Foot Pedals

What does a foot pedal do?

A foot pedal enables you to control dictation playback with your feet/toes. You can play, rewind, and fast forward by tapping different sections of the pedal with the front of your foot. While there are a few different types, the commonly used one for us is the Infinity USB Foot Pedal (IN-USB-2) or the AltoEdge USB Foot Pedal with easy plug and play functionality.

Why do I need one?

Well, that's a great question. I don't know of any career transcriptionist that doesn't have one. While using the inbuilt hotkeys are great when you're starting out, having a foot pedal will greatly increase your speed and, generally, frees your fingers up to do the important stuff like typing!

But I'm really good at using the hotkeys!

I know you are, but without a doubt, having a foot pedal will reduce the typing burden on your money-makers (fingers and hands) in the long run.

Where can I get a foot pedal and are they expensive?

You can get foot pedals from a variety of online stores, from Amazon to eBay. There are secondhand ones available if you're lucky. Although, I think that getting a new one is worth it as you will have the guarantee/warranty that comes along with a new device. You can find foot pedals ranging anywhere from US$30 to around the US$100 mark for a brand spanking new one. This may seem like an outrageous expense when you're starting, but I believe it's worth saving up for if you are thinking of making a career of transcription.

Advice from Yuen, TranscribeMe's Medical and HIPAA Director:

For myself, I always have a couple of foot pedals on hand. A spare one, just in case! I find that living with furry children who like to hang around my office tends to make the fur and dust build up in the foot pedal. My main foot pedal has lasted me nearly 10 years, but it has had moments where it's packed up because of the build-up within. They are easy enough to take apart and clean up but try to keep a spare around if you can.

How do I use a foot pedal on TranscribeMe's platform?

Per our Tech team, here is our list of supported & confirmed models:

• Infinity IN-USB-2
• Infinity IN-USB-3
• AltoEdge IN-AE-S
• Philips LFH2310
• Philips AAC2310
• Olympus RS-31

The following models have also been added but not yet confirmed (if you have one of these models and can confirm they work, please let us know!!

• Infinity IN-DVIUSB
• Infinity IN-USB-1
• Philips LFH2320
• Philips LFH2330
• Philips AAC2320
• Philips AAC2330
• Olympus RS-26
• Olympus RS-27
• Olympus RS-28

These models are NOT supported:

• X-keys XK-3
• vPedal VP-1
• vPedal VP-4 MKII wireless

Troubleshooting

Ready to get started only to find that your foot pedal has decided not to cooperate? (Note: There is a known issue with Mac OS Monterey where foot pedals behave as a mouse right-click. This has allegedly been fixed in Ventura.) There are many reasons why we can't support certain models:

• Pedal can be recognized as joystick in OS.
• Pedal can be recognized as mouse/controller in OS.
• Pedal may not have HID driver (main interface for communication with our UI/plugin).

Even if TM's interface doesn't support your model, you can use software to associate pedal keys with the hotkeys in our UI. For example, Pedable tool for Windows: https://www.nch.com.au/footpedal/index.html.

If you get a "No compatible devices found" error, that means one of four things:

1. We don't support this model.
2. Pedal isn't connected to the PC.
3. Pedal has some defects.
4. Pedal has conflicts with OS. (such as in Mac's Monterey)

In instance #1, we can run a simple diagnostic to see if we can support your model. Follow these steps and send in a ticket to share:

1. Follow the link https://nondebug.github.io/webhid-explorer/
2. Tap on "Connect" button.
3. Select User's foot pedal from the list and click "Connect" button.
4. Copy text from the Device info box and share with us.

In Summary:

For transcriptionists, a foot pedal is an essential tool. Using one means keeping your hands focused on fewer tasks and maintaining greater productivity. In your transcribing job, transcription foot pedals are necessary to pause, rewind, and fast forward audio recordings. This means you can use keystrokes for standard typing and not have to worry about additional hotkey commands to control audio functions. Using fewer keystrokes also improves your turnaround time.

As always, you are your greatest asset. Be kind to yourself and the work will flow!