Nix9to5

Quicktate

// March 21st, 2010 // Opportunities, Work at Home

When I first started browsing WAHM job listings, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do–besides work from home.  I didn’t know what most of the jobs would entail, or what kind of training they would require.  I started to see listings for transcription jobs, and since I am a fairly quick (though untrained) typist, I thought one of those might work for me.

What I discovered was that many of the jobs required some type of transcription training or education.  I don’t have the time or the money to go back to school (again) to learn a new trade.  Other jobs required the purchase of specific equipment to work with the company’s software or transcription methods.*  I didn’t really want to spend money on equipment for a job I didn’t know I’d like.

Then I found Quicktate.  Quicktate is a service that transcribes voicemail to text.  Subscribers can read their voicemail via email, text messaging, or iPhone widget.  Quicktate doesn’t require certification–just that you be a fast and accurate typist with a good grasp of English language, spelling, and grammar.

In the Quicktate application, you must include how many words per minute you type.  Since I had not taken a typing test since tenth grade, I had no idea what my typing skills were.  Not to worry–Quicktate even provides a link to a typing test which provides your WPM for the application.

On Quicktate’s application information, they state their requirements:

What we require

1. Accurate spelling and punctuation.
2. Typists that know how to follow instructions.
3. Typists that can listen to voice files and accurately type what they hear.
4. Speed. You don’t have to be the fastest typist, but you can’t be too slow either.
5. Honesty, integrity and reliability.

That looked like something I could handle, so I applied, and was accepted.

Pay for Quicktate is nothing that will replace a teacher’s salary, but if you are just looking to bring in a little extra money, it might do the trick.  Quicktate pays 1/4th cent per word . . . so a penny every four words.  That sounds ridiculous, but the average typist would make $5-7/hour, according to Quicktate.

It is kind of interesting typing people’s voicemails.  People will say just about anything on a voicemail (Caution:  If you have “delicate ears,” you may hear some things you don’t want to.  You don’t have to type expletives, though.  You can just type **** in place of the dirty word).

The biggest problem I had with Quicktate was that they are busiest during the day, and I could only work at night.  This meant that some evenings, I didn’t get enough messages to type.  However, I have recently begun receiving daily emails from Quicktate about how busy they are, and that they need as many typists to log in as possible.

The best thing about Quicktate is that it can be done any time.  They are open 24/7, and you do not have to schedule shifts.  You can type a voicemail or two, go answer a phone call, type a couple more, change a diaper.  Really, you can type any time you happen to have free.  Also, Quicktate prefers you are logged in anytime you are at your computer.  You could be surfing the web, reading your favorite blog (like Nix9to5), browsing Facebook (like the Nix9to5 Fan Page), or catching up with tweets (like Nix9to5 on Twitter).  When a voicemail message comes through for you to type, you hear it begin playing, and you just switch screens and type away.  The average voicemail file is only a minute or two long, so it’s easy to work in the time you have.

If transcribing for Quicktate sounds like something you’d like to do, you can find out more information and apply here.