Speed and Accuracy

Overview

• Getting faster in Formalizer is something that takes time. You will need to make a conscientious effort to improve your speed. Give yourself goals to hit for speed and X-Factor on every job you do. The F3 screen in Formalizer keeps track of your production rate on every job you do while you stay logged in.
  
  
• Speed and accuracy go hand in hand. As you aim to increase your speed, always be mindful to maintain good quality, check for Common Terms, follow the Standards and put forth your best effort. You should not sacrifice a job's quality in order to try and get the best X-Factor you can. Conversely, some jobs will simply have very poor audio and you should not sacrifice your speed to unnecessarily re-review sections of audio that are far too garbled to understand. Use the bookmarks appropriately according to the Bookmarks Guidelines.
  
  
• Getting faster usually comes in waves. You'll find that once you get to a certain production rate, you'll then plateau for a while, and then you'll get faster and plateau again. If you keep on trying to get faster and continue to employ these tips, you will continue to get faster over time.
  
  
• Some of the tips discussed in this document will help you get faster in small increments. Other tips will take time and will help you get faster in larger increments. Use the tips outlined on this document to help guide you along.
  
  

Hotkeys  |   Spellchecker  |   Dealing with Garbled Speakers  |   Spellings  |   Macro Tips  |   Macros Ideas  |   Error Code Macros  |  

Getting Faster - The first tip for getting faster is Don't Use the Mouse!! Everything you need to do in Formalizer can be done using hotkeys on the keyboard. You will save valuable seconds on every job you process when you stop using the mouse. If you can save three seconds per job, and you process 50 jobs a day, and you work 5 days a week and there are two weeks in a pay period… that’s 1,500 seconds, which is 25 minutes! This is a small but noticeable difference, and is the easiest step you can make towards getting faster.

Hotkeys:

Alt-Q: Send to QA     Alt-J: Select/Unselect Get Next job (how to properly log out)     Alt-0: Returns the cursor to the text field     Ctrl-F: Find text     Shift-left/right: Highlights text (characters)     Ctrl-Shift-left/right: Highlights text (words)     Alt-down: Puts text in all lowercase*     Alt-up: Puts text in all uppercase*     Alt-Shift-up: Capitalizes the first letter of the word*

F1: View the job     F2: View comments     F3: View profile info     F4: View macros

*These hotkey features will sometimes add a block character or strange symbol after the word you've made lowercase/uppercase/capitalized. You must erase that character/symbol or else Formalizer might start to erase words as you type them.

Ctrl-B: Leave a comment for the QA Ctrl-S: Sends the job out Ctrl-right: Jumps the cursor right an entire word Ctrl-left: Jumps the cursor left an entire word Ctrl-up: Jumps the cursor up and entire paragraph Ctrl-down: Jumps the cursor down an entire paragraph

Ctrl-Backspace: Erases an entire word Ctrl-Delete: Deletes an entire word Ctrl-Home: Jumps the cursor to the very beginning of the text Ctrl-End: Jumps the cursor to the very end of the text Home: Jumps the cursor to the beginning of the line End: Jumps the cursor to the end of the line

Ctrl+: Speed up the dictation Ctrl-: Slow down the dictation Ctrl*: Bring the dictation back to normal speed

- You will go faster on jobs with “fast talkers” if you slow down the dictation speed once or twice. - When you get a “slow talker”, you should try speeding up the dictation speed maybe two to four times. - When you get a person speaking clearly and at a normal rate it’s a good idea speed them up once/maybe twice as practice/conditioning to get used to typing faster.

Important Spellchecker Tips: - Make sure you’ve spelled the word correctly before you add any word to the Spellchecker word bank. - Add Common Terms to the Spellchecker word bank so it doesn’t suggest other words and slow you down. - Don't use “Change All” – It does not work properly for Formalizer - Don't use “Ignore” – It is faster to use “Ignore All”

Hotkeys While in Spellchecker: Alt-G: Ignore All Alt-H: Change Alt-D: Add word to the Spellchecker word bank Alt-C: Cancel Spellchecker Tab: Scroll through options Shift Tab: Scroll through options backwards Up/down arrow: Scroll through the Spellchecker suggestions while the cursor is in the “Change To” Field

- Macros can help with both speed and accuracy. The less key strokes you type, the faster you will go. Macros can be shortcuts for long words/phrases, they can correct your typos, they can be used to remember Common Terms, and can help with many other things. - Every account comes with pre-set macros assigned to your profile. You can delete them, change them and add new ones. To change a macro, click on the macro, change the “Value” to what you want it to be and then click “Add”. - Don't use one-letter macros: One-letter macros will create accidental “holes” in your text. When you erase any word that begins with the same letter as your one-letter macro, it will also erase the word before it. - Don’t make macros out of words that already exist: Don’t make “war” your macro for “we also reviewed” or "ben" your macro for "beneficiary". You'll wind up accidentally typing "I met with beneficiary Jones" when the customer said "I met with Ben Jones". - When you make a macro, think of whatever variations or pairings exist for that word or phrase and make macros for those variations and pairings. - To create a new line break with a macro, type \n in the value field. To create a full paragraph break, simply type \n\n in the value field. - To activate a macro, simply type your macro and then hit the Spacebar. Hitting the Enter key will also activate the macro; however, this will also create a new line break after the value. You should not use the Enter key to activate your macros, because you will wind up with an e-mail that has blank lines at the end of it for each macro activated this way. Every Copytalk e-mail contains standardized information automatically placed at the end of every e-mail, and many customers also create their own signatures that go at the end of the e-mails. These signatures are pre-set by the customer and are not dictated. Having 40+ blank lines at the end of the job makes it so that this information and these signatures would not be seen. If you do use the Enter key to activate your macros, you must delete any empty lines at the end of the job (and this wastes time, so it is highly recommended that you do not use the Enter key to activate your macros). - Be careful when a macro comes before punctuation. Punctuation will prevent the macro from activating -- you must hit the spacebar to activate the macro. This means you should type your macro, hit the spacebar, then hit backspace, and then add the comma (or period, etc.). It's important to get used to hitting space+backspace+punctuation. - To prevent any macro from activating after you've typed it, hit the right arrow key or the Esc key. Hotkeys to Make a Macro F4: View macros Alt-M: Type the macro Alt-V: Type the value Alt-A: Add the macro - There is no hot key to re-sort your macros. You must use the mouse and click on the tab at the top of the list (“Macro” or “Value” or “Group”) to re-sort your macros alphabetically or reverse-alphabetically. Top Macro Ideas Getting Started with Macro Ideas: The following is a list of some of the macros that are pre-loaded into your profile. There are already thousands of macros in your profile to help you type faster and more accurately. Many of the Common Terms are in your macro list, as are many other common words and phrases. The ones listed here should give you an idea as to how the macro system is set up in your profile. As you become more familiar with the types of transcriptions you’ll be doing, you should continue to add more macros to your profile to assist you with your typing speed and accuracy. - There are "shorthand" macros and "shortcut" macros in your profile. - Shorthand macros are for when you type something short that stands for something bigger, like pw for paperwork or ct for Copytalk. - Shortcut macros are for when you can cut a word off at a certain letter in order to finish the rest of the word and reduce your keystrokes, like cali for California or entrep for entrepreneur. Numbers: 1h through 99h = 100 through 9,900 1hh through 99hh = $100 through $9,900 1t through 999t = 1,000 through 999,000 1tt through 999tt = $1,000 through $999,000 1p through 100p = 100% (Formalizer recognizes decimal percentages like 1.5p as 1.5%) 01p through 09p = 01% through 09% (for when a customer says, for example, 55.08%) o1 through o9 = ‘01 through ‘09 1o, 1am, 1pm through 12o, 12am, 12pm = 1:00, 1:00am, 1:00pm through 12:00, 12:00am, 12:00pm Common Words: pw = paperwork       mufu = mutual fund       std = standard       uw = underwrite bc = because       hw = his wife       dv = dividend       uwr = underwriter fw = forward       hh = her husband       ff = fact find       scap = small cap thru = through       hws = his wife's       ffm = fact find meeting       lcap = large cap tho = though       hhs = her husband's       ffr = fact finder       mcap = mid cap hiy = high-yield       dau = daughter       ffg = fact finding       micap = micro cap yr = year       yry = yearly       stm = statement       mucap = multi-cap Tip: It may not be a good idea to make “int” a macro for “interest” or any other word. Most people accidentally type “int he” when typing “in the” which would result in “interest he”. “Inte” is a pre-set macro for interest. Common Verbs: - All the verbs in the English language have the same endings to make the verb past-tense, future-tense, plural, and to turn it into a noun, adjective or adverb. - Your macro profile system is designed to make it easier for you to remember your macros while typing. Most all of the verbs in your profile are shortcut macros, and they each have the same endings attached to them to modify the verb to make it past-tense, future-tense, plural, and to turn it into a noun, adjective or adverb. This way, instead of making eight different macros, you have one macro with seven different endings. - Whenever you make a macro, especially for a verb, think of whatever variations or pairings exist for that word or phrase and make macros for those variations and pairings. The list below provides you with good examples that are already in your profile. sug = suggest       sugd = suggested       sugn = suggestion       sugv = suggestive sugs = suggests       sugg = suggesting       sugns = suggestions apl = apply       apld = applied       apln = application       aplb = applicable apls = applies       aplg = applying       aplns = applications ck = check       ckga = checking account       ckls = checklists       vck = voided check cks = checks       ckb = checkbook       dck = double-check       ckom = Check-O-Matic ckd = checked       ckbs = checkbooks       pck = paycheck ckg = checking       ckl = checklist       pcks = paychecks mk = market       mkg = marketing       fmk = fair market       emk = emerging markets mks = markets       mkp = marketplace       fmkv = fair market value       mkf = marketFLEX mkd = marketed       mkv = market value tt = tax       tty = taxability       tti = tax implications       ttbk = tax bracket tts = taxes       ttdb = tax deductible       ttr = tax return       ttbks = tax brackets ttd = taxed       ttdf = tax deferred       ttrs = tax returns       ttc = tax consequence ttg = taxing       ttdfl = tax deferral       ttram = tax ramifications       ttcs = tax consequences ttn = taxation       ttb = taxable       ttf = tax free Tip: The common macro endings for verbs are -s, -d, -g. Other endings that can often be applied to create nouns, adjectives, and adverbs are -n, -m, -b, -v, -y, and -l. Common Phrases: asa = as soon as       ala = as long as       lmk = let me know       lyk = let you know aqa = as quickly as       ama = as much as       lmkg = letting me know       lykg = letting you know awa = as well as       afa = as far as Tip: Recognize the common phrases customers tend to say a lot: “we talked about”, “down the road”, “in the future” and “so on and so forth”. Make macros for these phrases and for the different ways they may say them: “we also talked about”, “we also talked a little bit about” and “in the very near future”. Common Terms: ira = IRA       metlife = MetLife       nw = Northwestern       thriv = Thrivent rira = Roth IRA       axa = AXA       nwm = Northwestern Mutual       prud = Prudential tira = traditional IRA       axae = AXA Equitable       genw = Genworth       pcx = Paychex sira = SIMPLE IRA       opp = Oppenheimer       l10 = L-10       bcbs = BlueCross BlueShield sepira = SEP-IRA       jpm = JPMorgan       t80 = T-80       jn = Jackson National stira = stretch IRA       jh = John Hancock       w2 = W-2 etrade = E*Tradel Tip: Not all of the Common Terms have macros. You will still need to check the Common Terms list to make sure you are spelling and formatting these terms correctly, and make new macros on your own. Common Term Acronyms: heloc = HELOC       ifa = IFA       ppa = PPA       mec = MEC helocc = home equity line of credit       ifaa = Income Fund of America       ppaa = personal planning analysis       mecc = modified endowment contract Tip: Some Common Term acronyms, like SIMPLE, ARM and SAM don’t have macros to auto-capitalize them because simple, arm and sam are normal words that you may not always want in all-caps. A good idea might be to try simplee as your macro for SIMPLE, armm for ARM, and samm for SAM. Typos: teh = the       abck = back       tehm = them       abotu = about Tip: There are not that many pre-set typo macros because your typos are your own. Catch the words you misspell often and catch the words you mistype often and make macros to fix them. It saves time from having to go back and fix them. Apostrophes, Hyphens and Slashes: losh = long/short       mil = mother-in-law       dil = daughter-in-law       dont = don't bs = buy/sell       fil = father-in-law       sonil = son-in-law       theyve = they've bsa = buy/sell agreement       bil = brother-in-law       sisil = sister-in-law       im = I'm Tip: Cutting out apostrophes helps a lot in small ways. Every keystroke you can cut out will make you type faster, and one small job can have a lot of apostrophes in it. But words like shell, hell and were are already words, so they shouldn’t be used as macros for she’ll, he’ll and we’re. You could maybe try shel for she’ll, hel for he’ll and wer for we’re. Names: david = David       davids = David's Tips: Using macros for first names prevents accidentally typing “DAvid” or “david”, which Spellcheck likely won't catch. Not all first names are in your macro list. Names like Will and Bill are also normal words, while other names aren’t as common and aren’t in the list. Be careful with names like Robert, where Robert's is possessive and Roberts is a last name. Also be careful in the [1 field. If a customer's recipient nicklist has a first name listed as ALEX or alex, it MUST be entered into the [1 field exactly as listed in the nicklist. Do not let your macro change it to Alex. Hit the right arrow key on your keyboard to cancel out any macro. Double-letter Macros: aa = asset allocation       hh = her husband       oo = one-on-one       vv = very bb = bye, bye       ii = II       pp = personal plan       ww = with cc = credit card       jj = joint       qq = question       xx = extra dd = doing       kk = 401(k)       rr = really       yy = why ee = EE       ll = little       ss = Social Security       zz = Zephyr ff = fact find       mm = money       tt = tax gg = going       nn = need       uu = you Tip: Every letter of the alphabet has a macro associated to it when you hit it twice. You can change these as you like. Top Error Code Macros Error Codes: xxa [xAbusive customer [zThis is a continuation of a previous message. xxh [xHang up/Unintended call xxu [xUnsupported feature [zCustomer requested an unsupported feature:_________ xxg [xGarbled Dictation [zDue to poor audio, this job could not be processed. xxn1 [xNo valid recipients [zCustomer did not state a recipient. xxn2 [xNo valid recipients [zCustomer stated a recipient not on the list:_________ xxn3 [xNo valid recipients [zCustomer requested the transcription be sent to all contacts on the list. xxm1 [xMultiple items [zCustomer tried to dictate an additional e-mail to be sent to a separate recipient. xxm2 [xMultiple items [zCustomer tried to dictate an additional Contact/Expense/Appointment job. xxc1 [xCan't match one or more recipients [zCustomer stated an additional recipient not on the list:_______ xxc2 [xCan't match one or more recipients [zCustomer stated a carbon copy not on the list:________ Tip: All error codes have a macro associated to them (except OPDNP and OPPA). So, unless something very strange happens in a job, these macros should cover any issues that would need an error code. If your job has an issue or problem that is not covered by one of these error code macros, you should review the Error Codes Explanations document on the home page or check with a supervisor about how to handle the job before sending the job out. Top [Advanced Scribing Techniques] [Bookmarks] [Common Terms] [Compensation Policy] [Customer Ratings System] [CBS Employee Guidelines] [COSA] [CRM Standards] [E-mail Corrections] [Error Codes] [Reasons for FDS/FQA] [Referral Bonus Program] [Speed and Accuracy] [Standards] [Troubleshooting]