Hiring a Transcription Company

No transcription company will ever guarantee to be 100% accurate all the time. It's impossible. If you're hiring someone to do the transcribing for you, you're obviously very busy. You won't want to take the time to go over your transcript once it's been returned and edit details. Here are a few things to keep in mind when you send your audio to the transcriptionist.

Good transcriptionists will take the time to Google anything they're not sure how to spell, such as a person's name. They'll also search for terms that they couldn't quite make out in hopes of stumbling across it and finding a match. Sometimes, despite all efforts, it can't be found. This may lead to words or phrases coming back misspelled or labeled as "inaudible".

The best way to prevent this from happening is to provide a list of words that the person transcribing your audio may not be familiar with. This would include names of people, companies and programs. You should also try to include any industry related jargon, especially if you are having something that is IT related transcribed. Acronyms are sometimes hard to make out and it helps if you provide them as well.

When you are recording, remind the speakers to speak clearly, avoid mumbling and talking very quickly. It's always a good idea to test the equipment first to see how the audio sounds. Select a quiet place to conduct an interview. Don't do it at places such as restaurants or parks. It's also hard to transcribe an interview that was recorded while one person was driving, especially if they had the window down.

If there are many speakers, it's best to keep in mind that you are being recorded and crosstalk can be very difficult to transcribe. One person should speak at a time. If you are recording a conference call or a focus group, the leader of the group should occasionally say the person's name. This way, it is less likely speakers will be mislabeled. So, if Susie makes a comment, the leader should say, "Thanks, Susie", rather than just, "Thanks". This helps a lot.

Provide concise instructions. For example, if you are recording a radio show, you should indicate whether or not you want commercials transcribed. This way, you don't have to edit it out later if you don't. Some companies will ignore commercials as well. So, if you do want them transcribed, you should indicate that as well.

Most companies will not transcribe if a speaker says words such as, "like, you know, um, sort of, kind of, etc". Likewise, many speakers tend to start their sentences with words like, "So, well, and". Many companies will omit these as well and make a readable transcript.

So, by indicating all these things ahead of time, it's less likely that you will have to back and edit things yourself. You're also almost guaranteed that the work you get back is exactly what you want and all you'll have to do is take it and put it where it needs to go.