If you’re planning on getting into the profession of trancription, you’re going to need the tools of the trade.

I’ll give you a quick run down of some of the gear you should plan to have.

I know that many transcriptionists work from home, so you may also want to check out my tips for setting up a home office.

Transcribers

You’re going to need something that can play back your recordings and, no, audio playback programs already (like iTunes or Windows Media Player) on your computer aren’t going to cut the mustard.

If you’re going to be dealing strictly with digital files, software like Gear Player or Quikscribe should suit your needs nicely.

If you’re going to be working with cassettes, then you’re going to need to get a separate machine to playback the various formats – standard cassette, micro cassette, mini cassette.

Philips, Dictaphone, and Sony all make excellent transcribers – and don’t be afraid to pick up used equipment on eBay – often times it has years of life left on it and can be purchased for up to 80% of what you’d spend getting brand new equipment.

Foot Pedal

Every transcriptionist finds that the foot pedal is often her best friend.  It allows you to keep your hands free to do the typing and to easily go back on a recording without your fingers ever leaving the keyboard.

Most cassette transcribers come with the foot pedal.  For digital transcription, make sure you get a USB foot pedal.

Headset

The key here is to get something that is going to be comfortable to wear a long time.  I’ve purchased headphones for as little as 99 cents in the past for listening to music and threw them away after a few minutes.

The headset I have now can be worn comfortably all day.

Other Transcription Equipment To Consider

• Line Counting Software
• File Moving / Encryption Software
• Spell Checkers (For legal, medical, and pharmaceutical transcription)
• Text Expanders

Dragon Naturally Speaking offers a transcription aid program that will do a lot of the transcription for you… automatically.  It can’t do all the transcribing for you, but you’ll be amazed how good voice recognition software is getting.

Mac Compatible Transcription Software

Many software suites are compatible with the Mac, just make sure you check first.  One that I know off the top of my head this will work on a mac is the Olympus AS-5000 Transcription Kit.

Dictators vs Transcribers

Deciding which device to get really depends on which end of the recording you’re going to be one.  If you’re the one making the recordings and doing the dictating, then you’ll want a dictator or voice recorder as their feature set is best suited for capturing audio.

If you’re going to be doing the transcribing, then get a transcriber.

Digital Transcription Software

Some programs like Dragon Naturally Speaking can to a servicable job of transcribing a recording without any human intervention provided there is only once voice on the recording.

However, anything that uses technical terms, names, jargon, meetings, or phone conversations will require the expertise of a human transcriptionist.

Manufacturers

While I almost exclusively recommend going with Dictaphones, here are some of the best manufacturers of transcribers and dictators:

• Dictaphone
• Sony
• Philips
• Panasonic
• Olympus

Recommended Transcribers:

• Dictaphone 2752
• Panasonic RR-930
• Sony M 2000

Budget Transcription Equipement

If you’re on a tight budget, get used gear.  You can get up to an 80% discount by buying older models of the high end equipment.

You’re far better off getting high quality used equipment than going for the cheapest item you can find that’s brand new.  eBay is a good place to start, but Amazon has a pretty good selection of used equipment as well.

The one exception I’d make is to make sure you get a new headset – maybe it’s just me, but I’d rather not use anything that’s spent a large portion of time in someone else’s ears.

So you’re interested in becoming a medical transcriptionist and now you want to know what kind of gear you’ll need.

I’ve put together this quick little guide to help you make sure you well equipped as well as give you a few specific recommendations on what to keep in your office based on my 9 years of having a home based business (trust me, you learn a trick or two in that time).

Dictation Equipment

While the actual device the doctor uses doesn’t matter all that much to you, it certainly matters what kind of format they’re using because you’re going to need equipment to play it back so you can transcribe it.

Not a lot of doctors use standard cassette recorders so you probably don’t need to invest in one or you can get a cheap one off eBay in the even it comes up.

You will almost certainly run into both microcassete and mini cassete formats, however.  To the untrained eye they look similar and, honestly, a lot of people use the words interchangablely – just remember they’re not.  You can either get two separate units get one that’ll play both like the Olympus T-2020 Transcriber.

Digital dictation is starting to really take hold these days and that’s good news for you.

With digital, you can just use your computer and some transcription software to do your job.  You’ll probably want to get a USB foot pedal to plug into your computer to allow you to control the playback as easily as you can on a regular dictation unit, but otherwise digital is better.

I think you’ll really appreciate the fact that it’s easy to clean up noise with filtering software.  With analog tapes, it’s a pain to clean up noise – with digital it’s a piece of cake, heck, the transcription software you’re using probably has it built in.

Tools Of The Trade – Medical Transcription Equipment You Need

Here’s a quick list of stuff you’ll want to get along with a few specific recommendations:

• Computer
• Transcription Equipment (machines to play back tapes, headphones, and foot pedals, transcription software for digital files)
• Printer
• Comfortable Chair and Desk
• Fax Machine (optional)
• Word Processor Software (Like Microsoft Word, OpenOffice Writer)
• Medical Dictionary
• Medical Spellchecker Software
• Drug / Pharmaceutical Guide
• Medical Specialty Books

Computer

I’ll leave the choice of getting a desktop or laptop up to you. These days, most new laptops (but not netbooks) have more than enough power to work with digital audio files.

If you do decide to go the laptop route, in addition to the transcription specific gear, make sure you get a wireless keyboard and mouse – the keyboard especially since you’re going to be doing a lot of typing and no laptop keyboard is as good as the real mccoy.

In terms of specs, they’re not terribly important as long as you remember to stay out of the bargain bin (that means no Walmart specials).

I’m also a big fan of having multiple monitors, but do what your budget permits at first.

Transcription Equipment

I covered this above, but I’ll summarize again.  Make sure your gear can play back both mini and microcassettes.  Get comfortable headphones (emphasis on comfortable, don’t skimp on these) and foot pedal controls for playback – you’re gonna need your hands for typing.

Printer

In my office, I not only have an all in one machine, I have a all the separate machines that make up an all in one.  It’s overkill.  While my preference is always to use a laser printer if you’re going to be doing printing in quantity, the laser all in one machines are prohibitively expensive.  Do, however, go with an all-in-one inkjet for business users – it’ll have separate cartridges for each color (magenta, cyan, yellow, black).  If you can pick up a cheap HP Laserjet to go along with it, do it – it’ll save you a ton of money in the long run on black and white printing.

Fax Machine

If you get an all-in-one, you won’t need a separate fax machine.  However, I do recommend getting an online fax service.  It will give you a dedicated phone number for people to dial and all faxes will show up in your email instead of having to be printed.  And since an online fax service never runs out of paper, jams up, or runs out of ink, it’s a wise investment.

Chair and Desk

When I first started working from home, I got the cheapest chair and desk I could find… big mistake… especially the chair.

The desk should be big enough to accomodate not only your computer, but also all the reference materials you need.

The chair is absolutely critical and it needs to be comfortable to sit in for long periods.  There really is no one size fits all that’s going to be best for you.
I love Herman Miller chairs myself.  My mom, on the other hand, really likes her Steelcase chair.

It takes a little getting used to either kind of chair compared to a standard, cheap chair, but it’s all around better for your back as well as your productivity.  If you find yourself fidgeting and getting up all the time because your chair is uncomfortable, you’re simply not going to get as much done.

Conclusion

And there you have it. I hope this guides helps you get all the gear you need to start your own medical transcription business – if there’s something I missed, feel free to chime in by posting a comment below and put in your two cents.