Cracking The Myths of Transcription Services [Infographic]

Most people have a general misconception regarding transcription services; that it’s merely typing work that doesn’t require much intelligence or hard work. However, that’s far from true. Here are the seven most common transcription myths, busted:

1. Audio files are crystal clear and easily transcribed

Except on rare occasions, most transcriptionists struggle with poor audio quality, background noise, heavy accents, and multiple speakers talking at the same time. This means that a transcriber now needs to spend hours slowly deciphering what was really said.

2. Differentiating between two or more speakers is simple

Transcriptionists know from experience how difficult it is to separate the speakers’ voices when they are digitally recorded and unfamiliar. Even slight interference with the sound makes a speaker’s identification nearly impossible. Lack of contextual information, can further complicate the job of a transcriber.

3. Transcribing doesn't need too much focus because it’s just typing in verbatim

Quite the contrary. Transcription requires high concentration for many hours. It needs active listening to decipher and accurately convert language from the spoken word to text.It calls for the ability to think critically and a high proficiency in language skills including: grammar, punctuation, and spelling. This is a skilled and challenging task, as you can see.

Also Read: Top 3 Transcription Myths Shattered

4. One hour of audio takes only one hour to transcribe

It always takes more time to accurately transcribe an audio file compared to its duration because a transcriber needs to pause, format, spell check, proofread, review, and research, many times throughout the transcription process.

5. You only need to hear the audio once to accurately transcribe

Again, far from true, as transcriptionists need to replay recordings multiple times to correctly listen to and understand the terms and the context surrounding it.

6. Proofreading Is Simple and Can be Done Quickly

Proofreaders can get just as strained as the transcriptionists and face potential delays, faced with poor audio quality. They also bear the pressure and the responsibility of taking a final call on the transcription quality.

7. Formatting the document is pretty straightforward

Each client’s requirements vary. Some formatting requirements are quite complex with numbering systems, line breaks, headers, and footers, etc. This means that each transcription is unique and requires a new layout every time.

Conclusion

As you can see, transcription is a lot more challenging than what you may have initially presumed, as there are some many different facets to it, calling for divergent skill sets. But a rewarding career ahead makes it all the more worthwhile.

Related Read: How to Choose the Best Transcription Service for Your Business