Transcription was a manual tedious process earlier, which has considerably evolved and become more efficient with the availability of transcription software tools. However, for top-quality output, human intervention is vital in transcription. Affordable transcription services are available for business, legal, academic, media, and other such fields that will help improve the efficiency and accuracy of documentation.
In 2020, there are different types of transcription services you can use to turn an audio or video recording into text format. You might be uploading various business recordings that contain sensitive information, or your private voice calls; and there is always one question, is it safe to do so? The answer is a bit complicated; before that you should look at these services, understand how these audio transcription services work, and how your information will be protected.
Audio Transcription Services fall into three groups:
- First, entirely computer-driven and uses existing AI and machine learning models to process the audio conversation.
- Second, where humans do the heavy lifting.
- Third, a combination of computer processing and humans for the transcribing job.
The first one is the transcription service offered by Apple, Google, and Otter.ai. They convert analog waves into a digital presentation. After that, it is broken down into small segments and matched to known “phonemes”, or elements of the selected language. Then these segments are studied by the algorithms and then put them through AI models and statistical models to produce text. Since, this is a computer-driven transcription service that employs algorithm and AI, and also the use of known language for matching, the accuracy might not be as strong especially when the text is extracted from the multi-person or noisy environment.
Human-powered transcription services utilize dedicated platforms like Rev that connects the number of customers to the pre-approved transcribers. Apart from that, you can also hire freelancers for transcribing.
The third one is a combination of humans and computers, where the preliminary work is done using AI, followed by a transcriber’s review.
While you depend on some third-party app for transcribing or even human transcribers, you need to rely on them entirely with your private conversations. As it is a matter of privacy, a common question everyone has is, “is it safe to depend on online transcription service?”
There is no straight answer to this. One thing you can do is, when you are choosing a service, you need to ask two things to yourself. They are:
- How sensitive is your information?
- Whether you trust the service or not?
Consider some important such as the following before hiring the transcription services; it will help you determine whether you can trust the service.
- Perform a research about the company.
- Check whether the company has ever been subjected to any breach.
- Check whether the company is well-established and has a good reputation.
- Is there a privacy policy that specifically defines how your data will be handled and secured?
By choosing a trustworthy transcription company, the privacy of your transcripts is protected. The points below could help you choose the best online transcription service:
- Turnaround time can vary according to project size and any other factors. It can range from a couple of hours to several weeks. You can check when you will receive your transcript.
- Ask for sample transcripts to review the quality and accuracy of their work.
- Check the safety measures they are taking to secure your documents.
- Check for testimonials and reviews of their clients.
- Analyze their customer service.
Though there are many transcription services available online, choosing the right transcription service is vital, because reliable online transcription company ensures not only the accuracy of your transcripts but also the confidentiality at all times. They will create a long-term, positive impact on your business by providing you with secured high-quality transcripts within the deadline.
