MICRO CASSETTE TAPE TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES

We are pleased to continue to support clients who still use analogue recorders. Although the vast majority of recordings today are made in digital, owing to the high quality of the recording, standard audio tapes, micro cassettes and mini tapes can still provide a reasonable sound when used with a superior recorder, and with an external microphone where possible. Provided they're not asked to record in an environment for which they were never designed, it's still possible to produce a decent recording.

Micro cassettes are smaller than mini tapes and measure 5x3.3cm. They're typically used for dictation but some of the recorders also have external microphones, which means that it's possible to record good quality interviews. However, we would not recommend using them for recording groups or interviews with multiple particpants because the microphones tend not to be that powerful. The increased transcription times and, therefore, costs would probably pay for a decent digital recorder!

Please review our standard audio tape and mini tape transcription pages for details of these services. We believe our Testimonials page speaks for itself with comments from satisfied customers. We have provided Guidelines and Equipment pages which we hope will answer any specific queries you may have about setting up your recordings. Tape quality can be very variable and we would advise using a reputable make of tape. All 'physical' tapes are also prone to breakages, especially when reused many times and micro cassettes and mini tapes are thinner than standard audio tapes.

Transcription times are dealt with in more detail elsewhere but, briefly, if you provide a clear quality recording, it will take between 4 to 6 hours to transcribe ONE hour of recording. This assumes the recording to be either dictation or a one-to-one interview.

The following factors influence the time taken to transcribe any recording, and therefore the cost:

• The quality of the recording
• Whether an external microphone is used
• The clarity and number of voices
• Whether you require speakers to be identified
• The speed at which they are talking
• Whether they speak in coherent sentences
• The level of background noise
• The degree of regional accents
• The amount of industry specific or technical terminology involved

We provide a per audio minute rate for digital or minidisc recordings, but revert to a per hour price for all audio tape, mini tape and micro cassette recordings due to the wide variability in recording quality. We also provide discounted services to charities, universities and students but only for digital recordings. If you consider your analogue recording to be of excellent clarity, then we would be happy to listen to a representative sample and provide a per minute price where possible.

Micro Cassette Tape Transcription Services	Price Per Hour (per transcription hour not per tape hour)
Dictation transcription	£17.50
Interview transcription (one-to-one or one-to-two participants)	£20.00
See this page for more details of Transcription Times. All prices are in £ Sterling and VAT is NOT applicable. Discounts are available for universities, students and charities but this applies only to digital recordings.

Free Digital Recording - we convert all minidiscs, audio tapes, micro cassettes and mini tapes to digital audio files for ease of transcription. This is only possible with a clear quality recording. As part of our service, we offer our clients the digital version of their recording free of charge, sent to them via a secure file transfer service, provided the client has Broadband.

This not only means that we have transcribed from the digital recording, thus reducing the strain of stopping and starting the tape, but it means that clients can prolong the life of their recordings, and safeguard against tape breakages in the future by saving the digital recording to their PC. It also means that we can provide time markers on the transcript which you can then relocate very easily on the digital recording, in order to clarify any inaudible sections. This is not possible on an analogue recording as each tape recorder will have a slightly different method of 'counting' and, therefore, any time markers will be inaccurate.

However, this will only work IF your original tape is of good quality. If your recording is nothing but hiss or background noise, then a second generation recording of that, even on digital, will only magnify the distortions and there's no point trying. We will advise you whether we believe your recording is clear enough for us to do this. Digital recordings are deleted from our system a week after the transcripts are completed, unless earlier deletion is requested - thus safeguarding our clients' confidentiality.

ALL RECORDINGS are listened to a second time, Internet research is carried out where necessary, and all transcripts are proofread by the Director, Irene Boston, before being sent to clients. There is no extra charge for this service. Not all transcription companies do this, some don't even proofread, so make sure you ask the right questions before choosing a service.

Our default transcript style is Intelligent Verbatim as that is the most cost effective method of transcription. Please read our definitions of Complete Verbatim, Intelligent Verbatim and Edited Transcript to choose which format is most suitable for your needs. We would be happy to advise if you're considering switching to a digital system - please see our comparison of digital and analogue recordings.

We use a standard format and layout for all transcripts but should you wish for something different, please let us know. As with all our transcriptions, we provide a Transcript Code on each document to signify areas which are inaudible or unclear.

We hope this provides you with a thorough overview of our micro cassette transcription services. Please email or contact us on 01485 543746 for further information and turnaround times based on our current schedule, or browse our Overview or FAQ pages. Or see our Prices of other services.