When Word misbehaves...

We received an email from a client recently that rather neatly sums up something we've been doing at BackupTyping for years.

It said:

“Minutes attached – please could you sort the formatting out – delete surplus rows, re-number etc etc. NB: main renumbering also required as I removed a whole section (I think 13 or 14?).”

And that was it.

No lengthy explanation.  No apologies for the state of the document.  Just a request to sort it out.

Exactly the sort of thing we're here for.

You don't have to start with a recording

When people think of BackupTyping, they often think of audio transcription.  Fair enough.  We've been transcribing dictation for chartered surveyors for over 25 years.

But we've always done considerably more than typing.

Sometimes a client has already prepared the entire document.  The words are there, the content is correct and all that's left is the formatting.

Unfortunately, all that's left can turn into quite a job.

In this case, a section had been removed from the minutes.  That meant the remaining sections needed renumbering, surplus rows needed deleting and the document needed tidying up.

Simple enough in theory.

In practice, anyone who has spent much time working with Microsoft Word will know that deleting one section doesn't always mean the rest of the document politely rearranges itself.

One little amendment...

You remove Section 13.

Now Section 14 needs to become Section 13.  Every section after that needs updating, along with any associated numbering.

Perhaps there are tables involved.  Some rows are no longer required.  Others need adjusting.

Then you discover that the spacing has changed, a heading has moved and the layout isn't quite what it was before.

None of it is particularly complicated if you know your way around Word, but it takes time.  And if you don't work with complex documents every day, it can be surprisingly frustrating.

We know how to make them behave.

Send us the document as it is

You don't need to spend half an hour trying to fix the numbering before sending it over.

You don't need to make the document look presentable first.

And you certainly don't need to dictate the entire thing again.

Just send us the Word document and tell us what needs doing.

We can help with removing unwanted rows, correcting numbering, adjusting tables, sorting out headings, applying amendments and getting the layout back into shape.

If something isn't clear, we'll ask rather than making assumptions about what you intended to remove or change.

And this isn't limited to meeting minutes.

We regularly work with building survey reports, schedules of condition, schedules of dilapidations, photographic schedules and other property documents that need a bit of attention.

More than typing.  Always have been.

There's a lot of discussion at the moment about how AI and other technology are changing document production.

They certainly are.

But whether your document started life as a recording, an AI transcript, handwritten notes or something you've typed yourself, there's often still work to do before it's finished.

And sometimes the job is simply to sort out a document that has developed a mind of its own.

That's where our experience comes in.

So next time you're staring at a Word document wondering why the numbering has gone wrong, the tables have moved or the formatting refuses to cooperate, remember that you don't have to sort it out yourself.

Send it to BackupTyping.  We know how to make Word behave.

Call BackupTyping on 020 7096 1663 or email if you'd like to discuss what you need.