Quality academic transcription is a very popular service among students and educators.
Professional transcriptionists help you to focus on your assignments and to study more efficiently. For example, you can forget about taking notes that are not that good for your performance. Just listen to your professor, and record a lecture to get audio to text transcription later. Teachers can also benefit from these services, e.g., going back to their records and analyzing them, creating new tutorials, text documents, and so on.
Actually, transcription services have even more advantages that you can benefit from, and we are not going to hide them from you!
Outsource the transcript and don’t do it by yourself
We know people who think: I can do it on my own, why should I hire an expert? However, you will understand that you’re wrong as soon as you start this process. It is not enough just to listen to the audio file and write the text down. This task sounds easy, but it will take you hours! You need to listen, pay attention to all the words, and type the content. Don’t expect that you will be typing at the same speed as the speaker talks. Even if you’re really good at it, you’ll surely go back and forth. And don’t forget about checking whether you’ve missed out on anything and proofreading to get rid of all typos and mistakes.
When you hire professional human transcribers, you don’t need to do all of this yourself. You can just rely on experts who know for sure how your final result should look like. Besides, they can guarantee you a certain accuracy rate.
Recording quality is very important
Even if you hire a professional, it is essential to take care of a good quality of your recording. If it is bad, you’ll be required to pay extra because it will take experts more time and effort.
So, when you understand that you’re going to record an event to get content transcribed, it would be better for you to ensure that:
- you’re recording in a quiet environment with closed windows;
- you do several test recordings just to check;
- your microphone is close enough and works well;
- you’re working with a reliable platform like Skype, Zoom, etc.;
- your digital recorder (or recording app) is suitable.
Make your choice between freelancers and reputable companies
Now that you know that it is better to outsource your audio transcription, you should choose: to hire a freelancer or rely on a professional company? At first sight, freelancers have the appropriate education and skills to make you happy with the final results. Besides, their rates are usually lower, and you can save your money. On the other hand, when you hire a transcription company, you can expect the whole team to work on your order. Companies have transcribers, editors, and proofreaders. They work with automated transcription software. So, if you’re really interested in the high accuracy, it would be better to prefer a trustworthy company.
You may think that when you pay for services, you don’t save your money. It is not true. Consider this payment to be an investment that will bring you other benefits. For example, count how many hours do you need to come up with a transcription. Is it still profitable? And of course, the highest quality services are always better than amateurism.
Communicate clearly
Companies that provide affordable transcripts of any volume should be customer-focused since it is their primary task to make the customer happy. At the same time, you shouldn’t expect the managers of the chosen company to be mediums who can predict your requirements. If you have some expectations, you should tell about them. Make a list of instructions and provide them beforehand. It will save you time, money, and nerves. Besides, if something goes wrong, and the final draft is not that good, you can apply for a money refund because it is easy to prove if the company didn’t follow your instructions. Ensure they are clear and contain all the necessary information. Yes, you have to invest some time, but it will surely pay off.
Transcribe audio files
Video transcription is possible, especially when it goes about some webinars, lectures, seminars, and so on. When you need to add English subtitles, it is very important to take the original video file into account so that your captions look well.
However, it would be better to convert them to audio files when it is possible. Audios can be uploaded faster, and they are easier to work with. Even if your Internet connection is super fast, video uploading always takes a lot of time. There are many free applications for converting, so use this opportunity if it is not a verbatim transcription when speakers’ emotions and other visual details should be part of the text document.
