After training as a voicewriter for a short while, I was told from an experienced voicewriter/ court reporter to contact Adria Theriot, President of Audioscribe to learn about the Speechcat software. Since September 2010, becoming a client of Audioscribe has made my career choice to become a voicewriter/court reporter all the more enjoyable. Both the people of Audioscribe and the Speechcat program have increased my passion and the joy of learning one’s trade.

It is hard to say which to applaud first, the people or the software. Like Audioscribe, Inc. itself I will begin with the people. A true educator, Adria consistently has the patience to answer my questions with the enthusiasm of a teacher, and has been constant in her willingness to make sure I was successful in using theSpeechCat; her time is valuable and she shares it unselfishly. Though when a detail came up about which Adria might be foggy on, Michelle was there with technical precision. One senses their camaraderie spills over to other customers to make the business relationships thrive. I mean it when I say, it is a pleasure, especially in this day and age, to be an Audioscribe customer – and I am paying them!

Speechcat is powerful software. It seems to work both logically and seamlessly with Dragon Naturally Speaking. Speechcat is simple enough to use within an hour of guidance, yet, a new user like myself comes to understand quickly that it is sophisticated, and has so many hundreds of tools, that the learning process will extend as far as I take it. For someone like me at the beginning it is exciting to see that distant horizon as potential to grow, learn, and improve; practically speaking, I believe it will make my job easier and make me more of a productive asset to my employer. Furthermore, having met experienced voicewrites/Speechcat I know that the way has been tested.

To say that the Adria, and the other ones who have developed Speechcat technology, has kept it user friendly is an understatement. For example, icons in the form of smile face hearts. The software is sophisticated, but there is no doubt that it was designed for comfort and ease of use with the end user like me in mind.

Finally, from a business perspective, I greatly benefitted from the monthly subscription service which eliminated both the catch 22 issue of investment- on- return and business risk that comes with working as an independent contractor. I cannot not, as I write this in real-time, currently afford to buy the software outright. It is my most immediate business goal for 2012. Moreover, before securing enough work just a few months ago, I wasn’t sure the several thousand dollar investment would pay off. The risk of investing in an expensive software program without knowing whether or not I would find the work to make it all worthwhile, and then, once I had work, the catch 22 of needing to save enough money to buy the software outright in order to continue working was solved by the subscription service. I think it speaks to this corporation’s thoughtfulness about the reality of its users, and a business philosophy that reflects follow through on a good business decision to make it possible to meet immediate demand as well as long term growth. For once you begin to use the Speechcat software, though it may sound cliché, you’ll know you found a home for your voicewriting career.

Thank you Adria, Michelle, the AudioScribe Corportaion, and thank you SpeechCat!