Factors Influencing the Time Required Completing a Transcription

It is an accepted fact that you speak four times faster than you can type as well as seven times faster than you probably can write. A minimum of one hour is usually required to convert an audio file of 15 minutes into text format. Considering this, it takes least time of 4 hours to translate a recording of one hour. For both, the client and the transcriber, dealing with a high quality recording is of utmost importance. No transcriptionist would like to work with poor quality recording. Moreover, with an inaudible file, most part of the conversation remains unheard. When taking about the time required transcribing any recording, below mentioned are the factors that influence the length of time period.

Quality and format of recording

Digital recordings are considered to generate more clear files as compared to analogue recordings like micro cassettes or audio tapes. Minidiscs are also considered to produce better results than a tape. Thus, it is wise not to use a cheap recorder as it can deteriorate the quality of audio file. This further result in more efforts and time required for the transcription of the file. Not only this, you might be charged more for a poor quality file. Hence, in order to save your money and time, make sure to use a good quality recorder.

Clarity and number of people in the conversation

If the voice of the speaker is hard to hear, either because he is far away from the microphone or because he speaks too slowly or too quietly, it becomes difficult for the professional to perform his job. Recordings related to meetings, group discussions and roundtable discussions are even more challenging because of multiple people involved in the conversation. Thus, the more the number of people in the discussion, the more time consuming it becomes to recognize the exact words and the more time it takes to convert the audio or video file into documents.

Is there a need to identify the speakers?

When an audio file contains conversation between small groups, identification of speakers is easy. However, in case of meetings, where a large number of people are involved in the conversation, it gets challenging for the transcriptionist to identify the voices, especially when he is hearing them for the first time. In such a scenario, time required to complete the job of transcription is also more.

How fast people speak

If a person speaks faster, the time required to transcribe his speech is longer than the one who speaks slowly. For an instance, if a first speaker talks slowly for one hour, the transcription would probably be 10,000 words long and when another speaker, who speaks at a relatively faster rate, speaks for the same duration of time, that is, for an hour, the transcription might include 16,000 words. Thus, a fast talker generates more words and longer time is required to convert the audio file into a text format.

So, when outsourcing transcription services, make sure to have good quality files with clear description of speakers so as to expect fast and accurate results in addition to avoid paying more for the services.

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