Featured Part-Time Student – Catherine O' Neil

Catherine O' Neil works in an academic library, studies part-time at university, and is a freelance writer on the side. She discovered Otter when she was in the thick of things, with a traumatic hand injury right at the beginning of the Covid-19 restrictions. Daily household chores were even a struggle for her, and, naturally, her studies and career as a freelancer suffered as well.

"Imagine what it's like living alone, unable to drive, or get outside help to cook, clean and make the bed because visitors are not permitted. Now think how you're going to write, type and continue to do your job and your part-time university studies and your creative writing..."

Fortunately, she had heard about Otter before and thought to give it a try; Otter did not disappoint. Remarkably efficient and accurate software exceeded Catherine's expectations:

"I was astounded by the accuracy. I could send text messages and emails, dictate my class assignments, still keep writing, and do my job (albeit, working from home). What was even more amazing was that I saw my daily word counts increase tenfold."

Otter made things immensely convenient and allowed her to work even more efficiently than before the injury:

"I noticed that the quality of my writing improved, and the quantity increased. Otter really helped me to get into a writing flow state."

Catherine leveraged Otter to help her complete multiple tasks at a time. She started with smaller assignments and writings and later was enthralled by the tool's ability to document the voice recordings accurately. She loves that she could record the voice notes and review them in real-time:

"Each time I had an idea for a piece of fiction, I simply grabbed my mobile phone, turned on Otter, and started talking."

With Otter’s help, Catherine was able to complete an ambitious project with ease:

"I have been able to help out the Library's Special Collections team by transcribing two large volumes of personal letters from a merchant in the 1880s. I simply read the letters out loud and Otter does the rest! It's so easy that I feel a little guilty sitting on the sofa, reading a loud while Otter does all the work - it feels like a forbidden luxury! Without Otter it would have been a tiresome task for someone to sit at a keyboard typing away."

Since Catherine had so much writing to do, Otter has helped her with the healing process and expedited her recovery.

"Not having to use a keyboard or pen has meant that my hand is getting the rest it needs to recover. It's a slow process. But, you know what, even with full use of my hands again, Otter is always going to be my constant companion."

Otter not only made it manageable for Catherine to keep up with her job-related tasks, studies, and freelancing despite the injury; it spared her countless hours of tiresome typing and enabled her to focus on what matters most.

"Thanks Otter, you enabled me to do the thing I love most: writing, hands-free!"

Otter facilitates audio documentation like interviews, memos, podcasts, voice notes, letters, videos, and more. Furthermore, it also lets users upload files for instant transcriptions and keeps them in a searchable archive. This way, your important documents are only a few clicks away when you need them.

If you are in search of a smart tool that can help you automate transcriptions, take advantage of Otter’s 600 monthly minutes of free transcription today!