What is a Voice Transcriber & When You May Need One

Whether it’s recording voice notes to reference later or capturing recordings of live meetings and events, more professionals are turning to voice transcribers to make these recordings more actionable. Voice transcription involves taking what was spoken or dictated and turning it into text transcripts for later use. 

Professionals are finding that voice transcription provides an easy, faster way to dissect what was said in longer audio recordings. A professional voice transcriber can convert spoken language into written text much faster than manual efforts of jotting things down can.

When accuracy is paramount in business conversations when numbers, legal information or sensitive data is being shared, using a professional voice transcriber increases your chances of receiving an accurate text version of spoken communication you can rely on. These transcripts being generated are often shared among teammates to improve productivity and efficiency.  

Let’s explore how a voice transcriber works and the various solutions available to you.

How does a voice transcriber work?

  

It’s possible to transcribe audible speech into text manually, but unless you’re a trained professional, it’s a time-intensive process and you’re likely to make mistakes. Since most voice transcriber solutions are inexpensive and readily available, professionals are turning to them to produce transcripts that make their information and conversations more accessible and manageable. 

Professional transcriber services 

Professional transcription services, such as Verbit Go, use skilled transcribers to deliver accurate transcripts. As experts, the transcribers can produce a transcript much quicker than the average person. Not only can they type upwards of 65 words per minute, but they also possess excellent listening and language skills. 

The human touch provides greater accuracy than automated solutions. Expert transcribers can apply additional context to the content they are listening to and more easily adapt to poor audio quality, accented speech and multiple speakers, all of which are common in business settings. 

Speech-to-text solutions 

In addition to human-led voice transcriber options, there are also technology-powered voice transcriber solutions. These solutions use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to convert speech into text automatically. Speech recognition and natural language processing (NLP) collectively enable the software to recognize and transform speech into text. The accuracy levels tend to be lower, but machine learning is used to improve the process and accuracy levels over time.

Speech-to-text transcription technology can be appealing as it offers rapid turnaround times and low costs. However, the accuracy levels delivered by fully automated solutions are still below the demands of most business users. What’s more, the accuracy levels are affected by the quality of the audio used. Poor quality audio from Zoom calls, multiple speakers often talking over one another and complex, industry-specific language can lower the accuracy levels further.  

Hybrid solutions 

Many professionals also turn to hybrid solutions which use expert transcribers to correct transcripts that are initially produced by automatic speech recognition (ASR). Hybrid services can be a helpful, cost-effective option if you’re under a tight budget or deadline and when using a human-only method isn’t an option.  

Regardless of which voice transcription solution you use, understanding the accuracy you’ll receive versus what steps you’ll have to take to achieve the accuracy needed is important. 

The benefits of using a voice transcriber solution 

Transcribing your speech into text has many organizational benefits. It helps to make your conversations internally and externally more accessible and actionable. 

Making your content more searchable

Having a transcript of your meeting or conversations allows for it to be easily searched and scanned. Verbit Go and others take it one step further by including speaker identification and timestamps with the transcript. This feature helps users quickly navigate to the exact moment in an audio or video file they are interested in referencing.  

When you want to share content publicly – such as podcasts or interviews – uploading transcripts also helps your content to become more discoverable. Search engines, like Google, can’t scan video or audio, but they can scan transcripts and increase your placements for improved search engine optimization (SEO). Adding transcripts for podcasts, vlogs, and other content can boost your SEO efforts and help more people find your content.  

Increasing the accessibility of your company and brand 

Providing more inclusive experiences for employees and other users is a growing concern for business leaders, which transcribing services can help to address. Transcripts help make content and live events more accessible to various users, increasing reach and aiding comprehension.  

Transcripts are also the starting point in creating captions and subtitles, which help users who are Deaf, hard of hearing or have other learning needs to access and understand the content. A transcript can also be helpful for the many users who choose to watch content with the sound off or on mute. In addition, people whose first language isn’t English also find transcripts a helpful tool to aid their understanding.

Streamlining your workflows

Business leaders continually seek ways to boost productivity and turn to transcription to improve workflow efficiency. Using a specialist service for transcription tasks can save time and money by reducing manual tasks and making it easier for professionals to work and manage the vast amount of audio and video content within organizations.  

Many services and tools provide bulk transcription capabilities, which can be particularly useful for users with large volumes of content to transcribe. Transcription services also offer a range of options to cater to the wide variety of content and needs of professionals. For example, Verbit Go offers verbatim word-for-word transcripts, concise meeting minutes and live notetaking for when recording isn’t suitable. 

Users can only experience the full benefits of transcribing content when the transcript is accurate. Mistakes in transcripts can make them challenging to use, lead to misunderstandings or cause embarrassment for brands. For example, typos can look unprofessional, especially for customer-facing content. Correcting errors can be a drain on resources and take time to do. 

Professionals across various industries use voice transcribing solutions to improve information accessibility and boost productivity, but accuracy remains a critical factor.

Applications of voice transcription across industries 

The many use cases of voice transcription for businesses are becoming well known. Having customer support calls, internal Zoom meetings, interviews and marketing materials such as podcasts and webinars transcribed is proving to be incredibly helpful, plus making these items accessible to individuals with disabilities, such as those who are Deaf or hard of hearing. However, there are some noteworthy industry applications that are more specific as well.

Transcription for Healthcare 

Doctors and healthcare professionals can focus and engage with patients more by recording appointments and consultations. Transcribing these recordings makes them easier to reference later, as well as helps with record-keeping. 

Accurate transcripts are essential in the medical field. They provide a valuable account of events that can be shared among relevant professionals, plus they remove the need for colleagues to try and interpret handwritten notes. More medical professionals are opting to dictate notes to keep their hands free, so transcribing them from a recording is proving to be highly useful and easy. 

As medical conversations include sensitive and highly personal information, professionals must be sure that however they’re choosing to transcribe their work, they make sure the transcription partner they’re using provides accurate results, as well as uses a secure platform to do so. Verbit Go provides secure transcription, which is ideal for sensitive and confidential content. 

Transcription for Legal 

Legal professionals submit transcripts of a wide variety of content alongside the original footage as digital evidence. This content can include bodycam footage, court hearings, interview recordings and more. Users can search and review content transcripts more efficiently using the text version. As you might expect, the highest levels of accuracy are vital in legal settings. 

Transcription for Market Research 

Researchers conduct an important aspect of market research through interviews and observation, often recording focus groups and in-depth interviews for reference. Researchers gain an accurate record of the conversation by using a voice transcriber. The text version helps to speed up their analysis and aids collaboration with their team. Using a voice transcriber also frees up the researcher during the sessions, allowing them to fully focus on the participants and not be distracted by taking notes.

Transcription for Education  

Research has also shown that transcripts aid in student engagement, comprehension and improved retention of information, which can all lead to greater student success. With voice transcription of lectures and university events, all students can be provided with a helpful resource. Transcription can also provide equity to students with disabilities who rely on them. Students who are Deaf, hard of hearing, have learning disabilities or are neurodivergent can all benefit from the transcription of their courses. Plus, transcripts can be helpful for students who are learning in a non-native language by providing them with the text of what was said. 

Transcription for Journalism  

Transcripts of interviews allow journalists to search and find quotes from their recordings in text format quickly. In journalism, it’s essential that quotes from sources remain intact word-for-word. Working with a professional voice transcriber or software can ensure subjects are accurately quoted before moving to publication in print and online.  

Considering how you will use a transcript can help to identify the best voice transcriber solution for you. 

Choosing the right voice transcriber: Factors to consider 

The voice transcriber selection process can be tricky with so many options available. The quality of the transcript, your deadlines and your budget are all important considerations. How you plan to use a transcript also plays a critical role. If you need a transcript for personal reference purposes, some errors in the text might be acceptable. However, if you need a transcript for accessibility purposes, regulations require transcripts to be at least 99% accurate. In most cases, when transcribing in a professional environment, accuracy is paramount, and users turn to dedicated services, such as Verbit Go, to deliver highly reliable outputs. 

Accuracy is just one consideration.  User-friendliness, customer support, security, customization and integration capabilities should also be considered when selecting a transcription provider.  

Depending on your needs, language support may also be a consideration. As businesses become more international, there’s a greater need to transcribe content into multiple languages. Working with a partner who can deliver transcripts and also translate them for you accurately is another helpful element. 

As your priorities change and technology advances, it’s important to keep pace with the human voice transcriber and AI solutions available to you.    

Voice transcriber technologies: Current trends and future predictions 

While voice transcription is not new, how it’s being applied continues to change. It’s clear that the accuracy of the transcripts will continue to remain the key consideration and differentiator of different solutions available. 

AI’s application in the transcription space is increasing the ability of more professionals who are working with smaller budgets to produce transcripts.  Technology advancements are continuing to reinvent how transcripts are produced and provide additional add-ons. For example, Verbit has launched a generative AI tool called Gen.V, which summarizes full transcripts, identifies headlines and recognizes helpful keywords. In this way, transcription solutions are doing more than just producing the transcript output. Instead, they’re beginning to replace tasks that a human would typically complete. In this way, users can experience the substantial positive voice transcription impact has on productivity. 

As business leaders embrace technology adoption, choosing the right voice transcriber solution that allows them to benefit from the latest transcription trends without compromising on quality is vital. Verbit Go serves as a trusted partner for busy professionals who need highly accurate transcripts with guaranteed turnaround times and a secure platform. Our range of services has been designed to eliminate the need for you to do any manual editing. So, whether you need a timestamped word-for-word output with the speakers identified or concise meeting meetings, we have a solution to meet your needs. To discover our services, contact us today.