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Excellent Podcast Transcription Service: How to Find One

Carey — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 20:02:57 +0000

Every law firm, blogger, writer, journalist, real estate firm or company is spoiled for choice when it comes to choosing the right podcast transcription services company.

While there are hundreds of podcast transcription services companies to choose from, not all of them will meet your standards or your needs. That’s the truth.

Some questions that may arise when choosing the right podcast transcription company include:

Whether you are willing and allowed (by law) to outsource (to a podcast transcription services company outside your country) or to use a domestic podcast transcription services company?
Whether to use a podcast transcription company that employs only native speakers or not?
Your primary reason(s) for hiring a podcast transcription company in the first place – whether to reduce cost, workload, stress, working hours, to enjoy a more work-life balance, get more work done, need more expertise in documentation, your required turnaround time (TAT), the level of expertise required, etc.

Before you hire a podcast transcription company, consider all the factors listed above and weigh your options. Below are a few tips to help you choose an excellent podcast transcription services company.

How to Know if its right for you?

1. A podcast transcription service that specializes in your industry.
There are podcast transcription service companies in almost every field. Choose one which specialized in your industry. If you are a law firm choose a legal podcast transcription company. If you are a blogger choose a podcast podcast transcription company or freelance transcriber. This will go a long way in your relationship with each other. The quality of their services will more likely be excellent. Besides, having an in depth knowledge and expertise in your industry, the podcast transcription may be able to add more value.
2. A reliable podcast transcription service company.
A reliable podcast transcription company means one which meets and exceeds your expectations in terms of quality, turn around time (TAT) and volume of output. Check if they can provide services 24/7.
3. One recommended by others.
A podcast transcription company that comes highly recommended by other firms in your industry or colleagues should be considered a potential partner in your business. A reliable podcast transcription firm with a good track record with past and present clients is rare but not impossible to find.
4. Reasonably priced.
A podcast transcription company should be reasonably priced for your business to utilized their services. You should be able to save cost.
5. Podcast transcription service that understands search engine optimization (SEO)
For online content producers, one thing that can never be overemphasized is SEO. A podcast transcription service that understands and implements SEO in the transcripts can go a long way in helping the ranking of its customers.
6. Podcast transcription service with a blog/site and understand online marketing and blogging, naturally.
Personally, I would be hesitant to hire a company that doesn’t understand the field(s) I’m working in. As a content producer that utilizes online marketing techniques, maintains a blog and uses social media I would naturally favor transcription company doing their own online marketing, blogging and social media campaigns.

How to find an excellent podcast transcription firm?

1. Ask around.
Ask others who have used podcast transcription services companies before for their recommendations and tips. Maybe they can even point you to an excellent podcast transcription company.
2. Search online.
Use the Google search and find your industry’s top most podcast transcription company. Contact them and see what they offer. How prompt they respond to your queries is an indication of their customer care services. Most podcast transcription companies have at least a week’s trial period for you to take advantage of. See if they are really up to their claims!

What about you?

How you do find a podcast transcription service company over others? How do you find one that meets your needs and expectations? What would you recommend to other looking for their first podcast transcription company to work with or one looking for a better podcast transcription company? Fire away in the comments!
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Types of Transcription

Carey — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 19:01:59 +0000

Many people I encouter know transcription as medical transcription. No doubt, its the most wellknown one among the different types of transciption services. However, transcription is a lot more than that, and way more diverse.

Types of transcription is generally drawn from the industries they serve. They include:

General Transcription
Legal Transcription
Academic Transcription
Media Transcription
Business Transcription
Speech and Manuscript Transcription
Medical Transcription
Real Estate Transcription

Transcription services are therefore used by:

lawyers
journalists
bloggers
podcasters
talk show hosts
radio show hosts
students
speakers/preachers/pastors
personal investigators
doctors
researchers
writers
CEOs
business owners
(online) entrepreneurs

As such, documents produced by transcribers include:

Letters
Memos
Statements
Medical reports
Survey reports
Site reports
Memos
Lectures
Talk shows
Podcasts
Articles
Blogs posts
Manuscripts
Interviews
Focus Groups
Dissertations
Deposition Reports
Research Reports
Video transcripts
Etc

I hope this gives you a fair overview of the range and scope of transcription.

What is Transcription – The Idiot’s Definition

Carey — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 18:58:39 +0000

According to Wikipedia: Transcription is the conversion into written, typewritten or printed form, of a spoken-language source, as in the proceedings of a court hearing. A transcriptionist is a person who performs transcription.

Simply put, transcription is the process of converting audio/video recordings (dictations) into written text. A transcriptionist is also known as transcriber.

As you can see, this process involves listening to a recorded audio and typing out the text on to a word processor like MS Word (paid software) or OpenOffice (free).

To transcribe a piece of dictation you need both hearing and typing skills. We also need a computer with internet connection to receive the audio/video files, play the audio file, type out the dictation using a word processor, and finally send back the text file.

To transcribe a piece of dictation, one must be able to hear what is being said and, comprehend and understand the subject and context. It’s one to thing to hear every word and be able to type it out and its altogether a different skill to comprehend the context. A transcriptionist must be able to separate the wheat from the chaff. That is to say that, some dictations may include instructions and other details which may or may not be required to be typed up. And, some details may have to be placed in their designated areas of the document. A transcriber should be able to differentiate between instructions and text, and, decide on which is which. It requires a great deal of common sense and practice.

A transcriptionist is not a typist. Trancription is much more than typing. It involves listening to and understanding recorded dictations, it requires an excellent grasp of the English language, grammar and the ability to decipher different accents. A good transcriptionist must have an eye for detail and a huge reserve of patience. He or she must also be very conversant with Microsoft Office or any other alternative. To a transcriptionist Internet is his/her best friend. Researches are done primarily on Internet – addresses , names of companies, schools, names of streets, spellings, etc are confirmed using the Internet.

Transcribing also requires a decent typing speed say, 60 – 100 words per minute. You should be able to use the foot pedal (that plays, rewinds or pauses the audio player) and type at the same time.

Transcriptionist usually work for transcription companies while many chose to work from home as freelance transcriptionist. It’s a very rewarding career. With the ever competitive business environment and cost-cutting being the only business strategy for most law firms, real estate firms, and business houses to stay competitive in their respective markets, transcriptionist will find themselves in huge demand in the coming years.

And if the current trend of blogging for business is to flourish and thrive, or those creative types simply wanting to dedicate more time to creation, there will be millions of individuals (usually those comfortably living in the cloud, as Glen of ViperChill.com would say) who will want to outsource their mundane chores to virtual assistants like transcriptionists!

Hope this is useful to you. If you have any questions or suggestions, please leave them in the comment below. I am always open to your suggestions. Believe me, your comment can improve my work and my life! BTW, if you require a transcriptionist you know where to find me, right? Please share this article if you like it.