GENERAL OVERVIEW OF TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES

In this section, we cover some general topics concerning transcription which may be useful for our clients. Either on this page, our FAQs section or our Guidelines and Equipment pages, we've covered most of the issues and questions we enounter on a regular basis. If there's any aspect that we haven't covered that you think may be useful, please contact us and we'd be happy to help.

Digital recordings versus analogue tape comparison Types of Transcript available Explanation of our standard Layout & Transcript Code Definitions of the most common Digital File Types Voice Recognition - Will it Supercede Transcription? The differences between a copy / audio typist and a professional transcriber Project Management Free Digital Recording from your analogue formats

DIGITAL RECORDINGS VERSUS ANALOGUE TAPE COMPARISON
Listed below are some pros and cons of using digital recordings as compared to an analogue system. By doing this, we hope to persuade clients that digital is the best way to go!

Digital Advantages
* Produces superior quality recordings which don't deteriorate over time.
* No length restrictions - digital recordings are as long as you need them to be.
* Sound files do not 'physically' break or become mangled.
* Easy to add additional bits of recording, such as dictation, in the middle of a file.
* No issues over reuse because you simply save to another file name.
* Fewer physical storage space issues - back up recordings to CD take up less room than tapes.
* Quick delivery - sending files via an online FTP service can be made on the same day from anywhere in the world.
* No return postage costs - digital files are simply deleted.
* Digital recordings can be copied with no loss of quality.
* Urgent sound files can be easily divided among several transcribers.
* Digital recordings are easily edited to cut out unnecessary sections that don't need to be transcribed.
* Audio time markers can be inserted to indicate precisely where inaudible or unclear words may be.

Digital Disadvantages
* Does require a Broadband internet connection in order to transfer digital files to the transcriber.
* Requires a compatible PC, with large hard drive to store large digital files, and a USB connection.
* Some clients can be reluctant to learn new technology which they perceive to be complicated.
* All precious recordings can be on one PC which can be vulnerable to PC crashes if not backed-up.
* Recorders need either rechargeable or long life batteries, and you need to remember to carry spares (as do tape recorders).
* Digital files types need to be compatible with transcription software.

These disadvantages are not insurmountable and we would be happy to advise you on switching to digital.

Analogue Advantages
* Familiarity with equipment if a client has been using a tape recorder for years.
* Ease of accessibility - one client maintains that 'all my tapes are on the shelf where I can get at them easily'.

If anyone can think of any other analogue advantages, let me know because, quite frankly, I'm struggling to think of any more!

Analogue Disadvantages
* Produces inferior quality recordings which are more subject to tape hiss
* All audio, mini and micro cassette tapes have a limited life and if reused too many times can break or become chewed up.
* Playback quality deteriorates over time.
* Restrictive in terms of length - parts of the recording may be missed as the tape is turned over.
* Additional recording, such as dictation, can't be added to the middle of a recording without erasing something which follows.
* Storage space needed if large volumes of recordings are made.
* Subsequent copy recordings will be less clear than the original.
* Tapes can take time to reach the transcriber through the post, or can be lost in transit.
* Postage costs are additional.
* Analogue tapes are more time consuming to edit if only part of the tape needs to be transcribed.
* Each tape recorder and playback transcription equipment has different counters so audio time markers are inaccurate.

As you can see, the advantages of digital far outweigh the disadvantages, and we hope that the sheer number of analogue disadvantages speaks for itself. If you have invested a great deal of time and effort arranging interviews, focus groups or conferences, why ruin them by using an inferior system? Please review our Equipment pages for some tips on recorders and microphones.

Our default transcription format is INTELLIGENT VERBATIM. This ensures a full, accurate transcript but omits all the 'ums', 'ahs', repetitions and verbal habits such as excessive use of 'you know' and 'kind of' unless they're relevant to the content. These meaningless fillers add nothing to the context of the transcript and take longer to transcribe. We think it makes sense to cut all that out, but leave the rest exactly as spoken, including unfinished sentences, contractions and even incorrect grammar which still retains the overall style of the person speaking. This makes for a much easier transcript to read, and significantly cuts down on transcription time. This type of transcript is commonly used for some one-to-one interviews, conferences, meetings, podcasts, webcasts and lectures, and a script style layout is used whereby each speaker is identified by initials where possible. For interviews, there may be a happy medium whereby you wish an interviewer's questions to be 'tidied' up and perhaps summarised, but the interviewee's responses to be left in full. This is the most cost effective service available.

However, we recognise that there are circumstances where you may require a COMPLETE VERBATIM transcript of absolutely everything said on a recording, such as interviews for legal purposes or for university qualitative analysis. This includes every repetition, 'ums', 'ers', 'you knows' and instances where people have several attempts to start a sentence, or drift off in mid comment with no logical end to a sentence. It endeavours to capture the conversational 'style' of the person, plus any dialect patterns and emotions where applicable, such as someone laughing. It also includes all housekeeping type opening and closing remarks. Clients need to be aware of the impact that this will have on transcription time and price - this is the most expensive type of transcription available. Why pay for it if it really isn't necessary? It also makes for a very tedious 'read' when going through a transcript! Is it really necessary for how you'll be using the transcript?

Our third style is EDITED TRANSCRIPT. This is sometimes very useful for focus groups or conference organisers who need to provide a transcript of lectures, but don't need all the verbal quirks of every speaker. This transcript format will take slightly longer to complete than Intelligent Verbatim but not as long as Complete Verbatim, and is priced accordingly.

Oral history projects have their own specialised requirements and our Intelligent Verbatim option can be adapted to include this at no extra cost. For this, we will include all audible expressions of identifiable emotion (laughter or tears), retain all dialect speech and accent patterns where decipherable, add interpretation (e.g. over-stressing a particular word) and emphasis (such as banging on the table to emphasise a point). We will still leave out all redundant 'fillers' such as 'ums', 'you knows' etc unless relevant to the content. We are happy to discuss this with you and 'tweak' it to your requirements. As with our Intelligent Verbatim, we don't correct grammar or alter speech patterns.

Focus Groups - we have developed several cost effective options for large focus groups in consultation with clients - please choose which is most appropriate for your needs. These options can also be used for multiple participant interviews, group meetings, roundtable discussions, teleconferences and vox pops.

1A. Individual speakers are not identified by name but different comments are listed on separate lines to ensure that each change of speaker is obvious. The moderator is also clearly marked. This ensures that you capture the content of each remark but without attributing it to a named speaker. This significantly reduces the time taken to transcribe. If participants have taken part in a focus group on the understanding that their contributions are anonymised, this is the easiest way to capture that.

1B. As for 1A above but we list comments as FS or MS only (female / male speakers).

Options 1A and 1B are costed as Intelligent Verbatim and are the most cost effective options.

2A. If individual speakers do need to be identified, we need a list of speakers' names and the order in which they speak. Otherwise, it will be impossible to identify accurately all the individuals, especially as we generally haven't heard their voices before! The longer we work with a particular client, the more familiar we become with the possible voices involved but the list of participants is still vital. Please view our Guidelines for Focus Groups page to see how best to produce such a voice 'map'.

2B. If we are not provided with any participant names, we will identify each speaker as FS1 or MS1 (female / male speakers).  But even then, if voices are very similar, this will be a 'best guess' as to who is speaking at any given time.  For example, if FS1 speaks at the beginning but then not again until near an hour later, it will necessitate going back and forth until we are confident that it is the same voice speaking.  This obviously increases the transcription time enormously.

Options 2A and 2B are more expensive and costed as Complete Verbatim but transcribed as per Intelligent Verbatim below to ensure that all the unnecessary 'ums', 'you knows' etc are removed as they're rarely necessary in a focus group transcription. 

3. We frequently provide summaries of the points raised without distinguishing between different speakers. We merely take each verbatim comment, turn it into more coherent summarised sentences or bullet points, and group all the different subject areas together. This option is costed as Edited Transcript.

COMPLETE VERBATIM	Includes repetitions, every 'um', 'er', verbal habits such as 'you know', 'wanna', 'kind of' as well as laughter, coughs, issues relating to accents, speech patterns, dialects and colloquialisms, plus all housekeeping matters, abbreviations, and 'false starts' to sentences. Add 50p per audio minute to all prices for digital recordings (25p discounted price). For audio tape formats, this can add from 1-3 hours to transcription times.
INTELLIGENT VERBATIM	Excludes the above, unless relevant to the content, but includes non-standard English such as 'ain't' and 'coz', and abbreviations such as can't, as well as unfinished sentences. Grammar is not corrected but left exactly as said. The prices listed on each service page are based on this type of transcript.
EDITED TRANSCRIPT	As for Intelligent Verbatim but any non-standard English, grammatical errors and mispronounced words are corrected, and unfinished sentences deleted where appropriate, as well as turning the English into a more formalised version if required, replacing I've with I have, for example. Add 25p per audio minute to all prices for digital recordings (10p discounted price). For audio tape formats, this can add 1-2 hours to transcription times.

We always provide a Transcript Code for each document, with each participant identified where possible, together with easily understood codes for inaudible words, or queries. We also provide audio time markers on transcripts from digital recordings so that you can relisten to any unclear sections if necessary. We list any 'best guesses' for individual words and if something is unclear or inaudible, we will mark it as such. We never make up dialogue; our transcripts always reflect exactly what can be heard on the recording - no more, no less.

Although we endeavour to minimise 'inaudibles', there will inevitably be some instances where it's impossible to decipher what's being said. Typically, this arises from either a poor quality recording, background noise or when a speaker muttered, spoke too fast or had a strong accent. Please view our transcription times page for details of all the factors which can influence how clear a recording will be and, therefore, how complete the transcript can be. Clear recordings usually result in no 'inaudibles'.

We are happy to provide simple Word line numbering throughout the transcript if required at no extra cost. However, time-stamped formats, either every five minutes or every minute, add considerably to transcription time at an hourly rate for audio tapes, and will be charged at a higher per audio minute price for all digital recordings. See our Prices page for details.

It may be possible to compress clearly audible interview, lecture or dictation recordings without compromising quality too much - choose MP3 where possible. But we would recommend against compressing recordings of focus groups, meetings or any recordings with any background noise issues. We would urge all clients, where possible, to send us the original digital recording, full size, to avoid any loss in quality from the original. Having made an investment in digital equipment, why compromise on the final recording file quality just to get a smaller digital file and make a faster online transfer to the transcriber? Far better to set aside extra time to upload the digital files (or even leave them 'cooking' while you do something else), than end up with an inferior recording which takes longer to transcribe and may result in an incomplete transcript.

Some notes on the more common digital file types are below:
CDA Audio Files are standard recordings on CD and are typically the file type found on music CDs. An analogy would be that the CDA is a sort of 'sleeve' or cover file and the underlying file containing the recording itself will be in a different format, most likely Wav or some other common format. So don't look upon CDA as a recording option for your recorder. Professionally made digital recordings of conferences or lectures are frequently made as CDA files. Most transcription software will not play back CDA format, although it's possible to convert the audio file to a .WAV file by downloading CDEX_130.zip converter or by using CD Ripper

Dct is a form of digital recording that's encrypted at the time of recording and needs to be decrypted in order to be transcribed. It's frequently used in medical transcription where confidentiality is important.

DSS TrueSpeech has very high compression ratios ranging from 15:1 to 27:1 and, although that produces small, manageable files, the resulting recording is very 'lossy'. We don't recommend this format for group interviews or situations such as focus group recordings, but it would probably be acceptable if used in dictation or one-to-one interviews in a quiet environment.

DSS is a proprietory digital file format developed by Olympus. It stands for Digital Standard Speech. Olympus also provide the playback software. DSS files are considerably smaller than Wav files but suffer no loss of quality, and are therefore an excellent choice for swiftness of transfer and clarity. Lanier and Grundig recorders also produce dss files.

MP3/MPEG - a compressed WAV file often used for music. It produces a very clear recording with minimal loss of quality.

Sony DVF have their own version of the dss file, producing a highly compressed recording on a much smaller file.

WAV form Audio is one of the more common digital file formats. It produces a superb quality sound file as it is 'lossless' but is very large - a 2 hour recording can take up around 300Mb. Although wavs can be compressed further, we would rather receive the original large digital recording. Far better that the file takes a little bit longer to send through than compromise the clarity of the recording.

WMA (Windows Media Player) can be found on all Windows-based PCs. Although it produces a much smaller file than Wav because it's considerably compressed, the sound quality can be inferior.

Codecs are algorithms used to reduce the number of bytes contained in large files by eliminating redundant data, thus compressing the file. The transcriber or transcription software will need access to the codec that has produced the compressed file. In effect, the recorder is producing a 'brand name' type digital file. For example, Sanyo recorders produce Sanyo .wav files and will need a Sanyo codec in order to play them back. PCs and many types of transcription software come with a variety of codecs already installed, but it would be wise to check first to ensure your digital sound file can be played. If not, most manufacturers will send out the relevant codec for a charge, or you may be able to find some way of converting the file to another format. A search online will usually resolve this.

'Lossy' - as well as apparently butchering the English language, the terms 'lossless' and 'lossy' do have a relevant technical meaning in digital formats. Your recording equipment may allow you to set different attributes for the same file type. This can make an enormous difference to the sound quality and size of the file, and consequently the transcription. In some cases, for example, with dictation (one person speaking into the machine, in a quiet environment), you can probably afford to lose sound quality and the recording will still be clear enough. In other cases, such as focus groups in noisy environments, you may find that you need to choose a slightly larger file size in order to maintain decent sound quality. DON'T compromise on quality for the sake of file size.

The information above is based on our experience of actually transcribing from these formats, not the manufacturer's marketing 'puff'. My thanks to my friend and colleague Anne Hickley for her help with this section. She is far more technically minded than I am!

Voice recognition software currently comes in two forms - Dragon Naturally Speaking and IBM's ViaVoice. As well as being used to give a computer commands (e.g. to save a file), it can also be used to convert speech straight into a Word document. However, the main disadvantage is that voice recognition software is a 'dog for one master' only.

It's possible to use the software successfully for dictation but it can't cope with even one-to-one interviews and would probably go into meltdown if you tried it with group meetings or focus groups. The software needs to be trained to become used to one voice. Asking it to recognise and accurately transcribe the different voice of your interviewee as well as your own questions, or the multiple voices of a group, is simply not possible at the moment. Even with one voice dictation, the software still needs to be corrected and trained to recognise new and unfamiliar words or technical terms or names.

The only way to use voice recognition software effectively for an interview situation would be to listen to the recording and re-speak everything you hear - both questions and responses. Obviously, this would be very time consuming, having to stop and start the recording so that you can 'speak' what you're hearing. Essentially, you're attempting to perform simultaneous translation - concentrating on listening to someone else's speech, while saying those words a few seconds later but without losing what's being said next. Try it with a recorded TV or radio programme and see how difficult a skill that is to master. Add on the time taken at the end to proofread and tidy up the Word document and it becomes clear that it would take far longer than the original interview length. Is that a valuable and productive use of your time? Magnify that time and effort many times if you then tried to tackle 'speaking' a focus group, especially if the recording is less than clear.

Another major factor when considering speech recognition software is its inability to judge which homonyms should be used. The latest versions are now capable of recognising the more common ones in simple sentences, such as deciding whether it's here or hear. However, long, complicated sentences can defeat it. All this adds to your proofreading time at the end.

You also need to consider how the software will tackle commands for punctuation or formatting certain words in bold, for example. Most programmes require you to leave a pause between the command and the next chunk of 'text'. If the pause isn't long enough, you'll find those commands entered as part of the text itself, which will need to be edited out later. For an interview format, you will need to indicate a change of speaker with a new line and initials, and a tab command. Even if you just decide to enter a change of speaker on a new line and tidy it up afterwards, this all adds to the time taken. Allegedly, one of the latest versions (Naturally Speaking) will also punctuate for you - deciding where all the commas and full stops go. Be prepared to correct this later - its idea of punctuation is not mine!

'Naturally Speaking', as it were, I'm biased! But I'm convinced that voice recognition software is a useful tool fit for a specific purpose, but that purpose is not yet transcription of all recordings in all circumstances.

This is how I see the differences:
A copy typist will have either a handwritten or printed page in front of them to copy. They already have all the spelling, punctuation and grammar there for them - unless the writer's command of English or the handwriting are particularly bad! Usually, no editing or interpretation are required.

An audio typist tends to be working from dictation and from recordings made by people in the same offices, or at least in the same company. I may be over-generalising but the typing usually involves general correspondence or reports, the recordings are made at dictation speed, they're usually listening to one voice (typically a familiar voice), and the subject matter will mostly be familiar to them if it's concerning the company's business.

Transcription is by far the most involved of the three disciplines. A transcriber has to rely on her ears far more than her eyes. They're dealing with different voices, accents, verbal habits and different content which can sometimes be very technical, as well as any issues over background noise and recording quality. It's not just a matter of typing the words verbatim. We don't type like robots!  It's about transcribing the right words, inserting the appropriate punctuation and conveying the sense of the passage or text as a whole. 

We pride ourselves on really 'listening' to what's being said.  We realise that understanding the flow of the words is equally important and that the wrong punctuation can completely alter the meaning of a sentence, as can mishearing a word, such as 'do' instead of 'don't'. Transcribers need a high standard of English in order to ensure that they don't make common homonym mistakes - the old chestnuts 'there', 'their' and 'they're' being obvious examples. Transcribers will also be tackling a wide variety of different and complex transcription projects on a variety of subjects, since their clients come from industries, businesses, organisations and universities all over the world. That's what makes transcription so interesting - you quite literally never know what you're going to be transcribing next, whether it be interviews about an artist's life, research interviews from a hospital, or a conference about Third World aid.

We hope that the above information explains why transcription will be more expensive than copy or audio typing. There are also different levels of service within the transcription world, with a wide range of prices and experience. We are firm believers in the old adages, 'You get what you pay for' and 'Pay peanuts get monkeys' - cheapest does not necessarily mean best. 

We are professional transcribers with years of experience. We know our subject thoroughly and we pride ourselves on providing an accurate and first class service. If you approach a professional business, you will receive a professional service. See this page for details of why our transcription service stands out from the rest.

If necessary, we will convert audio files to a compatible transcription format, distribute digital audio files to our team of experienced transcribers and ensure that all transcripts are completed to meet your deadlines. We will undertake to convert all standard audio tapes or minidiscs to digital format if the original recording is of good quality. ALL recordings are listened to a second time by the Director, Irene Boston, to ensure that the original transcriber has captured everything accurately. Any additional Internet research is carried out where necessary to identify names or terminology that may have been unclear - thus ensuring the minimum of queries. ALL transcripts are proofread by 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 (see this page for my 'rant' on the subject!).

If you have a large project, one of our key recommendations is that you provide us with sufficient advance notice. As with all professional transcribers, our schedule fills up fairly quickly. If you are running a large project resulting in dozens of hours of recordings, we advise not leaving it till the last minute to organise transcription services. We recommend that you contact us as early as possible before your project begins. Once you have completed a booking form, this will allow us to reserve space for you in our schedule. Waiting until the project is completed and then trying to find an experienced transcriber at short notice could be difficult. Most professional transcription companies have a long list of regular customers and to suddenly find a large block of free space at short notice may be all but impossible. So book your transcription company in advance, in the same way as you would the interviewees and venues.

This not only means 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 a digital recording to their PC. It also means 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 in even 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 by our clients - thus safeguarding our clients' confidentiality. And if we can persuade you of the advantages of switching to digital, we would be happy to advise you - please see our comparison of digital and analogue recordings and our Equipment pages for further information.