Sometimes in the excitement of discovering life-changing new equipment like the Luminex II or game-changing features like Real Team™, we forget about features that dazzled us when we first heard about them but haven’t quite gotten around to using yet! This week, I’d like to remind you about an incredibly valuable utility in Case CATalyst that comes with your EDGE contract: Cloud Backup.

Cloud Backup is a backup and restore service that compresses and encrypts your files when uploading (backing up) and storing the files in the cloud. The service runs whenever you are connected to the internet, whether CATalyst is open or not. There are three exceptions: first, when you are translating in realtime, Cloud Backup pauses automatically and then automatically begins again when you close realtime; second, when a file is open – the open file is not backed up until the file is closed; and, third, when you click the Pause button to intentionally pause Cloud Backup.

Here are some reminders as to why Cloud Backup is so incredibly helpful to you:

• If you have a serious problem with your computer and you have to repair or replace the HDD or SSD, or if you want or need to buy a new system – how fast can you be up and running? With Cloud Backup, you’re back to where you were in hardly any time at all. The only time it takes is as long as it takes to download and install the software from the Stenograph website, and then restore your user(s) from your Cloud Backup.
• The transfer of information between your computer and the cloud during backup/upload and restore/download is secure and HIPAA-compliant.
• Having this online resource in addition to a local backup should give you a lot more confidence about the safety of your work.
• Unlike some other online backup services, CATalyst’s Cloud Backup is a true archive. If you delete something on your computer, it has only been deleted from your computer; it is still safe and restorable from the Cloud!
• Officials and deposition reporters in states with No-Writes: A lot of the work you take never gets transcribed but still needs to be stored in a safe place. Having those files securely and automatically backed up to a secure location from which they can be easily restored makes your job that much easier!
• The Cloud Back Up Now command can force a file to begin backing up immediately. For example, suppose you have just completed realtime translation and you want the file to be backed up to the cloud before you leave the proceedings. Cloud Back Up Now will also back up any subfile you select, regardless of other Cloud Backup settings. For example, suppose you regularly exclude audio files from Cloud Backup because you don’t want all audio files to be archived, but after taking a job in realtime, you want a particular audio file to be backed up to the cloud so that you can easily restore it to another computer for editing.
• Your EDGE contract includes 100GB of Cloud Backup storage, and should you ever need it, additional space can be purchased.

If you haven’t yet set up Cloud Backup, take care of that ASAP! If you’d like additional information about Cloud Backup, click Help, Self-Study Guide, Essential Skills Self-Study Guide and find detailed guidance beginning on page 37.

Cindi Lynch is the Training Program Manager at Stenograph. She can be reached at clynch@stenograph.com.