Is it difficult to choose a transcription service?
Choosing a transcription service is not the easiest thing to do. If you google online searching for the best human transcription service, you will get hundreds of results.
Therefore, you should approach the selection of the best provider systematically.
The first thing you are expected to have is a set of specific requirements concerning the ideal transcription service. Is the cost or time the most important for you? Do you need to transcribe a few documents or just a single one? Do you need a high-quality service or are okay with the average one?
As you might understand, there are different advantages and disadvantages concerning each reliable transcription service provider. If you look at a transcription website, you will soon understand the type of service provider you need. If you wonder how to buy an essay online, click here to get the right answer.
Check out 7 critical factors you must keep in mind when doing your research:
1. Accuracy
This is one of the most important factors when it comes to searching for the best transcription company. It is difficult to make the right final verdict about a specific provider before you actually try it. To make a better decision, you would better ask transcription services near me to give you a sample of their works. So that you can test their accuracy level and capabilities, despite the fact that you were recommended to do it by another company or friend. Therefore, you will hire the most competent and accurate transcriptionist with better reliability. If the company claims to give a high level of accuracy, check whether they can guarantee it. You can have a look at whether they are ISO-certified and how robust the quality-control process is there.
2. Turnaround time
Apart from accuracy, it is very important to know how fast the transcription provider can do the work and meet deadlines. Whether you request a short or long file, turnaround time is the essential factor to be able to keep up with the shortest deadline. One of the ways to get to know it is through asking a specific company how fast they can cope with bulk projects. They must give you realistic timelines if they are experienced companies. Note that some services can give high-quality work under pressure. If you need your project to be completed on time, choose the best go-to provider.
3. Features
It is rather complicated to upload huge recording files for many companies. Therefore, the site of the provider must be capable to support large files uploading simultaneously. It is normal for a good site to support more than one gigabyte for recording. Also, the website must be able to input the timestamps to the transcript. So that you can analyze the recordings in a better way for quality monitoring. You can also seek a company that gives discussion guidelines and unique templates per piece.
Once the files are transcribed, the website must deliver the completed work through email or other methods. This method, however, is the most preferred because it lets sharing the files with colleagues and project partners easily.
4. Security and confidentiality
One of the most important factors is whether the specific transcription tool is safe and secure. The vast majority of transcription files include conference calls, earning calls, meetings, and many other sensitive information and files. In some cases, the company might want market research products transcriptions to help them save money and time. Therefore, you should make sure the information delivered to them is totally kept secure and confidential. Seek online whether there were leaks of data from previous clients. It will be very hurtful for your company to have data leakage, so you should avoid it at all costs. Some services go the additional step to make sure the customer’s information is safe and secure. Therefore, you would better take time to investigate the provider’s security measures and confidentiality measures in place. It is a must for your service to have rigorous internal processes. You would better select the provider that features ISO Information Security Certification.
5. Customer care
You should always look for the most personalized customer provider of the best service. Even though some companies might give generalized customer care service, others will provide direct access to the project manager. Therefore, you can request adjustments and make the follow-ups without going through the phone-tree customer support. If the customer care is personalized, the process will be more manageable.
When you select a transcription company, you must assess customer support. The ideal company should respond fast to complaints and queries and be easy to contact.
Choose the service provider offering both email and phone support. Select the service that provides direct access to the manager, so that you can request revisions for your work easily.
6. Qualified transcribers
There are various types of transcription like academic, legal, and medical. It is perfect to cooperate with a company with expertise and experience in your specific field.
Before you choose a provider, you should take some time defining the type of industry they deal in. The vast majority of them might specialize in a few transcription types.
Besides, you should ask them how they train and hire their transcribers. The ideal companies train their employees to make sure they can deliver quality transcripts.
Also, consider the qualifications of transcribers. Make sure you select a company that cooperates with English native speakers. Only the native speaker can notice slight issues like colloquialisms, slang, dialects, or other nuances, guaranteeing the work will be of high quality.
7. Pricing
The last but not least factor is pricing. Of course, you can choose the provider that offers per-minute rates. However, you are not guaranteed to get a high-quality transcription, in the aftermath. So that you will finally end up needing to retype your audio or video file.
Note that the prices must be reasonable enough. The charges for the transcription should be budget-friendly and affordable. The possible upcharges must be discussed before you sign the contract. Keep in mind that the providers with the lowest rates seem to have the lowest quality rates as well. The service should use human or automated transcriptionists.
You might request quotes from various transcription service providers to compare. Select the company offering competitive prices without compromising quality.
However, make sure that you do not overpay the company.
What are the best transcription services?
1. Transcriberry
You should choose this service if you want a fruitful and smooth result. It offers a wide range of services for authors, bloggers, and podcasters to enjoy. For instance, you can order manual transcription guaranteeing 99% of accuracy. However, the price is higher than for an automated one but the results are of impeccable quality.
Also, you might try automated transcription as well. The price is lower for it and it is ideal for simple texts. Suppose you need to transcribe the subtitles, Transcriberry will help you. Try this service if you need to translate the text too. Do not spend your precious time on boring tasks and delegate this work with various themes, topics, and types of texts. This service is the greatest for webinars, seminars, lectures, dissertations, data mine content, phone calls, video content, meetings, press conferences, documentaries, podcasts, interviews, dictation, and more.
2. Scribie
This is a transcription provider that offers both manual and automated transcription services. No matter what budget you have you can afford it. The service features a 36-hour turnaround. Also, you can add a specific speaker tracking, strict verbatim, time coding, subtitle file, and more.
Tracking of transcription process is possible and you can even download the versions as they are finished. It is useful when you need a working document version to utilize right away. The process of transcription is very simple. You will just have to upload your file, select the plan, pay, and get your file.
3. Sonix
This tool is completely automated. It is AI-based, so you will receive your final version of the text very fast. However, you will not get the same high level of accuracy if compared to human transcribing. The prices are lower than other services and you can utilize the editing tools if you want. For example, to polish your transcript you can utilize the in-browser editor. There are such features as multiple export options, speaker labeling, notes and commenting for you, word-by-word timestamps, and more.
There are also tools for collaboration features, subtitles, and automation translation. Additionally, you can integrate with such tools as Dropbox, YouTube, Vimeo, Zoom, and more.
Slow down to make the right choice of transcription service company
Take enough time before you make the final decision selecting the best transcription service. If you can, choose the company with references, especially, if you need to transcribe a number of files.
Utilize the mentioned above tips to make the most appropriate decision and not waste your money!