How To Save Money on High Quality Human Transcription

If you haven’t tried automated transcription, you might not be missing much.

Generally speaking, fully automated transcriptions still suffer from accuracy compared to the works of human transcriptionists. You’ll find plenty of dictation apps and software out there but nothing will beat a human’s professional quality and accuracy.

For general blogging purposes, human transcription is the best option among the most common transcription methods out there.

By choosing a human transcriptionist or getting your transcriptions done by hand you bring up the accuracy rate and make sure that your files are free from errors. No need to spare some time to edit those text.

Finding a high-quality human transcription service is easy, but it often comes at a price. In contrast, automated dictation apps offer basic services at a much cheaper price. Some of them are even free apps.

When you don’t want to compromise quality, you go for the more expensive plan sparing yourself from reviewing the texts to check for errors.

Reasons To Get A Human Transcriptionist

One of the biggest advantages of getting an actual human being to transcribe your audio is the transcriber’s flexibility. Unlike machines, humans can handle noisy backgrounds and poor audio quality better.

When using automated transcription services, you will be asked to pay more when the speakers have accents or if there are multiple speakers. Humans can easily understand words despite the accent or dialect resulting in inaccurate words. By understanding or analyzing the context of the sentence, the right word makes it to the text.

A person can easily identify how many speakers there are. A dialogue may confuse dictation software, but humans can easily follow who is speaking and what is being said.

Homophones often present a problem for machines. Homophones are words with different spellings but the same pronunciation.

A human transcriptionist would easily know which spelling to use. This makes the sentences on the text free from eyebrow-raising mistakes and confusion.

Best Human Transcription Service Providers for Bloggers

1. GMR Transcription

A US-based company that ensures file security. Straight forward rates without hidden charges.

2. Cognoplus

Can be as cheap as 80 US cents per audio minute. No hidden charges. This includes free proofreading, editing, and formatting!  They also offer $30 per day flat rate VA services.

3. Words Wizards

With more than 20 years of presence in the industry, they have established a name for themselves.

4. Do it Now

Based in Australia, they offer a 4-day turnaround for a dollar per minute. You can also have your texts in just a day for 2 dollars per minute.

5. Go Transcript

Your audio files are in good hands with their experienced transcriptionists. They charge 72 US cents per audio minute.

How To Get Cheap Transcription Services

Of course, everyone wants a quality transcript, and it’ll be more amazing if you don’t have to spend a lot to get your hands on it. Beginners usually have a hard time actually finding excellent transcription service on a budget. This article will help you boost your luck in looking for one so you don’t have to resort to making a transcription yourself.

hand dictation

Get A Dictation App

The cheapest option you have when you need to turn speech to text is to head to Play Store or App Store. There are some of them which are for free.

Or you can also take advantage of the free trials they offer. Even if you decide on a paid app, the standard rates are way cheaper than the services of human transcriptionists.

The issue with dictation apps is that you’re lucky if you find one that’s compatible with your recording. You shouldn’t get your hopes high and ask for 100% accuracy.

At best it’ll only be around 80%. Background noise, poor quality audio, multiple speakers, and accent cannot be overcome by automated speech-to-text software resulting in poor transcription.

Dictation app works best when the recording is clean from background noise and the pronunciation of the speakers is well-rounded. Or else, you’ll have to brace yourself on your seats and dedicate some time to edit. Very time consuming if you ask me.

transcription

Compromise between features and security?

You’ve got to make your choice between paying fifty cents or a dollar for a minute of recording. They are set apart by how many features they offer and how much they value security.

You might think that a cheap option will do until you discover that it isn’t exactly cheap. Yes, you may be lured by the cheap price, but that might mean that you’ll be getting the most basic features unless you cough out more money for additional features which are charged separately.

If your recording has only one speaker, then you don’t have to pay more to set the app to identify multiple speakers. They also adjust the price depending on the quality of the audio, accents, and how many speakers there are.

Companies that offer better security charge higher, of course. They promise that your privacy is safe because they have in-house transcriptionists.

Schedule

You save money when you aren’t in a rush to get your hands on your transcripts. Longer turnaround time cuts off the price up to 20% compared to rushed transcriptions.

This is the most helpful tip on this list because you don’t have to compromise quality nor security. If you really want to spend less, you just have to make a schedule.

verbatim dictation

Consider which verbatim is suited for your needs

Intelligent verbatim is a standard in the human transcription industry. This feature eliminates fillers like “uhms” and repetitions along with stutters. If your recording is clear and free from these distractions or you don’t find them necessary in your transcripts, you’ll be saving some money.

A strict verbatim will include every detail. But for those satisfied with basic transcription, you can look for transcription services where summary options are offered.

10 KEYS  TO PROFESSIONAL TRANSCRIPTION QUALITY CONTROL 

Keep the following in mind if you’re manually transcribing your audio files or if you’ve hired someone else to do it for you.

1. Make notes before you start the transcription. Organizing the content and giving a brief description beforehand will make sure the message or ideas get across to your audience.

2. Increase your focus and minimize distractions. It pays off to be well equipped. For instance, the proper type of headphones helps ensure that you are able to listen to what you are transcribing clearly all the time.

3. Steer clear from busy and noisy surroundings. Transcribing in a quiet room eliminates the chances of you getting distracted.

4. Pay attention to source guidelines. Clients do not always give the same set of instructions.

5. Stand from your seat from time to time. Regular breaks will help you be more productive. It can be taxing to sit for hours, and it won’t be long before you start making mistakes.

6. Download software that cleans up the audio. This way you’ll be spending less time analyzing and have a smooth time working.

7. Invest in a good quality keyboard. Keyboards are not made the same. Finding the best keyboard for you will help increase your typing speed.

8. Mind your punctuation. Be sure that you have them where they need to be.

9. Check your grammar all the time.

10. Don’t forget to proofread. You may want to download grammar checkers. Even the best writer needs someone to proofread his/her work. You are more prone to ignore your own grammatical slips, so getting a free app to check your grammar isn’t a bad thing.

transcription scheduling

Conclusion

A professional transcription doesn’t happen overnight. After transcribing for a while, you’ll be able to discover your own style and have a smoother time transcribing. Even a professional was a beginner once.

When you don’t want to transcribe it yourself, you have two options: get an app or hire someone to do it for you. A human transcriptionist is still no match with dictation apps.

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