Transcription? You’ve got the Power!
For many people investing in transcription services, quality is a top priority. Whilst automated voice recognition offer cheap pricing and quick turnarounds, they do not offer quality control. Basically, you get what you get. If your audio is low quality or has many speakers, you may end up with a transcript that is simply gibberish.

The Facts Speak for Themselves
There are issues revolving around voice recognition and audio quality, accents, speaking patterns, and colloquial language. If the software struggles to detect the audio or comes across slang words that it cannot register, then the results are incredibly inaccurate.

Can you Afford to Lose out on Quality?
Even under ideal circumstances, automated voice recognition struggles to hit accuracy rates above 80%. With a lot of transcription comprising court records, family resolution evidence and patient research it is vital that the transcript is of top quality.

Voice Recognition is no substitute for the Real Thing
Quality control mechanisms, if the audio is poor, means that you will spend more time reviewing the content and editing. A human ‘ear’ however can detect slang with relative ease, understand different accents, and handle poor audio quality with much less difficulty.

Fundamentally, we are not in a place where voice recognition can match the language processing power of the human brain.

Human Transcription Services offer More Variety
A top-quality human transcription service will also give you variety around the service. You have a choice:

Intelligent Verbatim transcripts will clean up the audio for you, removing ‘ums’, ‘errs’ and false starts whilst keeping the content on track and you receive something that is easier to read and ‘flows’.
Summary/Notes transcripts give an overview of a recording and allows you to digest the meaning of the content without having to read every single word.

Verbatim transcripts deliver every single detail. You get a word for word transcript that also includes any ‘ums’ and ‘ahs’, pauses, and so on. If required, they can also include typist notes regarding tone and laughter for instance.

Data Protection & Security
When you are paying for a transcript, you need to be certain that all the information is completely safe and secure.

With both human and automated services, you need to look for evidence of data security.

Where is your data stored?
Does the provider use SSL encryption?
Is the website URL ‘https’?
Check for ISO 27001 & Cyber Essentials certification (these indicate a safe data environment.)
With automated services, it can be difficult to get your data removed from servers. With human transcription services, data security can make all the difference! If you need security guarantees, look out for the aforementioned bullet points. Also ask for a Non-Disclosure Agreement or evidence of Confidentiality statements of the person(s) conducting the transcripts.

Summary
By looking at the price of transcription services it is easy to think that they are expensive. But, the more you think about the pros and cons, the more you start to realise that human transcription services are efficient and incredibly affordable.

Essentially, everything boils down to the quality of service. A human transcription service will always provide a higher degree of accuracy.

Remember, you get what you pay for. So, if you want the best service possible from the start, then be prepared to invest in it.

Contact Tracey Pulfer with your requirements and she will be happy to provide a quotation.