iDictate – Digital Voice Blog

In the dark and mysterious world of transcription, well not really dark and mysterious just needed to make it a little more exciting than it really is, the most common software used by transcription typists is Express Scribe from NCH SwiftSound. This is great software for two key reasons, 1) it is free $0 2) it is Australian made, NCH Swift Sound are an Australia company based in Canberra.

Primarily because of key reason 1 above this makes it very popular with the army of Virtual Assistants (VAs) around the world who like to include transcription in their portfolio of services offered. Sure on its own Scribe works really well and for some, especially those with no transcription experience, having no footpedal is not a big deal. But for the serious transcriptionist or for people converting from analogue transcription kits (ahh those trusty Pearlcorders), a good reliable foot pedal is a must.

If you are an Express Scribe user on Apple Mac then i’m afraid the following information is not for you. The Philips USB foot controls are only compatible with the Windows version of Express Scribe.

This is where the Philips USB transcription foot controls come in. Having recently gone through a make over they have been transformed from the older ugly square brick look of foot pedal (like the LFH6212 to the left) into a more ergonomic, sleek modern look with a couple of layout options in the Philips 2310 (LFH2310/00) and Philips 2320 (LFH2320/00) models. 

Both the Philips 2310 and 2320 come with three foot pedals. The middle pedal is long, thin and along the top on the 2310 model whereas the 2320’s middle pedal takes up a larger middle area. The pedals are supplied with a Philips driver disk however this is not required, they are pure plug and play pedals and can be setup in around one minute. 

Once your USB foot pedal has been connected and recognised by your computer fire up Express Scribe and find your way to the Control tab inside Playback Settings. Tick the ‘Use foot pedal playback control‘ and leave the default Port and Number of pedals settings as ‘GamePort 1 or USBGame 1‘ and ‘3-Pedals‘.

With Express Scribe you can configure any pedal combination. Lets say you like the left pedal to be ‘play’, the right pedal to be ‘rewind’ and the middle pedal to be ‘forward’, easy. Simply click on the ‘Foot Pedal Control Setup Wizard‘ and you are asked which pedal you prefer for each audio function, rewind/play/forward. Finally the tick box ‘Quick tap on play pedal locks play on‘ lets you decide if you want to just tap the play pedal to start audio playback or if you prefer to hold the pedal down for audio playback. Using the combination of Express Scribe and the Philips USB Foot Controls you have full, easy configuration of your foot pedal set up.

Sure, the price of the Philips pedals (RRP AU$179) are quite a bit more than the pedals sold by NCH via the AltoEdge website like the VEC, but in my opinion you do get what you pay for. Coming from Philips who is a big player in the digital dictation and transcription world, their USB foot pedal is solid and responsive. As they come from Philips Dictation Australia they are also covered by an Australian warranty.

Our sister company, The Transcription People use and recommend the Philips 2310 and 2320 USB foot controls for transcription with Express Scribe.

For more information about the Philips USB transcription foot controls please visit the Dictate Australia website.

Tweet This Post Delicious