Transcript accuracy: a cautionary tale

transcription accuracy data

Have you ever had to type your own produced interviews and recordings? If so, you’ll probably know how arduous it can be! That’s exactly why you want a professional, right? We have specialised trustworthy transcription software and tools to enable us to transcribe your recordings effectively.

But how do you make sure you are actually capturing all of the speech accurately and therefore all of the important information (data) you need that’s crucial to your projects?

It can be so easy for things to literally get lost in translation. Kind of like a game of telephone.

It takes a whole lot of skill and concentration to transcribe an audio recording properly. We choose only the best and brightest for handling our transcription projects. Over the last 12 years, we’ve curated a highly experienced team who don’t just type, but really listen, and aim to understand what you are saying. (It helps that they are an erudite bunch that we’re sure could definitely qualify for Mensa!)

How do we ensure we know what you are talking about?
Our team have extensive backgrounds in fields such as legal, medical, property and finance before becoming expert freelance transcribers. This means they’ve gathered a wealth of knowledge about industry terminology, patterns of speech, accents, and a thorough all-round general knowledge and appreciation for what is required.

In our 12 years of service provision to date, we’ve produced transcripts on a vast range of topics. Obviously, we might not be as expert as you are in topics such as textile design or the health of honey bees, for example, but we can pick the general gist of a subject up very quickly (such is our expert versatility, if we say do so ourselves!) Aside from our adaptability to become attuned to varied subject matter, we are also experts in effective researching and will always ensure to research correctly from reputable and relevant sources whenever we need to. You’re also welcome to provide us with a crib sheet or vocab doc containing a list of commonly used words or phrases that might crop up on the recordings. We will always work with you closely to ensure total accuracy – we never simply take a guess at something we don’t profess to know!

Have you ever received a transcript and it contains random words that are most definitely not what was said, and apart from anything else are totally irrelevant to the subject matter? This is poor, both in terms of the original staff member’s expertise when transcribing the file, but also the fact that no one has ran it through a quality control process is concerning. This all equates to you potentially losing important data. Unfortunately, this happens all too often in the transcription industry in what we like to call the ‘conveyor belt approach’, where companies take on the recordings, no questions asked, and churn them out with no finesse.

If content from your project is not produced accurately and you have no way go go back and reference it easily to correct errors (i.e. there are no timestamps or you no longer have the original recording) then it makes the process painstaking or impossible.

I recently undertook a 10-week intensive course in data science and it helped me to deepen my understanding further of just how important capturing data is to clients.

Want to know more about extracting data from your transcripts? Get in touch with us for a breakdown of various methods that you can use depending on what level of data you are looking to extract.

The data you extract might be basic or extensive and far-reaching. You may need the data in the short-term of you might want to preserve or add to it for years to come. Don’t make the mistake of using a service that doesn’t want to take the time to commit to caring for your project as much as you do.

Find out more in our article here about things to consider when choosing the right service – or why not just ask us directly how we can help! Contact us here.

Zoom Meeting Transcription

Zoom transcription
To say the use of video conferencing, the likes of Zoom, has taken off since the pandemic would be an understatement. In May 2020, there were reported to be 200 million daily participants on Zoom, rising to 300 million in June 2020 (compared to 10 million in December 2019).

It’s clearly been useful for so many people during these difficult times, and in business terms it’s really useful for staying connected with people when flying or long distance travel has been off limits. Post-pandemic, a bulk of travel may remain a non-option to be replaced with video conferencing options in order to cut costs.

Recording the audio-visual from meetings has complemented business connectedness and resulted in improved communication. The audio can be typed up accurately and quickly, and be easily gathered and distributed to participants or other invested individuals or teams.

Accurate data from all meetings and conferences is so important for businesses. Inaccurate information or gaps in data cost businesses large losses every year. Transcribing your video meetings is another way to ensure you capture everything that was said and not miss a thing.  

Get in touch if you’d like us to transcribe audio from a meeting or conference, or for a copy of our free guide to help you get the very best quality from your audio recordings (including some tips you might not be aware of): fiona@outsource-typing.com

The Home-Based Typist

typing ebook

My ebook The Home-Based Typist is PACKED with invaluable info from an expert insider perspective with a proven method for success. Running a successful transcription business full-time since 2011 means I know what it takes to make it as a freelancer and business owner in this field.   

I’ve authored a perfectly tailored and indispensable all-in-one guide for typists wishing to start up a new business or enhance their freelance career to boost income. Designed for secretaries/typists, PAs/admins, writers and proofreaders looking to transfer their valuable skills for the first time – or as a refresher – into working at home for transcription companies.

You might be:

  • Working full-time but want to reduce your hours and earn extra money working from home
  • Working full-time as a transcriber but want to advance to the next level and boost your income, earning money from your own clients, in addition to having the optional safety net of agency working too
  • Soon to retire but looking for optional, occasional ad hoc freelance work into the future
  • Experiencing redundancy and want to transfer your skills into something new or temporary
  • Seeking a change in a new role utilising your existing skills
  • Unsure of how you can get into the industry/unsure how to approach transcription companies for work
  • Consistently getting knocked back on your applications for employment with transcription companies (I can tell you why!)
  • Simply looking for a more flexible working life

The e-book has been carefully put together from YEARS of tried and tested approaches and experience in the transcription industry as a competitive transcription service. It’s PACKED with hard-earned knowledge, honest advice, resources and helpful mini projects that will maximise your chances of getting accepted by transcription agencies. It will give you the tools to help you start up your own transcription business or make it as a freelance transcriber, taking assignments as and when you want!

Find out everything you need to know to get started and beyond all in one helpful guide – from equipment to IT, from finances to legal and regulatory advice and many, many more important and fundamental topics are covered, along with a detailed breakdown of transcript types, example transcripts, industry insides, innovative tips, clever tricks and invaluable resources you won’t find elsewhere (or that other educators or mentors want to keep to themselves!)

I’ve been in the industry since 2011, and I run my own successful transcription business. I’ve worked as a freelancer with all types of transcription businesses and my own clients – from large to small, and all over the globe. I know what it takes to make it, and I can share my secrets with you to help make the process easier for you.  I can help you succeed where others have and can so easily fail without the right coaching.

The e-book contains 65 detailed full A4 pages in a PDF (or MS Word format) download, ready to print or be read on screen. The user-friendly interactive document navigation makes it easy to jump between sections for easy referencing. A printed and bound copy is available by post within the UK for an small extra charge – please message me for details: therealhomebasedtypist@gmail.com

Each customer will be offered access to our exclusive Members Only Facebook Group where you can chat with myself and others about all things transcription and ask any follow-up questions you might have.

Discover today exactly what you need to know in one affordable and easy to reference guide.

Still not sure if it’s for you? Visit our sister website here: The Home-Based Typist for further information and background, and helpful articles on our blog. Don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter here to stay informed.

Case Studies | Questions to ask your VA

Virtual Assistant Case Studies

To demonstrate how you can utilise our services and to give an idea of cost-effectiveness, we’ve outlined below some case study examples of work we’ve done recently for our valued clients.

The task: Telemarketing / database creation 
What we did: 9 hours over the course of six weeks – researched potential customers, gathered the details, followed up with calls and created user-friendly Excel database with all info. Passed this on to our client who then did a mass cut and paste of the email addresses gathered for a brief follow-up email to all, and et voilà, effective marketing to around 200 potential leads.
Cost: All for around £160!

The task: Survey Monkey – Survey creation and maintenance
What we did: 13 hours of admin time perfecting four long and complex in-depth surveys. Saved the client considerable time and effort as these can be tricky and require thorough testing before making them available to complete.
Cost: Just over £200

The task: Blog article drafting
What we did: Two hours drafting a blog article collating best tips from previous articles. I’m trained in editing and also a keen writer, and lover of the English language, and relish these types of task! If you’re looking to buy time and rehash or recap while you’re thinking up new material, this can be a good way to keep your readership and followers engaged meanwhile – plus other ideas can often be sparked from revisiting and reviewing.
Cost: £36

The task: Editing and proofreading
What we did: Looked at 36-page e-book a longstanding client had created, edited and proofread so it was ready for publishing.
Cost: £36

The task: Typing
What we did: As well as PA and admin type duties, we also carry out a lot of typing! We take on many hours each month and pride ourselves on always returning on or before the deadline and to the highest standards. Examples of work provided: medico-legal reports; medical correspondence; legal correspondence and file notes; CVs; interview recordings; PDF to Word conversions (involves tidying up formatting). We also take on regular copy typing handwritten docs and data entry tasks – of all shapes and sizes!
Cost: From 85p per recorded audio minute

Hopefully this gives an insight into what we do all day! And it proves that you can use our service as and when you need it – there’s no commitments or packages to consider or anything like that – you simply pay for the time you use and you can cap this at any figure you would like. We work to your budget!

So if you require any of the above, travel planning, event organisation (room/venue bookings, catering), formal meeting room bookings, database creation or management, data entry, podcast transcription (the list goes on… – hopefully you get the idea!) then just drop us an email or a call, we’d be happy to discuss how we can help. We are resourceful, well established and have access to lots of local and national resources, as well as bags of initiative and great ideas – just ask us!

Free Download! Questions to ask your Virtual Assistant 

Thinking of hiring a Virtual Assistant this year to help support your business or busy department? Download our free guide to assist you in selecting the right provider.

Transcription 101

Transcription basics

Need a transcript produced from your audio recording? Here at Outsource-Typing we draw on our many years’ combined experience in secretarial and transcription work to offer you a professionally presented end product.

Transcription of lengthy reports, correspondence, interviews or discussions can be time-consuming and often quite technical. We can transcribe your audio files for you to produce an accurate record of what was discussed or dictated, saving you time to get on with your research or core business tasks.

We can accept the following:

  • Medical Transcription
    Medico-legal reports, medical notes, summaries, clinic letters, etc.
  • Legal Transcription
    Letters, memos, court documents
  • Academic Transcription
    We assist students, lecturers and professors in transcribing lectures to assist students. We accurately type research interviews
  • HR Transcription
    We can produce a verbatim transcript of your grievance and disciplinary hearing meetings
  • Media Transcription
    We can transcribe your YouTube videos, radio, video, or podcast content
  • Market Research Transcription
    In-depth discussions, one-to-one and multi-speaker interviews, focus groups
  • Other Types of Transcription
    These might include journalist interviews, conference recordings, seminars, panel discussions, focus groups on anything and everything

    If there’s something you don’t see on the list above, contact us and we will advise on how best to carry out the work to the highest standards.

Formats we offer
Full details of the below formats can be provided to you prior to commencement so we know what type of finished transcript you would like.  We offer four types:

  1. Full Verbatim
    Includes everything that is said. 
  2. Standard Format
    A verbatim transcript, but excludes insignificant prompts by the interviewer, half sentences, repeated words, etc.
  3. Smart Style
    This type of transcript avoids use of verbiage, but includes half sentences, repeated words, etc. 
  4. Media Transcript
    In a tabled format to include time codes each time there is a new speaker / segment / introduction / music / sound effects, etc.  

If you’d like to an example copy transcript of any or all of the above just ask – we will be happy to produce copies of these for you to peruse to help make your decision easier.

If you would like to adapt any of the above formats with any of your own requests or additions we are happy to work to your preferred needs – we aim to provide a tailored service. The above will hopefully give you a solid framework.

If you are carrying out research interviews or dictating for the first time take a look at our 8 Top Tips for Recording Interviews downloadable PDF.

8 Top Tips for Recording Interviews

Tips for recording interviews

You might be brand new to audio recording, or just fed up getting poor quality transcripts back.  If so, this article is for you! 

At Outsource-Typing, we have extensive experience in the transcription process. We’ve compiled below a cheat sheet, feeding back some of our best tips to help things run as smoothly as possible for you on the day of your recording and beyond, into the transcript phase.  

A link to a PDF of this article can be found here: 8-top-tips-for-recording-interviews – you might find it helpful to keep as a prompt or for ease of reference.    

  1. Trial and test your equipment
  • Perform a short test to check audio is being picked up clearly on the recording and all speakers are sitting at a suitable distance from the mic.
  • Check battery levels and that everything is plugged in correctly!
  • Remember to periodically check the indicator light on your recording equipment during the session.
  1. Introductions and identifying all speakers
  • At the beginning of the recording, it is essential that each participant introduce themselves – spelling names if necessary – to enable the typist to then identify that person each time they speak as the meeting evolves. A longer introduction (e.g. full name, where from, how they travelled to the session) would be preferable where interviewees or participants have similar accents.  This longer dialogue at the beginning can help typists pick up on distinguishing voice characteristics to make it easier to identify each speaker throughout the transcript. 
  • Remind all participants that the session is being recorded and to speak slowly, clearly and audibly for recording purposes.
  • Regularly remind participants not to speak over each other for the benefit of the recording.
  • The interviewer / moderator could attempt on occasions to refer to the speaker by their first name upon completion of their comments to aid the typist in identifying speakers. This is especially helpful regarding participants who contribute less to the discussion over the piece. 
  1. Too many people speaking at once!

We do our best when people are talking over one another to pick out exactly what is being said, but this can be difficult at times.  If this happens, prompt the person(s) to repeat themselves, separately, for the recording.  If speech absolutely cannot be made out, (overspeaking) will be inserted into the transcript.

  1. Background noise

While we’re experts at completing even the trickiest of audio files, there are some things you can do to ensure your job is returned with less speech missing and also to a speedier timescale if you consider the below tips:

  • Politely request all participants to switch mobile phones off or onto silent mode prior to commencing the group or interview session – preferably without vibration set to “on” if the phone is sat on the desk – this will get picked up and amplified on the mic and may obscure speech!)
  • Any internal telephones could be diverted either to voicemail or another line so as to avoid them ringing during the recording as this can interfere with the recording quality and render what is being said inaudible.
  • It may not be possible to avoid, but water coolers, fans, air conditioning, stirring of tea and coffee, shuffling paperwork, tapping or banging on the table, people coming in and out of the room, etc., all cause background noise on the mic and can obscure what is being said. If possible, turn undesired equipment off.  If a person enters the room late, it is advisable to curtail the discussion until they are seated and introduced to avoid distraction and background noise. 
  • Sirens / heavy traffic noise / beeping horns / jet engine noise – please be aware that we can’t hear over this, it is amplified! If you can halt the discussion while there are sudden loud disturbances such as these it would be helpful – if this isn’t followed, perhaps you could ask the speaker to repeat what they have said for the purposes of the recording.    

If speech cannot be made out for any of the above reasons despite both our best efforts, (inaudible) will be inserted into the transcript and a time-stamp inserted to indicate the exact time-point of the discussion.  You may want to go over these yourself to see if you can make out what has been said. 

  1. Inaudible speech

People speak in a range of accents, tones and timbres.  Very quiet or softly-spoken people may need to be prompted to speak up for the recording.  Likewise if someone is mumbling!  To avoid embarrassing them or appearing rude by constantly asking them to speak up, you could halt the recording and ask that person(s) to sit closest to the mic.  It’s better to address the issue, pause the recording and resume than to have nothing they’ve said picked up at all!  We can boost volume and sound quality to a certain extent with our software, but we can’t work miracles!    

  1. Industry terms

It’s helpful to us if you spell any unusual names, words or terms for the purposes of the recording actually on the recording – or, if this isn’t followed, along with the recorded audio files, provide us with a “crib sheetorvocab doc containing a list of likely used words, phrases or acronyms.  Therefore, if someone says a word or term that you are not familiar with, asking them to spell it for the recording is helpful for the typists when completing the transcript. 

  1. Offer breaks
  • People get tired, distracted, thirsty, restless, when sitting for too long – offer them a break if you notice they are looking distracted, or especially if know the recording is going to go on for longer than an hour. You could consider designating a time for rest breaks that will not interfere with the recording of the session – after, say, 45-60 minutes.  You can pause recordings at any time, and this is always helpful to state prior to getting started, so as to avoid your interviewees from feeling trapped!   Just remember to ensure that the recording is on again after you hit pause.  Familiarising yourself fully with the equipment beforehand is essential.    
  • For disciplinary hearings, it is recommended – and respectful – to offer the subject a break at regular intervals.
  • When returning from any breaks, it’s best to ensure everyone sits in the same seat to ensure continuity, and to wait until everyone is settled until resuming the recording to cut down on background noise. 

20 tasks we can do in under an hour

Virtual Assistant quick tasks

Could you work more effectively if you delegated? The benefits to you could equal more time to get on with your core business tasks, or just might make your life easier and more stress-free in general.

Here are 20 popular tasks our experienced admin staff can carry out for you:

  1. Data entry – type up over 100 lines of data, e.g. contacts list
  2. Social media – set you up on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn
  3. Document conversion – convert MS Word documents to PDF or vice-versa
  4. Marketing – set up a Mailchimp account for email marketing/newsletters
  5. Market research – create a survey using Survey Monkey
  6. General internet research
  7. Form filling
  8. Travel plans – book flights, accommodation, meals, etc.
  9. Diary management – meeting organisation, Doodle Polls, etc.
  10. Financial – chase up unpaid invoices
  11. PowerPoint – create a presentation template
  12. Copy typing – type 5-10 pages of A4 handwritten text
  13. Create a professional signature block for emails
  14. Get quotes from potential suppliers
  15. Personal errands – sourcing gifts or services online
  16. Reception duties – fielding calls/call handling service
  17. Type your dictation – short audio files, podcasts, interviews, etc.
  18. Create reports – pivot tables in Excel
  19. Organise files using Dropbox
  20. Create document templates and new databases

This is not an exhaustive list of what Outsource-Typing can do for you, just a sample of what we offer – we’re not just all about the typing! And at a cost-effective and competitive price, it’s worth finding out more. Contact us now: fiona@outsource-typing.com