What is audio transcription and how is it different from copy typing? Why does transcription cost more than copy typing? Is transcription expensive? Do you need transcription? Many people are confused as to why transcription (audio typing) apparently costs more than copy typing, as both are typing services. This article aims to explain the differences between the two services and what makes up the costs for a transcription service.
What is audio transcription and how is it different from copy typing? Why does transcription cost more than copy typing? Is transcription expensive? Do you need transcription?
Many people are confused as to why transcription (audio typing) apparently costs more than copy typing, as both are typing services. This article aims to explain the differences between the two services and what makes up the costs for a transcription service.
Firstly let’s take copy typing. This normally refers to the typing of written ‘copy’ – this may be a previously typed document (perhaps typed on a typewriter and needing to be input into a Word Processor) or a hand-written document. The cost will vary depending on the ease of readability but with basic copy typing there is no editing or interpretation required; the typist simply types what is written in front of them. The cost of the typing services will vary according to how difficult the writing is to decipher – it will be relatively cheaper if the original document is very clear handwriting or type-written.
Transcription, on the other hand, has no copy for the typist to look at, only an audio recording, which may be an audio tape, video, DVD or audio digital recording. This brings with it a number of issues that copy typing does not have: is the speech clear; is the content comprehensible (e.g. highly technical content might be full of words the transcriptionist is not familiar with); is the recording quality good (e.g. is there any background hiss on the tape or background noise from the surroundings the tape was recorded in); do you need verbatim transcription (word for word with all ‘ums and ers’, speech patterns and fillers such as ‘you know’, ‘know what I mean’ or ‘kind of’ repeated often through the recording; do you want the transcript edited to improve the grammar and sentence structure?
Clearly transcription is much more involved than copy typing. Another thing to bear in mind is that an hour of recording is not equivalent to an hour of transcription time.
Chairing A Meeting For Business - Top Ten Tips
This article provides ten top tips for chairing a meeting. Some may seem obvious but all relate to mistakes I have seen chairpersons make, or made myself!
Transcription – will it be replaced by voice recognition software?
This article indicates a number of reasons why transcription will not be replaced by voice recognition software, at least for the foreseeable future. Well, maybe as a professional transcriptionist I could be considered biased, but there are issues with voice recognition software that I don't think will be solved in the next few years.
Transcription for Oral History Projects – Is It Necessary?
Collecting oral histories has become increasingly popular over the last few years, with the improvements in audio technology allowing good quality digital recordings to be made. Certainly listening to recordings of people reflecting on a specific area of their past is a fascinating experience, and with the improvements in digital technology it is now possible to (relatively) easily edit recordings, but a transcribed written version is still important. This article explains why.
