Transcription

Accurate and professional transcription from market leaders in the industry

Transcribing is a skill which goes beyond just typing what is heard in office dictation.  The art of transcription involves careful listening.  A skilled transcriber turns the spoken word into the written word.

“I like to listen.  I have learned a great deal from listening carefully.”            Ernest Hemingway

Transcribing from an audio recording, where numerous people are speaking at once can be challenging.  There can also be issues such as accents to understand, quiet speakers, plus dealing with common utterances such as ‘um, hmmm, and err’.  Accurately handling these matters takes skill, and often years of practice.  At Alphabet we only work with the best in the business, making sure we deliver a professional transcription service.

How long will it take?

An approximate guideline is to allow 4 to 6 hours to transcribe 1 hour of recording.  However, it’s important to note that this does not take into account issues such as poor audio quality, background noise, heavy accents and the number of people speaking.

The average person speaks much faster than the average typist can type, and if the recording quality is poor, it can delay the process as we have to replay words, sentences and entire paragraphs.  By supplying the best possible recording, you will help avoid any time delays.

We always apply our handy 5 point checklist to ensure that timescales and document production quality is met.

Our checklist includes:

• What is the quality of the recording like: extremely good / good / poor / very poor?
• Would you prefer intelligent or verbatim transcription?
• How many people are speaking on the recording?
• What is the size of your project, and over what time period?
• What is the timescale for delivery?

We recognise that every client is unique and will have completely different needs.  This checklist is just a guide to some of the information that we need to know.  Our approach is consultative, and we always aim to understand your exact criteria, so we deliver the best work possible.