In offices around the world, professionals are communicating across an ever-growing number of platforms. Web-conferencing apps, project management platforms, social media networks and even media hosting sites like YouTube are becoming common fixtures for those who work in the office, as well as those who work from home.
As businesses find new ways of sharing information, ensuring that professional communications remain inclusive and accessible to everyone is critical. Offering transcripts of business communications like webinars, lectures, events and meetings can help to support the needs of team members who are Deaf or hard of hearing. Additionally, those with neurodiverse conditions and other learning needs benefit from these solutions. However, not every company has the know-how or resources to tackle its transcription efforts in-house. That’s why savvy business leaders are outsourcing transcription projects to professional transcription services.
How business transcription works
Transcription refers to the process of converting audio to text. For instance, it’s possible to generate transcripts from audio and video recordings as well as real-time communications. Transcripts can serve as an easily accessible written record of both in-person and online communications.
The two main styles of transcription are verbatim and non-verbatim. Verbatim transcripts are a word-for-word account of every audio component of a recording or live discussion. Verbatim transcripts will represent all spoken text, including stammers, repeated words and pauses. These transcripts will also account for non-speech audio elements like laughter and throat-clearing.
Non-verbatim transcripts, on the other hand, undergo an editing process. The editors eliminate any audio components that don’t directly contribute to the main idea of the discussion. These transcripts often support students in educational settings. A non-verbatim transcript serves as a useful summary of a lecture or class discussion because it streamlines the main points. These transcripts may prove convenient and helpful in some settings, such as for study tools. However, they aren’t the best option for accessibility purposes because they don’t accurately depict every element of recordings or conversations.
What is transcription outsourcing?
Transcription outsourcing allows business leaders to scale their transcription efforts without depleting in-house resources. Essentially, rather than asking an existing employee to manually transcribe a Zoom meeting or conference call, businesses can outsource transcription projects to a third-party transcription service. By taking these steps, it’s possible to ensure the job gets done quickly, efficiently and correctly.
Benefits of professional transcribers
Business leaders can choose between working with individual professional transcribers or working with a full-scope transcription provider like Verbit. Individual professional transcribers are usually well-trained and are typically able to deliver projects that achieve extremely high levels of accuracy. However, these individuals tend to be expensive to hire. It’s important to carefully consider how such solutions fit into a project’s budget. Furthermore, these professionals may be somewhat limited in the amount of work they can take on. Large-scale projects may require a substantial amount of time to complete or a different solution altogether.
Scalable transcription solutions
Transcription services like Verbit streamline the transcription process by combining the accuracy of human transcribers with the efficiency of artificial intelligence. Verbit offers an easy-to-use software platform that enables clients to bulk-upload video and audio recordings for transcription. Once a recording is uploaded to the platform, it will be initially transcribed by an advanced form of artificial intelligence. The transcript will then undergo reviewing and editing by one of Verbit’s professionally trained human transcribers. Finally, Verbit will make that transcript available for the client to download in a number of different file formats. Verbit’s searchable transcription format also allows users to type in specific keywords and navigate to corresponding locations within a recording.
In addition to audio and video recording transcription, Verbit also offers a number of software integrations. These features make it easy to provide real-time transcription during live communications on platforms like Zoom and WebEx. Live transcription supports the real-time engagement of team members with disabilities and can help to ensure equitable experiences.
Why outsource transcription services?
There are many reasons why a company may prefer to outsource transcription work. Working with a professional transcription service offers many potential benefits.
Time-savings
Attempting to complete transcription projects manually can be extremely tedious and time-consuming, particularly for individuals without professional transcription training. Verbit’s transcription process can be completed in as little as four hours and requires minimal client intervention. As a result, Verbit enables professionals to re-invest that time into other endeavors.
Reliable accuracy
Many industry professionals choose to outsource medical transcription and other forms of technical transcription because they know that accuracy is a non-negotiable for their projects. However, leaders in every industry must consider the accuracy of their transcripts. This is because transcripts must achieve exceptionally high levels of accuracy to adequately support accessibility standards and guidelines. Untrained transcribers are prone to making a substantial number of transcription errors which can compromise messaging and fall short of accessibility requirements. These errors must then undergo additional reviews and edits. This process monopolizes additional resources and adds more time to the project.
Better engagement
In addition to improving accessibility for those with disabilities, transcribing business communications can improve engagement for all employees. With an estimated 26% of employees working remotely in the US, it’s important for business leaders to find ways of streamlining communications across all platforms. With employees tuning in for business meetings from all over the world, transcription can help to safeguard against challenges such as background noise, poor audio quality and spotty internet connections.
Scale up your transcription efforts with Verbit
Verbit is a trusted provider of transcription services for a wide range of industries. With its user-friendly platform, Verbit makes quick work of even large-scale transcription projects. Business leaders can partner with Verbit to scale their accessibility initiatives without compromising on cost, accuracy or turnaround time.
In addition to transcription services, Verbit also offers captioning, translation and audio description. Professionals working with Verbit can tailor their accessibility offerings to the unique needs of their teams and clients. Reach out to learn more about working with Verbit to make your business communications more inclusive, accessible and engaging.