Narelle Huett - Rapid Services

Telephone: (03) 5729 5571

Mobile: 0418 306 941

"We offer a Confidential Secretarial Service - No Work is Outsourced to Third Parties"

Dictation Recording Software

How a Virtual Assistant can help you?

Virtual Assistants are independent contractors who work from serviced offices or home-based offices. Prospective clients contact us to help them with their overload typing for example. It can be a short-term or long-term assignment. You don't have to pay extra costs like you do with a full-time employee (e.g. superannuation, long service leave, sick leave, etc.), if there is no work in the office you are not paying for staff sitting around and there are no Workplace Agreements to be signed as well. We are here to make life easier for you at the end of the day. For a more detailed description, please Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_assistant

We have been operating this service successfully for the past 14 years working for clients in Australia and Overseas. Information can be supplied by e-mail, telephone, fax, Australia Post or Courier. In order for this service to be successful we need to receive clear instructions from you and we will provide a quotation at the time.

How much does a Virtual Assistant Charge?

We are a full-time secretarial service and we charge by an hourly rate. However if the job was finished in either, for example, 15 minutes or 30 minutes then you would only be charged for this amount.

What Clients have we serviced?

Engineering, Emergency Services, State and Federal Government Departments, Aviation, Vehicle Manufacturer, Optometrist, Solicitors, Accountant, Actor/Comedian, University Staff and Students, Companies and Private Individuals.

Services Offered:

• Professional Corporate Minutes of Meetings - My typing speed is 90 wpm. Confidentiality Assured - Typing of Meetings, Agenda's, Annual General Meetings, Guest Speakers, etc.
• Dictaphone Transcriptions - Microcassette (General and Legal).
• Digital Audio Transcription - All audio file types provided by E-Mail, CD, DVD or Digital Audio File (Prefer .mp3 as they are smaller to e-mail). These can be sent by Australia Post or Courier. Alternatively audio files can be uploaded to our own FTP Server. A secure username and password will be provided.
• Conversion of Audio Files and Typed Up - e.g. .cda to .mp3 or .wav to .mp3 and transcribed.
• Typing / Editing of Theatre Scripts / Plays.
• Typing of Letters - Optometrist - Clients, Medical Practitioners, Ophthalmologists and Hospitals.
• Typing of Letters - Wordprocessing of Personal or Business Letters.
• Copy Typing - Handwritten Notes or Typewriter Copy.
• Books, Journals and Manuscripts - Typing, Formatting and Proofreading.
• Speaker Presentations.
• Bulk Mail Services - Mail Merge of Letters and Perform Mail Outs (E-Mail, Fax or Mail).
• Other Services - E-Mailing, Internet Research, Photocopying, Binding (Comb), Scanning, CD Burning and Faxing.

This is not an exhaustive list above, if you have any special requirements, please contact Narelle Huett at rel@rapserv.com.au or (03) 5729 5571 or 0418 306 941.

Transcription Quotations:

Whenever clients contact us for a quotation for transcription - there are various factors to take into consideration. Ideally we need you to provide us with an hour's transcription (which is charged) so we can provide an accurate quotation. We can guess how much it might be but this is not fair on both parties. If you are a new client we haven't listened to your work before so we don't know precisely how long it will take. All transcription times and work (e.g. medical/legal) are different and we need to receive instructions from you so we know what you expect at the end of the day. We do not want to type something up that you are not happy with.

Quotations are based on transcription time (i.e. on paper) not audio hour and the reason is below.

The industry standard is:

• For every 1 hour of clear audio, it will take approximately 3-4 hours (1:3 or 1:4 ratio) to transcribe onto paper.
• This amount is then multiplied by my hourly rate. Price on application.

This 1:3 or 1:4 ratio will increase, thus increasing the total cost when the following occurences happen:

• Verbatim notes.
• Distorted or unclear audio which needs to be cleaned up before transcribing (some are successful and some are not).
• File Conversions - .mp3 and .wav are the best. Any other file format needs to be converted.
• Background Noises - Mobile Phones, Traffic, Office Equipment, etc.
• Meetings or Conferences - Where there is more than one person talking at the same time (Conference).
• Interviews - Where there are questions and answers - a lot of stopping and starting.
• Foreign Accents.
• Word Tables.
• Technical Jargon.

Who is Typing Up your Work?

Narelle Huett - Rapid Services

We do not outsource our work to third parties - everything is done in-house.

Employment:

• Rapid Services - Full-Time Self-Employed - Current.
• NLH Business Services - Self-Employed.
• The Supreme Court of Victoria - Secretary to the Prothonotary, Deputy Prothonotaries, Office Manager and Prothonotary's Office Staff.
• Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) - Bench Clerk.
• Small Claims / Residential Tenancies Tribunals (Ringwood) - Bench Clerk.
• Consumer Affairs Victoria (Office of Fair Trading Ringwood) - Customer Liaison Officer (Handling Complaints).
• Various Solicitors (City and Suburbs) - Corrs Chambers Westgarth, Tisher Liner & Co, etc. - Legal Secretary.
• The Victorian Government Printing Office (V.G.P.O. - The Law Printer) - Qualified Compositor / Typesetter / Printer.
• The Education Department - Education Gazette / Printing Department.
• Parliament House - Melbourne (Printing Department) - Typing of Hansard.
• Swinburne University.

Qualifications:

• Legal Secretary - 10+ Years.
• Certificate of Proficiency in Printing (Typesetting/Composition) - 1984-1988 - Qualified Trade Compositor (4 Year Apprenticeship).
• Certificate III of Small Business Management (Swinburne T.A.F.E.).
• Various Short Courses.

Areas of Legal Expertise:

• Civil, Criminal and Commercial Litigation.
• Probate and Wills.
• Pre-Trial Conferences and Mediation (Supreme Court).
• Conveyancing - Attending Settlements.
• Legal Aid.
• Bankruptcy.
• Process Serving - Writs and Summons (Magistrates' Court of Victoria).
  
  Areas of Printing Expertise:
• Desktop Publishing.
• Proofreading.
• Typesetting / Typing of Documents.
• Composition / Paste-Up (Artwork Design).
• Ludlow Hot Metal Casting.
• Handsetting.
• Bookbinding.
  
  Voluntary Work:
• Skye Fire Brigade - CFA (Treasurer / Fundraising).
• Participant in "The Great Victorian Bike Ride" from Echuca to Melbourne raising money for the Multiple Sclerosis Society (MS Society).
• Multiple Sclerosis Society (MS Society) - Teaching a lady to type.
• Australian Red Cross - Doorknock Appeal.
• World Vision - 40 Hour Famine.
• Orana Opportunity Shop - Shop Assistant.
• Landcare - Planting Trees for the Regent Honeyeater Project (North East Victoria).