5 Tips to Save Time and Money on Academic Transcriptions


5 Tips to Save Time and Money on Academic Transcriptions
Beth Worthy

Beth Worthy

10/6/2020

Academic transcription is a tool to help students and professors with their courses. It helps students focus more on the topic, and they can easily review the lecture. Professors can also go back to their lectures and review it to check if they have missed any important points. It is beneficial for both teachers and students, especially in higher education.

Why is Academic Transcription Important?

Lectures or discussions of postgraduate or Ph.D. students include a lot of essential data that helps in one’s academic career. Often students or teachers record their lectures, so they can refer to it later. However, when it comes to going back to the recording to clarify or find specific information, it can be a daunting task to hear the entire recording all over again. This is where academic transcription can help save your time.

There are many professional transcription service companies in the market. They can help convert the recordings into transcripts to help you easily access the data or information that you want to look for in your recordings. But these professional transcription service providers can be very expensive, especially for students. Transcribing the recordings on your own can be very time-consuming.

So, how do we save time and money on academic transcriptions? Here’s a quick guide to help you solve this problem for better:

1. Save Time by Working with a Transcriptionist

Transcribing audios yourself is not as easy as it sounds. You may think you just have to listen to the audio and type it down. However, this easy sounding task may take hours of listening, paying attention to audio, and typing the content, as we don’t type at the same speed as we talk. Even if you have good typing skills, you may need to go back and forth an audio clip to make sure you didn’t miss out on anything or to correct the typing errors.

You don’t have to do all of this yourself as there are experts available to transcribe for you. People who professionally transcribe have the skill and equipment that makes it easier for them to do the job. Not just that, their accuracy rate is also higher than someone who’s not an expert in this field. It’s best to save yourself some time and get the job done by an expert transcriptionist.

2. Recording Quality Matters

A good quality recording helps save time and money even if a professional is transcribing. If your recording is of bad quality, transcription services may charge you extra. Make sure you have a sound quality recording by:

  • Sitting in a quiet environment.
  • Doing a couple of test recordings before the actual one.
  • Using good quality and keeping the microphone closer.
  • Using a good quality platform to record, like Zoom or Skype.
  • Using a suitable or high-quality recording app or digital recorder.

3. Decide between Freelancer or Professional

You can always choose between a freelancer and a professional company to transcribe your recordings. A freelancer is capable of completing the job, but professional transcription companies make sure that a transcriptionist and a proofreader work together to deliver higher accuracy on every recording. Make your call wisely!

4. Communicate Clearly

As a client, it’s always better to communicate your requirements. Communicate what’s required out of recording, which format you want the recording in, i.e., word or pdf, and the deadline for the transcription along with any other requirement. Providing these instructions beforehand will save a lot of time and money. If you have a deadline to stick to, you must confirm a deadline with the transcription service company you have opted to work with. Remember, a vague timeline may not get you satisfactory results.

5. Convert Video to Audio

It’s always best to convert videos to audios for transcription as it can be uploaded quickly. No matter how good your internet is, uploading a video will take longer than uploading audio. Save time by converting the video to audio beforehand. You can use various free online apps to convert a video to audio.

These are the five ways to save time and money while getting your academic transcriptions done. Consult a leading Transcription services company for more information on academic transcriptions.


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Beth Worthy

Beth Worthy

Beth Worthy is the Cofounder & President of GMR Transcription Services, Inc., a California-based company that has been providing accurate and fast transcription services since 2004. She has enjoyed nearly ten years of success at GMR, playing a pivotal role in the company's growth. Under Beth's leadership, GMR Transcription doubled its sales within two years, earning recognition as one of the OC Business Journal's fastest-growing private companies. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her husband and two kids.