Internet Providers In My Area – A Comparison

Posted by admin on Aug 15, 2010 in Articles | 0 comments

Here are a few tips and comparisons that may shorten, and hopefully solve some of the headaches associated with trying to find a Broadband Internet Provider.
Cable Internet Providers
Cable Internet providers usually have Internet speeds around 5-megabytes or 5,000-kilobytes. Some of the more well-known providers are Cox, Charter and Comcast. Mainly, these companies will always attempt to bundle all of their services (television, phone and Internet). I would strongly caution against bundling services and here is why. In order to get any type of price break on anything through a cable company, you will be required to carry multiple services. Discontinue one of them and except to have your rates immediately skyrocket. If you have a cable outage, (the average cable company loses service approximately 23-hours per year), you run the risk of being without Internet, television and phone. Cable companies as many of you know are not regulated by anyone and often raise rates regardless of any promotion you may be in.
DSL Service Providers
DSL service providers offer wide ranging speeds, very much faster than dialup providers, but not quite as fast as cable providers. DSL speeds are usually in the 3-megabyte range or 3,000-kilobytes. DSL speeds and prices can vary greatly depending on where you live. Prices for part of your town may be higher than other parts, pay attention for that. Some DSL providers are also starting to bundle services, AT&T, Verizon and Qwest are three that will attempt to bundle a combination of Internet, television and phone. Many will only give an advertised promotional price if you bundle services. The prices are usually significanlty higher if you do not. One thing that all DSL providers have in common though, is the need to run their Internet service through your phone lines and will require you to have a lan-based phone line if you don’t already have one. If you go with a DSL provider, you will need to factor the cost of the phone line and taxes, to make sure it makes sense for you.
Wireless Internet Providers
Wireless Providers that require the use of an Air Card are exremely risky. It is impossible to approximate the speed or quality of service. I have personally spoken to countless people who have paid as much as $60.00 to start up with a Wireless provider to find out that they live too far from a cell tower to receive the speeds that were being advertised and in some cases too far to receive a solid signal period.
Satellite Internet Providers
Satellite Internet is a fast growing solution for many rural Americans. The two most popular providers are HughesNet and WildBlue. HughesNet offers speeds of 1-megabyte (1000-kilobytes) to 5-megabytes (5000-kilobytes) and is priced according to the speed you choose. WildBlue speeds range from 512-kilobytes to 1.5-megabytes, (approximately 10 to 30 times faster than dialup). Although HughesNet offers faster and wider ranging speeds than Wild Blue, Hughes is significantly more money to start up and the monthly costs put this service out of range for many families. The speeds though make HughesNet a popular option for businesses. When it comes to service in your home WildBlue is the hands down most popular choice among rural customers. Lower upfront and monthly costs make it a perfect solution for dial-up customers just looking to go faster and get more out of their Internet.
Hopefully this will help a few of you out there just trying to find the right service for you and your family. To sum up, cable and DSL providers will have fast speeds, but will in most cases require other services be added to get the kind of pricing they advertise. Avoid altogether Wireless Providers, great idea, but way too risky. If you are in a rural location where cable and DSL don’t or won’t provide service, than Satellite Internet Service is the way to go.

Voice Recognition Transcription Software For Improved Profitability

Posted by admin on Aug 12, 2010 in Articles | 0 comments

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Companies that provide medical transcription services have an open door to a fast growing industry due to the increases in the demand for Health Care services. Despite the fact that there will be plenty of work out there for these companies, it is essential that they have voice recognition transcription software that will allow them to compete with other companies. The technology has drastically improved and the right software platform can mean the difference between outpacing the competitors and falling behind.

The right voice recognition transcription software is going to be easy for transcriptionists to learn and use. If adequate training products are offered this is the first step in allowing a company to outfit their medical transcriptionists with something that can increase production. Companies in the market for voice transcription software will be very aware of the fact that they do not get paid to train their employees so if the learning curve is short, this will make a big difference in the long run.

Different employees will have particular preferences in the way that they use software. Quality voice recognition transcription software is going to be able to provide transcriptionists with the ability to customize the settings and use keyboard shortcuts that will not only make them more efficient but reduce the kind of repetitive stress injuries that come from reliance on a mouse to navigate. They will also experience lower stress levels in terms of frustration that comes from the inability to navigate easily around a software platform.

The ability of a software platform to deliver documents or files to a client is also important. Not all clients are the same, and they are going to have different requirements in terms of deliverables. If the voice recognition transcription software needs to be adapted each time a different client has the need for information to be delivered in a different format, this not only means lost time but it can result in lost clients. It is much easier for a company to get a software platform that has adaptability and can deliver an end product through fax or any other kind of document format that a client’s system requires.

There are a number of different varieties of speech recognition technology that have come out on the market recently. Simple speech recognition will fall substantially short when it comes to doing medical transcription. A software suite must have the appropriate medical vocabulary to do error checking and not leave the transcriptionist with the bulk of the work when it comes to reducing abnormalities in the data. Voice recognition transcription software must be effective when it comes to the conversion of speech to data but it has to do much more as well.

Companies that want to compete in the industry must look for voice recognition transcription software that will provide for effective workflow. This is something that may often be overlooked by companies that are in the market for transcription software. Too much emphasis might be put on the usability and if a company can find a software platform that is not only usable but will assist with payroll and work distribution it will realize the benefits for years to come.