the work we can return to you. Failing to turn the recorder on whilst you dictate or stopping recording before you finish speaking  has the same effect. Please bear this in mind because it will only cause you more work later on rectifying the deficiencies in your own dictation.

If for any reason we receive a voice file which was originally dictated for internal processing with instructions for file opening etc. we will send back those instructions if necessary verbatim in a separate note.

We can also handle copy typing work if the document to be typed up is sent preferably in tif or PDF format. It is helpful if we could be given the name of the fee earner for whom the work is to be carried out and the time by which you desire the return of the typed document. We will then confirm whether we can meet or exceed that time.  

Think about how you manage yours and your secretary’s day. How best can you use Indraft’s virtual secretary to improve both your efficiency and that of your secretary? For example how much of the day is your secretary spending on attendance notes which are generally not time critical? With the facilities on your digital recorder you can easily separate out those documents and send them to Indraft at the end of each day so that they will be back with you the following working day leaving your secretary to get on with the letters and other time critical work. Similarly if getting bills processed at the month end is a problem send them to Indraft and improve your cashflow by increasing your conversion time.

Many of our clients typically use Indraft services for all their dictation produced after 1500 on a working day, on the basis that this work is unlikely to be typed by their secretary until the following day. Any work received by Indraft after 1200 may be returned by 1700 (depending on the length and time sent) but in any event it will be returned at the latest by 0900 the following day. This avoids all work backlogs and ensures that your secretary always starts her day with a clean desk.

If you are working from different locations (office, on site, home, different clinics/hospitals etc) you can access Indraft services from wherever you have internet connection. Work can be uploaded from one location with a request that it is returned to another. So if you are working from home in the evening or at the weekend, or you are working from overseas, you can request your work is returned to your secretary’s desk at the office. Many doctors who use our services send us their work direct from their clinics, but request it is returned to their secretaries who may be based at a different location.

Although Indraft services can be used on a regular or temporary basis as and when required, you will get the best out of Indraft if you are able to commit to regular usage. This does not mean usage every day, but say, a minimum of twice a week. By becoming a regular user, we can train and dedicate a transcribing team to you, so that they become familiar with your style of dictating and the terminology used in your work. We value long term relationships.