Accurate Transcription Services
For most clients, accurate transcription services is at the top of their list of qualities that they look for in a transcription company. In fact transcript accuracy, prompt transcript turnaround, confidential transcription and of course a low cost transcription service are the most important aspects to consider when selecting the right transcription services provider. So this week, I thought I’d take a closer look at transcription accuracy.
I was recently having a look at some of the cheapest transcription services available on the web at the moment and came across a very low cost transcription service that was offering their clients 98% accuracy for their clients. Now considering that a relatively short transcript (say 30 minutes in length) would contain around 6,000 words and be maybe 10-12 pages of dialogue in total, a 98% accuracy rate would mean that the final transcript would contain 120 errors (2 errors per 100 words). I think I’d have a hard time convincing our clients that this was a high quality transcript!
Our transcriptionists are highly experienced; each one must have at least five years experience in a specialist area of transcription, then must study our strict guidelines and complete a series of stringent assessments before being offered work. When we designed our tests, we did so with components that can really affect the accuracy of a transcript and in so doing, managed to produce a series of tests that would challenge even the most experienced transcriptionist.
Transcription Research
Most video or audio files that we transcribe will need some form of research. Whether it’s using the correct spelling for a common name (Stephen vs Steven) or a complex medical research file (we regularly research new drugs or treatments for our medical transcripts) we respect the importance of accuracy.
Transcription with Accents
Audio or video files with accents can be notoriously hard to transcribe. We do our best to ensure accuracy for audio or video with accents by using transcriptionists who are familiar with certain dialects or accents. We find that this is the best way to ensure that a transcript with accents has the highest levels of accuracy.
Multiple Speaker Transcription
Multiple speaker audio files can be very difficult to transcribe, depending on how many speakers are involved and how rowdy they decide to get. Multiple speaker audio is a very specialist area of transcription, which is why we use transcriptionists who specialise in multiple speaker audio. We always recommend that multiple speaker audio has a second, proofreading service added to the original transcription service. We believe that this has a huge impact on the accuracy of any multiple speaker files.
Bad Audio Transcription
A bad audio or video recording (such low levels of sound, too much background noise etc.) will first be sent for an audio clean-up before the transcriptionist will attempt to transcribe it. If the quality can be improved to an adequate level, then the new audio will be sent to the transcriptionist to type up. As with multiple speaker audio or video files, we strongly recommend that a second proofreading service is ordered alongside an audio clean-up and transcription service for bad audio recordings.
Transcription and Proofreading
All of our transcripts are proofread by the typist, but an additional extra proofreading service will nearly always increase the accuracy of a transcript. Although this is rarely required for clear files, it is strongly recommended for difficult audio or video file transcription.
If you would like more information about our transcription services or would like a free, no obligation quote for any of our other virtual assistant services, why not get in touch? For Transcription Services and Transcript Accuracy we are available 7 days per week and are always happy to help.
