UNIVERSITY TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES

We understand the importance of providing universities with a transcription service that is first class but which appeciates their budgetary constraints. We can transcribe a variety of recordings including one-to-one or multiple participant research interviews, academic symposia or conference proceedings, lectures, focus groups, roundtable discussions and group meetings, as well as podcasts, webcasts, speeches and presentations.

Our meticulous attention to detail, resulting in a high quality transcript and often provided to tight deadlines, has led to us becoming the preferred supplier for a number of university departments, colleges and research institutions. We work closely with university researchers when there is a need for transcripts to be formatted for use in qualitative research software such as NVivo or Atlas Ti. We ensure that each transcript is delivered as completed, rather than waiting to deliver the whole project at the end. This allows researchers to analyse material as it arrives rather than in bulk.

We offer a discounted service to universities and believe that our Testimonial page speaks for itself. We take our clients' confidentiality very seriously. Our booking form contains a confidentiality clause but we are happy to sign whatever specific non-disclosure agreement universities may require.

Each of the following services are dealt with in more detail on their own dedicated pages, but these are some of the ways in which we've been able to help universities in the past.

Interviews - we are specialists in research interview transcription, be it one-to-one interviews or those with multiple participants and have handled numerous large scale interview projects.

Conferences / academic seminars or symposia transcriptions are one of our specialties with experience gained over many years of transcribing a wide variety of events including lectures, presentations, speeches, plenary sessions, symposia and seminars. We realise that conferences represent a significant investment of time and resources for any university and we're committed to providing a professional, accurate and cost effective transcription service, whatever your length of conference.

Focus groups / meetings - having gathered together a group of people to discuss an issue, product or topic, it's essential to capture that meeting with a clear recording. We have years of experience of transcribing focus groups and meetings, as well as roundtable type discussions.

Podcasts and webcasts are becoming an increasingly popular form of communication and we have provided transcription for a number of interviews, conferences and speeches which have been broadcast over the Internet.

We have become the supplier of choice for various departments in the following universities, colleges and institutions:
London School of Economics
University College London
Open University
Northampton University
University of the Arts
University of Surrey
Nottingham University
Royal College of Fashion
De Montfort University
University of Warwick
City University
AECC Chiropractic College
University of Birmingham
Oxford Brookes University
National Patient Safety Agency
Audit Commission

Our prices per audio minute below are for digital or mini disc recordings. However, we are still happy to provide an audio tape transcription service for standard audio tapes, mini tapes, micro cassettes. We DON'T offer a discounted rate for analogue recordings as the tape quality can be so variable. Please see our comparison of digital and analogue 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 if we can. We hope our Guidelines and Equipment pages will answer any specific queries you may have about setting up your recordings.

Discounted University Transcription Services	Price Range Per Audio Minute (digital recordings only & based on Intelligent Verbatim transcripts+)
Interview transcription services (up to three participants)	£1.40 - £1.60
Interview transcription services (more than three participants)	£1.60 - £2.10
Conference transcription - speakers, lectures Conference transcription - Q&As, breakout sessions	£1.75 - £1.95 £1.90 - £2.10
Focus groups, meetings, roundtable discussions	£1.90 - £2.50
Please note: these rates apply only to good quality, clearly audible digital or mini disc recordings. The price range is designed to cover issues such as background noise, strong accents and technical terms. Should the subsequent recording prove to be not as described, we will requote and discuss this with you before proceeding. For audio tape transcription (whether of standard audio tapes, mini tapes or micro cassettes) we charge an hourly rate. See our Transcription Times page for the factors which influence transcription. All prices are in £ Sterling and VAT is NOT applicable. + Please add 25p per audio minute for a Complete Verbatim and 10p per audio minute for Edited Transcript price. See our Definitions page for details of what each transcript style means.
* The discounted rate applies only to universities, charities and students. All prices assume a good quality, clearly audible digital recording.

ALL RECORDINGS are listened to a second time, Internet research is carried out to identify names or terminology, 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.

For any large scale transcription, whether an ongoing interview project, a large conference or a series of meetings, we would recommend giving as much advance notice of your requirements as possible. This allows us to reserve space in our schedule, which is particularly important if we're offering a discounted rate. Most established transcription companies have a long list of regular customers and to suddenly find a block of free space for a large project can be difficult. So book your transcription company in advance, the same way you would an event venue or interview schedule. We pride ourselves on our project management experience for large scale projects and our flexibility to meet your deadlines.

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 have a standard page layout for all transcripts but are happy to work in your house style if you wish. As with all our transcriptions, we provide a Transcript Code for each document to signify areas which are inaudible or unclear.

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 all clients the digital version of their recording free of charge, sent to them using a secure file transfer service, provided the client has Broadband.

We provide a free File Upload service for all digital recordings via our website to ensure prompt delivery to our transcription team. We can also download your audio sound files directly from your website if you prefer, or you can post CDs directly. For all audio tapes, especially if they're the only originals, we advise sending them using a traceable method, such as Registered Post, but please only send us the originals. Copies will be of a much poorer quality and will increase transcription time and, therefore, costs.

We hope this provides you with a thorough overview of our discounted transcription services specially aimed at universities. Feel free to call (01485 543746) or email us for a detailed quote and turnaround times based on our current schedule, or browse our Overview or FAQ pages.