Selecting a Session

When you're ready to work, click on the large TranscribeMe logo at the top left of your WorkHub screen, then click Load List of Session for QA to see the available files in the queue. If there are no General sessions available, a red message will read, "There are no available sessions fitting your request for the moment. Please try another set of preferences." From here, you can periodically click Apply Filter or try the different domains - we refer to them as folders - to see if any files are available under Legal, Healthcare, Finance, and Technical.

Sessions in the Lower Expectations folder have been rejected multiple times for Poor Audio Quality. The Healthcare folder contains sessions only accessible to those on the Medical team, whereas the Legal, Finance, and Technical folders are available to all QAs, although they rarely hold files.

If there are sessions available within any of the above-mentioned folders, loading the List of Sessions will allow you to choose from the list, up to 10 sessions at a time. You may sample the audio by clicking the Play button under the Preview column. If you know you DO NOT want to work on a file based on your preview of the file - its length, pay rate, accent, etc. - you may Reject it from this screen. It will then disappear from your queue, but you will need to click Apply Filter to refill your list with files. If you decide you might be interested in working on a session, click Open to view the full session.

To Commit or Not to Commit...

Before you begin working on a file, it is CRUCIAL that you listen to selections from the beginning, middle, and end of the audio before committing to working on it. You will have 15 minutes to review the audio (and, for 2-step work, the already-transcribed text) to determine whether you are interested in completing the session. If you are satisfied with the file, press Commit to claim it, and begin your work.

If you do not want to complete the session, please click Reject and choose the primary reason you are not interested in this session (see Rejecting a Session for further details). Your choice here will help us to better understand problem sessions so that we can meet our deadlines to the client. Note that rejected sessions will not appear in your queue again (unless manually assigned by an admin).

Factors to Consider

Understand that you do not have to commit to every file that comes into your queue. Remember that TM guarantees its clients 99% accuracy, and part of being a successful QA is knowing when you can and can't deliver that level of quality. As you gain more experience, your confidence will increase and you can work on more difficult files, but when you're new, we understand that there are some files that you will not be comfortable with for a variety of potential reasons. Before clicking Commit, take into consideration the:

• Length of the file
• Number of speakers
• Audio quality
• Speakers' accents and/or speech patterns
• Topic of discussion

Entirely Silent or Foreign Files

If you discover - after checking the beginning, end, and several selections from the middle of the audio - a session that is mostly/entirely silent or foreign, note the session ID, cancel out of the session, and send a ticket to the Help Desk with the ID, selecting the (TR/QA) Reporting silent/foreign file option from the beacon dropdown. You will not be paid for completing these types of files.

If parts of the file are in English, please transcribe them, using the [foreign] tag where necessary. See the Style Guide for examples.

Rejecting a Session

If you come across a file that, for whatever reason, you absolutely do not want to work on, click Reject to remove the file from your queue so you do not see it again. If you have rejected all the files available, the No Available Sessions message will display when you click on the Sessions tab.

When you click Reject, the rejection reason box will display, where you can specify why you do not wish to work on the file. Remember that admins see the reason for rejection and act accordingly to make sure no file gets shunned for too long. Please be honest and select the most appropriate reason for rejecting the file. If none of the detailed reasons are appropriate, please select Other.

Number of Speakers: If there are 4+ speakers and you don't feel you can accurately distinguish between them, reject for this reason.

Subject Matter: You're not comfortable with the topic being discussed.

Audio Length: The file length is longer than the time you have available to work on it. Please do not fear longer files. You will always be allowed ample time to complete a file based on its length. Check the due date to see how much time is allowed for the session.

Low-Quality Audio: You feel the audio quality is too poor for you to complete the file. Note that if enough QAs reject a file for this reason, it automatically gets put into the LE folder. DO NOT select this reason unless the audio is truly bad, for example, a loud, intolerable background sound played throughout the file that no audio enhancer can get rid of, a terrible phone connection where every other word cuts out, an incomprehensibly thick accent, etc.

Due Too Soon: You can choose this reason if you don't feel you can complete the file within your given extension time/due date, or if you feel uneasy seeing the red "PAST DUE to the client" box.

Terrible Transcription: Only applies to 2Step QAs. For 2Step QAs, this reason offers a way to send select chunks from the file back to the transcription queue to be transcribed again. Please see Rejecting Sessions for Poor Transcription for details on using this. If you come across a 1-step file that is partially worked on, do not select this reason, no matter how bad it looks. You can always delete what is there and start over if you wish.

Other: If your reason, or lack thereof, does not match one of the other options, please choose Other.

Canceling

Unlike the Reject button, which banishes a session from returning to your queue, clicking Cancel will temporarily remove a session from your queue and redirect you to the Sessions Homescreen, where you may again browse your List of Sessions. This is the best option if you are done working for the time being, as another session will not immediately pop up in your queue. Cancel is also an appropriate option if a session pops up that you may consider working on if it's available later.

Canceling and the Due Date

As mentioned in the Due Date section of Session Details, your due date counts down from when you first open the session. So if you open a file at night before going to bed, cancel it, then see it again 8 hours later, your due date will have counted down a full 8 hours. Also note that upon subsequent viewings of a session, the amount of time you have to commit or reject will be 6 minutes, not 15.

Extensions on a Previously Canceled File

We do realize that there may be times a file pops up in your queue that you are unable to work on at that time, then later when you are willing to work on it, you will have an inadequate amount of time to do so based on a limited self-extension option (because it started counting down when you first saw the session). In these cases, the Help Desk will happily grant you adequate extensions depending upon the file length and when you actively began working on the session. Please see Help Desk Extensions for details.

Releasing (i.e., Dropping) a Session

Note that when you click Cancel, a pop-up will appear saying, "Please be aware that if you cancel the current session, any work you have done will be lost and you will not receive payment for it." This DOES NOT mean that the work you have done will be completely erased; the next QA will be able to pick up where you left off. For this reason, it's a good idea to click Save before canceling. However, your work is lost to you because TranscribeMe does not compensate for partially completed work.

If you are sure you want to cancel out of the session, click the blue OK button. If you change your mind or realize that you accidentally hit the Cancel button instead of Save, hit Cancel to close the pop-up and continue working on the session.

If you have timestamped the file to at least 5 minutes, please follow the Lost Sessions Policy by posting the Session ID in the Lost QA/QS Sessions group, stating that you have released the session and it is free to work on.