Have you noticed that just about everything is going digital? Thanks to recent advances in technology, digital tools are playing an integral role in the day-to-day operations of businesses in practically every industry. The same can be said for artificial intelligence, which has recently made headlines worldwide. Estimates indicate that roughly 35% of businesses already integrated some artificial intelligence into their workflows, and more are exploring how to implement AI in the future.
One such process that technological advancements are revolutionizing is transcription. Previously, those looking to transcribe live or recorded audio would need to do so manually, which could be tedious. In recent years, however, technology has made it possible to streamline the transcription process while improving the overall accuracy of final transcript files. This digital transcription approach enables businesses to scale their transcription offerings and provide more accurate, equitable records of content and communications.
What is digital transcription?
Fundamentally, transcription is the process of converting audio to text. In a traditional transcription approach, individual transcribers listen to audio recordings repeatedly and manually transcribe every word and sound. Accuracy is paramount when creating transcripts, so manual transcription projects often require significant time to complete. As a result, real-time communications like conference calls and live events can be challenging to transcribe using traditional transcription methods. During live calls, transcribers lose the ability to pause and rewind a recording.
Digital transcription uses technology to streamline the traditional transcription process. Tools like advanced software programs and high-tech equipment can help transcribers and consumers achieve greater accuracy rates and improve their efficiency. Therefore, switching to a digital transcription solution saves business leaders valuable time and resources. This modern approach can also make it easier for transcriptionists to complete large-scale projects.
Who uses digital transcription?
Many industries rely on digital transcription to support their businesses. Here are just a few examples.
Transcription in the legal industry
The legal industry relies on transcription to preserve important records from legal proceedings, depositions and more. Many in the legal profession are turning to digital tools to support their work.
Educational uses for transcription
While students may rely more often on captioning in the classroom, transcription also plays a vital role. Transcripts are a good study tool, especially for students with learning disabilities that may impact their notetaking or attention spans.
Market research transcription
Market researchers use transcripts of their interviews to review and glean important information. Searchable transcripts can also help these professionals pull essential parts of an interview for future purposes.
Marketing and SEO uses for transcription
Today’s marketers use video and audio content, like podcasts, to promote products and services. By transcribing their audio, marketers can also allow this content to support their search engine optimization (SEO) strategies. Search engines can’t “crawl” audio, but transcripts allow this content to influence a website’s search position.
What equipment supports digital transcription?
Modern transcriptionists have several digital tools to help them accurately transcribe live and recorded content. It’s important to note that digital transcription differs from digital dictation, which requires using a recording device known as a Dictaphone. In practice, creating transcripts from recordings using devices other than a Dictaphone is possible. Video cameras, cell phones, and wireless microphones all have recording capabilities. Here are a few other kinds of digital transcription equipment professional transcribers often use:
High-speed computers
Transcribers need to invest in high-speed computers capable of processing high volumes of audio and video files. These computers can run advanced transcription software with minimal lag time.
Foot pedals
Many transcribers use a foot pedal to stop and start audio recordings during the transcription process. Using a foot pedal allows a transcriber to keep both hands on their keyboard at all times rather than constantly clicking and scrolling to pause or play the audio.
Ergonomic keyboards
Transcriptionists often spend several hours listening to recordings and transcribing their audio. Transcribers need to use computer keyboards that reduce strain on the fingers, hands, arms and shoulders. An ergonomic keyboard helps to encourage healthier body mechanics and helps prevent transcribers from developing conditions like carpal tunnel syndrome.
Transcription software
Transcribers want to use professional transcription software that makes it easy to navigate audio recordings while simultaneously typing a transcript. These software solutions should be compatible with a transcription foot pedal for increased speed and efficiency.
How does digital transcription work?
There are many different digital transcription solutions that support recorded content, live events and real-time communications. Some digital types of transcription rely solely upon artificial intelligence to convert audio to written text. While this type of digital transcription software can create transcripts in just a few minutes, these final transcripts tend to contain substantial errors.
Because many individuals with disabilities rely upon transcripts, written transcripts must achieve high rates of accuracy that support accessibility standards and guidelines. AI-generated transcripts generally fall short of these required accuracy rates. As a result, business leaders must consider other digital transcription options for their accessibility initiatives.
Verbit’s unique approach to digital transcription
Other digital transcription solutions, like those offered by Verbit, combine artificial intelligence software with traditional manual transcription approaches to maximize accuracy without compromising efficiency. Verbit’s digital transcription process looks like this:
- Step 1: A user uploads an audio or video recording to Verbit’s platform.
- Step 2: The recording is automatically transcribed by advanced AI transcription software.
- Step 3: A professional human transcriber reviews and edits the AI-produced transcript.
- Step 4: The final transcript becomes available for download in the user’s desired transcription format.
This dual approach to transcription harnesses the speed and efficiency of artificial intelligence in conjunction with the accuracy of traditional transcription methods. Verbit also offers several, such as call transcription, conference transcription and meeting transcription. These live transcription services can be used for in-person and virtual communications to provide equitable experiences for all attendees.
Verbit recognizes the growing need for digital accessibility tools and constantly develops new solutions to help business leaders offer comprehensive and accurate transcription at scale. If you’re interested in learning more about how Verbit can help you expand your transcription capabilities, reach out today to speak to a member of our team.