Transcription Service: Are You Asking The Right Questions?

Welcome all to another article about transcription.

By now, you would have come to know what transcription is. It’s the process of converting recorded speech into clean and readable transcripts, so that one can go through the content, even if the audio is not available. It basically involves a person listening to the audio and writing out what he or she is able to decipher and understand into a specific format for further review by a reviewer and/or editor. The transcript is then reviewed by another person (reviewer and/or editor) for any discrepancies or errors and is finalized and sent to the client as a word/text document.

Today, what we’re going to talk and discuss about is when you want to get your audio or video recordings transcribed, do you outsource it to a third-party vendor or do you get the transcript done in-house with your own staff? When you’re choosing either of these methods, what are the essential factors that you’re considering for this?

Questions To Ask:

1. What is the nature of the content that you want transcribed (i.e., secretive or public).
2. How quickly do you want the transcript back?
3. Are you going to publish the transcript or are you going to use it in-house for your own or company needs?
4. How much willing are you to forego with the lapses in quality?
5. Do you want the content quickly or are you in for the quality?
6. Are you willing to pay more for quality?
7. Do you think outsourcing the transcription process to a third-party vendor at a lower rate will give you a quality transcript?

Some of the questions that I’ve just outlined above are the most that are being asked by companies that are outsourcing this process to other vendors. Essentially, you want to make sure that the recording that you are providing is not being misused by the people who are doing the transcription process.

If the content is of secretive nature, then it is best that it is transcribed in-house by your own staff over whom you have strict control with regards to the content and quality of the transcript. Having secretive recordings done by other third-party vendors is always of concern to the person who is outsourcing the process.

Another thing that you want to ask yourself when outsourcing your transcription work to another person or vendor is whether they will take the same care with which you do your work on the work that you are providing to them. If you believe that they will provide you quality transcript within the required turnaround time, and in the required format, then it is okay for you to outsource the work to them.

You have to be sure that once when you receive the transcript back that there are no quality issues and if they do arise, then the vendor or person who has done the work will provide you with a reprocessed transcript. It is no use outsourcing transcription work to someone who provides you a shoddy transcript and then blames it on some other process.

You’re outsourcing the transcription process to save on time and money expecting to receive a quality transcript and in time. You do not want to be receiving something that is not worth your time to recheck it again and your money if you have received something that is not up to the mark for which you have paid the amount.

Also make sure that you’re being served for the payment that you’re giving and you receive something that is well worth it. When assigning transition to someone else, make sure that they follow all the required parameters that you have given them and that you are clear in your instructions and they are clear in following them.

There is a certain limit for which you will accept some quality issues. Don’t make it a habit that your vendor takes advantage of this and provides you with transcripts that are not up to mark. You should be very clear about what you need and how you want the transcript to be delivered to you.

The best method to ascertain the vendor’s quality would be to provide them with some sample files of five or 10 minutes each of various accents and audio quality, so that you get a feel for what they are capable of.

Always ensure that you poke around and beat around the bush to get what is being provided and expect what you will get in the future. Always have signed contracts and/or video recordings of your interaction with your vendor so that both of you are on the same page and discrepancies do not arise in the future.

Whenever you feel that the transcripts being delivered are not of the quality that you are expecting email and intimate the vendor or person about this and make them understand what it is that you are expecting. Do not let anything to chance or expectation about what you’re thinking, as this will later on lead to doubt and discrepancies between you and the vendor.

Always talk with the vendor person doing your work, and fix an appropriate rate based on either one of the following:

1. Pay per minute
2. Pay per hour
3. Pay per page
4. Pay per character

The transition process is a two-way process of review and feedback where you as the client and they as the vendor provide each other with feedback regarding the transcript and audio as well as the quality of the transcript and the quality of the audio.

Also, it is best to outsource bulk volume of work so that you get the transcript back one by one, and you have sufficient time to review the work. Always provide feedback to the vendor or person doing your work and guide them accordingly so that they can review it and provide you with better transcripts.

In concluding this article, I would like to say that if you want transcripts to be delivered to you in quality and in time, then you employ a person in house. If you’re looking for transcripts to be delivered to you with 95% to 99% quality and over a period of time, then you outsource the process to a person or vendor who can deliver it to you by your specified time.

[NOTE: The article "Transcription Service: Are You Asking The Right Questions?" first appeared on the Transcription, Online Presence, Articles, eBooks, and What Not... blog.]

[Follow: Devesh Prabhu is an avid blogger and blogs on many topics. He has been associated with the blogosphere for the past 8/9 years. You can follow Devesh Prabhu on social media through the buttons provided on the blog.]

[DISCLAIMER: All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following any link on this site. The owner will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information. These terms and conditions of use are subject to change at anytime and without notice.]

Is it worth bidding on projects in online freelance work-sites for Indians?

For most people who live outside of the so-called “underdeveloped third-world developing nations” (mainly Asian, not all though) and who’s currency rates are far more above than these countries, the bidding process is a waste of time and the pay rates are peanuts for them to even consider the prospects. For those rates, they can outsource their projects and get the work done and then proofread and deliver to the client the transcript.

For someone who is living in these countries and whose currency exchange rates are far way below the average, for them it is like a little nugget, be it of gold or silver.

To put it into perspective and taking the example of US and India, 1 USD = 57 or 60 INR. If you want to take that in absolute terms think in the opposite, 1 INR = 57 USD. For 1 USD you are being paid 57 or 60 Indian Rupees. People here, in India, generally get roughly about 1,500 to 1,800 an hour. 

Putting it through currency conversion, it would be roughly $27.88 (1500 INR) or $33.46 (1800 INR), if you’re the lucky ones or big companies who have been able to get a direct client from US/UK/NZ or any other European or developed country. 

From a company’s perspective, if you generally employ about 10 people and on average they are able to produce 5 hours of work every day (Mon-Sat, generally speaking) and taking an average month to be 30 days. Now, deducting 5 Sundays, it would leave us with 25 days. So, the total production for the month would be 25 x 5 = 125 hours. 

Average income for various rates: 

1. 125 x $27.88 = $3,485/month x 53 INR = 1,84,705 INR/month 

2. 125 x $33.46 = $4,183/month x 53 INR = 2,21,699 INR/month 

The company would be generally paying around 1,25,000-1,50,000 per month to all the 10 employees combined altogether. 

It definitely varies with each country’s currency exchange rates as compared to India’s rates for that particular day. 

Now, if you were working somewhere and/or there was a middleman/vendor involved, you would be getting anything from 800 ($14.87) to 1,000 ($18.59) INR, this is for home-based employees, freelancers, and sub-contractors (all the bad/distorted audio goes to these people most of the time). 

When people go to these bidding sites and they try and bid for a project, they try to make the most of it. By bidding, on average, lesser than the next guy/gal in line and most probably it would not go less than $10-15 per hour. That’s why you see most of the clients putting up jobs for that range on there, though there will be people or clients who put/post jobs for less than this. 

The intermediary would be receiving it from the client anywhere from $15-33 per hour and would be subletting/subcontracting it out to other people for lower rates. 

It depends on the actual client also giving out jobs directly to people on these sites, but I have yet to see an actual client. I may have, but might not have recognized it with all these low rates and bidding going on there. 

For people in India or other countries where there is a huge currency rate gap, it provides an opportunity for people to just make it out and to try and get above all the job mongering going on.


It’s like the glitter of gold/silver from afar.


Just my two cents in this ever-growing pot of thoughts.

[NOTE: The article "Is it worth bidding on projects in online freelance work-sites for Indians?" first appeared on the Transcription, Online Presence, Articles, eBooks, and What Not... blog.]

[Follow: Devesh Prabhu is an avid blogger and blogs on many topics. He has been associated with the blogosphere for the past 8/9 years. You can follow Devesh Prabhu on social media through the buttons provided on the blog.]

[DISCLAIMER: All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following any link on this site. The owner will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information. These terms and conditions of use are subject to change at anytime and without notice.]

Transcription Process for Freshers and Experienced Alike

The Transcription Process

Transcribe the audio using transcription software.

1. Express Scribe: http://www.nch.com.au/scribe/index.html
2. Transcriber: http://trans.sourceforge.net/en/presentation.php
3. f4: http://www.audiotranskription.de/english/f4.htm
4. inqScribe: http://www.inqscribe.com/download.html

FIRST RUN [getting started]

The first thing that I always do is listen to the audio, at least, once and get a feel for the context and subject that is being spoken and/or talked about and do research about the terms that you come across. So, when you’re transcribing the audio, you know the terms and know what is going on rather than just jumping in blindfolded.

Always, keep and maintain a text file of terms that you encountered when listening to the audio. It would be good that you did the research and kept the correct spellings and terminology to help you out during the actual transcription process.

SECOND RUN [the actual]

Transcribe what you hear as fast as possible, without going back to hear if it is right or is accurate. Use abbreviations as much as possible and don't dwell on the correct spellings at all, especially of proper nouns (names of people and places). Mark speakers separately using numerical denominations unless you know the spelling (M1, F2, Male 1, Female 1, Speaker 1, Speaker 2 and the like, you get the drift, right?). If obvious, put in punctuation, but don't dwell on it at all. This is the most time-intensive run, so the key here is no to do anything but put down rough text unless the time it takes to do additional stuff is negligible.

Time taken for this process should be in the neighborhood of 50-60 minutes, but it greatly varies with audio quality, speaker enunciation and recognition of dialect/accent, crude typing speed, getting used to specific words, and using more abbreviations.

THIRD RUN [the review]

Go over the transcribed segment with the audio again, correcting proper nouns (names of people and places, format according to the template or what has been given by the client) with their proper spellings, punctuation, and first time phonetics and inaudible segments. Don't stop for spelling errors of non-proper nouns. Put in the correct speaker names (format according to the template or what has been given by the client, not first-time usage) using the software.

Time taken for this process should be in the neighborhood of 25-35 minutes, but it greatly varies with audio quality, speaker enunciation and recognition of dialect/accent, transcriber's knowledge of the subject.

FOURTH RUN [running errands]

No audio usage. This process is used at the end of the process when you have gone through the transcribed text and have finalized the transcript. Replace the abbreviations with full-form content (Use a macro will greatly fasten this process and will help in quickly doing the usual ones all at once). Proper case should be automatically done. Spell check the document before sending it off to the client or the end person (Time and again I cannot stress how important this is). Put in first time speaker references.

Time taken for this process should be in the neighborhood of 5-10 minutes, but it greatly varies with varies with the amount of speakers in the file.

[NOTE: The article "Transcription Process for Freshers and Experienced Alike" first appeared on the Transcription, Online Presence, Articles, eBooks, and What Not... blog.]

[Follow: Devesh Prabhu is an avid blogger and blogs on many topics. He has been associated with the blogosphere for the past 8/9 years. You can follow Devesh Prabhu on social media through the buttons provided on the blog.]

[DISCLAIMER: All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following any link on this site. The owner will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information. These terms and conditions of use are subject to change at anytime and without notice.]

Recording Audio for Transcription Purposes

There would have been times when you would have felt the need to go back to that interview / speech / discussion / brainstorming ideas to know what all you said and discussed and wished that you had recorded the session or taken down notes to review them later.

Today I would be explaining the different options on how to record audio for transcription purposes, so that you can get the best audio quality and low file size to provide for transcription (conversion to written format) to the vendor or the person who would work on the file.

There are many things which you have to consider when you record audio for the purpose of transcription - audio quality, file size, distortion effects, telephone line quality (long distance calls) cell reception, digital recording, file conversion options, etcetera. Also, you would have to weigh in that the transcriptionist would be going through all of this to provide you with a readable text document for the audio that you have provided.

For small file size, you can record the audio or have the audio converted to the following format after recording.

Mp3, 16 kBits/s, 11.025 Hz, Mono

For quality recording, you can record the audio or have the audio converted to the following format after recording.

Mp3, 128 kBits/s, 44.100 Hz, Stereo

You can also experiment with the various bit rates and frequencies to get the best and optimal recording, but do keep in mind that with a small file size you will have some distortion and with quality recording your file size will go up.

[NOTE: The article "Recording Audio for Transcription Purposes" first appeared on the Transcription, Online Presence, Articles, eBooks, and What Not... blog.]

[Follow: Devesh Prabhu is an avid blogger and blogs on many topics. He has been associated with the blogosphere for the past 8/9 years. You can follow Devesh Prabhu on social media through the buttons provided on the blog.]

[DISCLAIMER: All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following any link on this site. The owner will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information. These terms and conditions of use are subject to change at anytime and without notice.]

What is Transcription?

The word Transcription means to convert from one format to another.

It mostly involves listening to verbal speech through playing the audio file in one of the various audio listening software(s) and then writing it out into a readable format into a word document according to the client specifications.

Many people, or most of them, when they hear the word “Transcription,” immediately associate it with “Medical Transcription,” as they are mostly aware of this through their friends / family / or through various advertisements both online and offline.

Simply put, Transcription is to write out into a readable format what you are able to decipher by listening to the audio being played.

Mostly, it is a two-step process and involves one person writing out the rough transcript (this is called writing the transcript) and then a second person reviewing the transcript for errors (this is called editing the transcript). The final product is then sent to the client in the form of a word document.

The Process:

Transcriber: A person having zero to two years of experience in the field of transcription and is involved in the process of writing out the speech or conversation by listening to the audio into a readable format. A transcriber does not send his files to the client direct as there would be many errors in the transcript due to the person having less exposure in this field.

Editor: A person having at least three to four years of experience in the field of transcription and has moved on from the position of a Transcriber and is now in the process of reviewing other people’s transcripts for errors. An editor sends the files directly to the client after reviewing them and removing the errors that the transcriber has made. The editor has more exposure in this field than the transcriber.

Quality Checker (QC) / Quality Auditor (QA): A person having more than eight years of experience in the field of transcription. The QC/QA is one who reviews/audits transcripts after they have been submitted to the client for errors and marks them appropriately. In this process all errors marked are taken for review and feedback is provided to the Transcriber and/or Editor respectively.

There is another process by which a single person does the writing and the editing of the file and then delivers the final transcript to the client. These people are called direct deliverables and have, at least, 4-8 years of experience.

Since this is a human process, it always has the element of error and the client would most of the times come back and point out errors in the document. Both parties (client and vendor) should work out ways to have it rectified rather than pointing finger at each other and souring the relationship.

[NOTE: The article "What is Transcription?" first appeared on the Transcription, Online Presence, Articles, eBooks, and What Not... blog.]

[Follow: Devesh Prabhu is an avid blogger and blogs on many topics. He has been associated with the blogosphere for the past 8/9 years. You can follow Devesh Prabhu on social media through the buttons provided on the blog.]

[DISCLAIMER: All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following any link on this site. The owner will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information. These terms and conditions of use are subject to change at anytime and without notice.]

Transcription Basics

DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES

Any transcription company you apply to will have different requirements for what you need to work with them. These are some things you should consider:

1. Internet: (High-speed Broadband, DSL, Cable) there are a few companies that will hire you with only dialup, but keep in mind this will slow down your progress when downloading big audio files.

2. Firefox/Internet Explorer: (seems to be most compatible for all the companies I found).

3. Foot Pedal: (not required by all companies, but perhaps a good investment. more control, more speed=more money).

4. Headset: (required by some, not all).

5. Software: Programs used that enable you to slow down and/or repeat segments of audio. A definite must have. People come with many tones and accents; it's not as easy as you might think.

Transcription Companies are Known To Hire Home Workers:

Always respect the requests and requirements of each company you apply to. A lot of these companies you will find, require at least 2 years experience in transcription. However, there are a few companies who will hire someone with little to no experience at all.

Be sure to check back!

[NOTE: The article "Transcription Basics" first appeared on the Transcription, Online Presence, Articles, eBooks, and What Not... blog.]

[Follow: Devesh Prabhu is an avid blogger and blogs on many topics. He has been associated with the blogosphere for the past 8/9 years. You can follow Devesh Prabhu on social media through the buttons provided on the blog.]

[DISCLAIMER: All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following any link on this site. The owner will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information. These terms and conditions of use are subject to change at anytime and without notice.]