What Will My Transcript Look Like?

When first investigating transcription services, most people realize that they aren’t quite sure exactly what their investment in a transcript will deliver.

Following a little bit of investigation, people often become even more confused after seeing the wide variation in pricing. Different transcription companies and different transcription services, so it’s important to know what you’re paying for.

You are likely to wonder, do these price points reflect serious differences in outcome? Will an expensive transcript look different from one that comes at little or no cost?

The quick answer is yes. The price variations reflect differences in the presentation of your transcript as well as the content. Fundamentally, your transcript will be a text-based reflection of your audio recording. However, there’s lot of varietywhen it comes to transcripts. You receive anything from a document that resembles the script of a play, replete with timestamps, notes on tone, laughter and pauses, to a pile of barely legible gibberish.

The reality is that your transcript can look like anything you want, it just comes down to cost. It’s up to you to determine the best transcription solution for your needs. Here are some tips to help you decide the transcript that’s right for you.

Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) Software

The real divide in audio transcription services is between those that rely on human transcribers and those that use automated speech recognition (ASR). Speech-to-text software has come a long way in recent years. As a result, ASR is a viable budget-friendly option for some use-cases. Still, ASR is unable to deliver the same level of quality, consistency or reliability that human-based transcription services offer.

What you get when using ASR programs is also highly dependent on the quality of your audio recording. A high-quality recording of someone speaking slowly and clearly without background noise is likely to produce relatively clean results. Even in those cases, however, ASR alone can’t achieve the level of accuracy necessary for industries like legal. ASR will offer you accurate time-stamping and sometimes has speaker identification features. You’ll be able to go back through and clean up the transcript, but this process can be time-consuming.

ASR services are cheap and some are even free. However, paid services generally deliver slightly better results and offer more security features like encrypted storage. It is, therefore, worth investigating the outcomes firsthand. With a little research, you can get a good sense of ASR outcomes based on different types of audio quality.

Customized Options with Human Transcription Services

Human transcription services are more expensive. You might be able to get lower prices if you are willing to wait for long turnarounds and don’t require things like time-stamping or the identification of speakers. The lowest priced services charge extra for these features. Also, you’ll find variable pricing models based on audio quality and other complicating factors.

If looking for a low-cost human transcription service, audio quality matters almost as much as it does with ASR. The difference, however, is that with human transcription service, poor audio quality will simply drive up costs, not result in poor outcomes. Fundamentally, however, human transcribers can create transcripts in any format you want. The differences are simply a matter of cost.

You will often be able to include specific notes about formatting, important segments of the recording, how you would like speakers identified and anything else you can think of. However, there are three main categories of formatting and level of detail delivered by human transcription services: verbatim, full-verbatim and detailed notes.

Full-Verbatim Transcripts

Full-verbatim transcripts include every detail. These transcripts are the accurate version of what software-based services attempt to deliver.  With full-verbatim you get a word-for-word, exact account of an audio file. For an extra fee, you can get an annotated transcript that includes notes on everything from tone, laughter, pauses and more. Under most circumstances, this type of transcript will be overkill. Not only will it cost more, but it will also result in a transcript that is challenging to read.

Verbatim Transcripts

Verbatim transcripts (also known as intelligent verbatim) are an abridged account of the recording that still delivers details. Standard verbatim transcripts remove redundancies, ‘ums’, ‘errs’ and other quirks of speech that are difficult to read. Transcribers can create a smooth reading experience that still retains a high level of detail and authenticity. Verbatim transcripts are also easier to produce and cost less per minute than full-verbatim transcripts. Verbatim transcripts are the most versatile and popular type of transcript.

Detailed Notes Transcripts

Detailed note transcripts undergo even more editing. For interviews, transcribers will summarize the questions remove all off-topic small talk. You are often able to provide notes on the type of information that is most important, or opt to have segments transcribed with more detail. For instance, you might want to highlight specific quotes or subject matters. Per minute of audio, these are generally the cheapest form of human-based transcription service.

Examples of What Your Transcript Might Look Like

Full-Verbatim Transcript

(00:01)

Reader: This is great (asked incredulously), but, umm (…) what I really need is (..) what, an example would be great. What I need is to be able to look at this as an example (.) I am a visual learner, you know. Abstracted (.) abstract, err, explanations are just not nearly as good at conveying meaning as, as simply being (…) It would be easier if I could just see this in action.

(00:03)

Thomas: No problem! (stated with serious enthusiasm) I can, I can perfectly understand. Full-verbatim transcripts deliver everything that is said, in exact detail.

(00:04)

Reader: I do (..) and speaker identification will cost more?

(00:04)

Thomas: Yeah. And so do the annotations (said with understanding)  — but, what matters is what is important to the end result.

(00:05)

Reader: It would, I understand, it would be more time-consuming to produce. (slight laugh)

(00:05)

Thomas: As you can (.) as you can see, with full-verbatim, full-verbatim transcripts include the complexities of speech and annotations on pauses represented (.)

(00:06)

Reader: Clearly!

(00:06)

Thomas: … by full stops. With simple verbatim, that wouldn’t be there with verbatim. And a detailed notes transcript would be quite different (..) The, the frequency of timestamps and the presence of speaker identification are optional.

Verbatim Transcript

(00:01)

Reader: That is great. But, what I really need is an example. I am a visual learner. Abstract explanations are just not nearly as good at conveying meaning as simply being able to see something in action.

Thomas: No problem, I can perfectly understand. Full-verbatim transcripts deliver everything that is said, in exact detail.

Reader: And speaker identification will cost more?

Thomas: Yeah. And so do the annotations  — but, what matters is what is important to the end result.

(00:05)

Reader: I understand, it would be more time-consuming to produce.

Thomas: As you can see, full-verbatim transcripts include the complexities of speech and annotations on pauses represented by full stops. With simple verbatim, that wouldn’t be there. And a detailed notes transcript would be quite different. The frequency of timestamps and the presence of speaker identification are optional.

Detailed Notes Transcript

(00:01)

Reader: Requests to see examples to better understand

Thomas: No problem, I can perfectly understand. Full-verbatim transcripts deliver everything that is said, in exact detail.

Reader: Speaker identification costs more?

Thomas: Yeah. And so do the annotations  — but, what matters is what is important to the end result. As you can see, full-verbatim transcripts include the complexities of speech and annotations on pauses represented by full stops. With simple verbatim, that wouldn’t be there. And a detailed notes transcript would be quite different. The frequency of timestamps and the presence of speaker identification are optional.

ASR (medium audio quality)

(00:01)

A: This grate butter I rally need is what an example wood be great. What I needle to be able to look at this as an example I am a visual learner you know. Abstracted abstracter explanations art just not nearly as good at conveying means aws, as simple being It would be easy it I cold just see thesis in action.No problem I can can perfect stand. Fuel verbatim transcript deliver anything that is saiding exact detail I do and speaker identification will cost more.

B: yeah and so do the annotations but it just matters on what is important to the end result it wood,

(00:05)

A: It understand it would be more time-consuming to produce.

B: As you can as you can see, with full-verbatim, full-verbatim transcripts include the complexities of speech and annotations on pauses represented clearly by full stops. With smile verbatim, that wouldn’t be there with verbatim. And a detailed notes transcript would be quite different. Tree present of times and speaking identical are operational.

Summary: Your Transcript Can Look Like Anything You Need

Fundamentally, there is a lot of variability in what quality transcription services deliver.

The first decision you need to make is whether or not you can use ASR services and cope with errors or have someone make corrections. There is a huge cost differential, and your willingness to spend time editing can save you a lot of money while still getting accurate transcriptions. With human transcription services, you can get better quality compared with ASR alone.

A good human transcription service not only delivers quality, they also offer options. You can choose levels of detail, getting anything from an annotated verbatim transcript to an edited transcript that solely focuses on the important information. The industry standard, however, is verbatim. These transcripts deliver slightly edited, but much easier to read accounts of the recording. Except in instances where every single hiccup and turn of phrase is crucial, verbatim probably delivers the best value.

Other choices are extras and special requests. Things like timestamps and speaker identification aren’t always included in the base rate. They may be completely unimportant to you or critical to the outcome you need. For specific needs, there are more nuanced choices like the interval length between timestamps. Additionally, some services will allow you to provide names for speaker identification while others simply demarcate differences using generic letters. When it comes to special formatting requests, human transcription services are often the best solution.