Looking for ways to use transcription for your business?
Businesses need every edge to compete in today’s hyper-competitive, convenience-centric, and always-online business landscape. That makes it even more surprising that not all businesses use transcription. With business transcription, you get enhanced accessibility and improved record-keeping.
However, like everything else, not all transcription companies are created equal, and business owners need to consider essential matters before making informed decisions.
In this article, you’ll learn how:
- Business transcription is a more nuanced and involved process that requires expertise and a keen eye for detail.
- Businesses can benefit from transcription in a multitude of ways. Transcripts can improve record-keeping, accessibility, market research, SEO, training, and customer service relations.
- Manual transcription is the gold standard for transcription services; automated tools are way less accurate than your typical human transcriptionist.
The Business Transcription Process
Although it sounds simple, business transcription goes beyond listening and typing simultaneously. So, before we get into the nitty-gritty of things, let’s dive into the nuances of the business transcription process.
| Step | Description | Tools/Requirements |
| 1. Recording | Capture audio or video content during business activities such as meetings, interviews, conferences, etc. | Recording devices (smartphones, digital recorders), video conferencing tools (Zoom, Teams) |
| 2. Quality Check | Ensure the recording is clear and audible. Poor audio quality can significantly impact the accuracy of the transcription. | Audio editing software to enhance clarity, if necessary |
| 3. Transcription | Convert the spoken words from the recording into written text. This can be done manually or with automated speech recognition (ASR) technology. | Human transcribers, artificial intelligence, or automated transcription |
| 4. Editing and Formatting | Review the initial transcription for errors and inconsistencies and ensure it meets formatting requirements. This may involve correcting grammar and punctuation and ensuring terminologies are accurately transcribed. | Editing software, transcription guidelines, or templates |
| 5. Verification | Double-check the transcription against the original recording for accuracy and completeness. This step may involve a different team member to ensure objectivity. | Playback software, detailed review checklist |
| 6. Finalization | Incorporate any corrections or modifications from the verification step and prepare the final version of the transcript. | Text editing software (e.g., Microsoft Word, Google Docs) |
| 7. Delivery | Provide the completed transcription to the client or stakeholders in their preferred format (e.g., PDF, Word document, online platform). | Email, cloud storage (e.g., Dropbox, Google Drive), secure file transfer protocol (FTP) |
| 8. Feedback | Gather feedback from the users of the transcription to improve future transcription processes. | Surveys, direct feedback, performance metrics |
How Business Transcription Can Help You Grow Your Business
Here are some examples of use cases for business transcription:
Meetings, Earnings Calls, And Conference Calls
Many businesses use recording technology to improve their financial performance. That’s why most companies utilize audio or video recordings to create accurate records of meetings, earnings calls, and conference calls.
Business meetings allow for a more collaborative decision-making process where people can brainstorm ideas and business strategies. Investor-related recordings like earnings calls are great sources of information (Not to mention that some companies are required to provide them.)
Now, there’s nothing wrong with audio and video content. Most people who consume such content (like executives, investors, and financial analysts) tend to jump into and are most interested in critical financial data and other important news. They’re busy people, after all, so their time is limited.
Providing transcribed text for earnings calls and business meetings allows potential investors and analysts to access valuable information and important metrics without having to sit and fast-forward through the entire presentation, looking for specific information.
Legal Documentation
Doing business anywhere requires a certain degree of legal legwork. And not to jinx it, but there might come a time when your business is involved in legal proceedings such as depositions, copyright issues, and intellectual property claims.
Again, recordings can help, but transcripts offer a much more accessible and easily organized representation of any legal matters that involve your business. Furthermore, certified transcripts are required for use in court; Ditto can certify our transcripts.
Market Research
Companies spend 5 to 20% of their annual revenue on marketing, so they want every advantage they can get. Transcription for marketing research can be one of those advantages.
With expert transcription, customer interviews, focus groups, and other qualitative data collected can be turned into accurate, easily organized, easily searchable transcripts. These transcripts can smoothen your market research workflow, give you faster access to critical information, provide much-needed transparency in qualitative research work, and give you a more accurate representation of those interviews.
Training And Educational Materials
There are plenty of training sessions, seminars, and workshops for business owners and employees. At least, there should be if you don’t want to stagnate and get left behind by the competition.
These sessions can be recorded, transcribed, and provided to relevant employees and key partners to ensure everyone is updated with the latest information. Additionally, transcripts of various content are easier to distribute and access and can be kept as records for future reference.
Content Creation (Podcasts, Interviews, And More)
These days, businesses don’t create content purely to show how great they are. Companies now employ more subtle and engaging media through content marketing. Doing so provides information or entertainment in different measures to keep audiences (i.e., potential customers) glued long enough so they can slide in their products and services.
Two of the biggest examples I know are “The Message” by General Electric, a podcast highlighting the use of GE technology in a science fiction setting, and “The Sauce” by McDonald’s. (I won’t “spill” that last one.)
In any case, transcription can help improve content in two ways. First, transcripts of audio recordings can be provided to audiences with hearing impairments or those who prefer reading instead of listening. This improves accessibility and allows you to tap into more demographics.
Secondly, transcripts can be repurposed into other forms of content, like blogs, articles, and social media posts. Either way, precious time and resources are saved, you get to cater to a wider audience base, and listeners can consume and understand the content how they want.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) And Keyword Improvement
Another underrated aspect of transcription is its potential SEO boost to your content. As we all know, search engines, like the ever-present Google, crawl through text for ranking purposes. Although one of the best ways to snag your target audience is through video content, aside from the title and metadata – it is largely excluded from that process, though this appears to be changing.
Transcripts can give you that extra ranking boost by providing a complete record of the video or audio—all that juicy, keyword-rich content—for search engines to crawl, on your website. (You’d have to use keywords that are relevant to your topic, but that should come naturally.)
Customer Service Records
Transparency and accountability are held in high regard these days. And, with the ease at which everything is accessed, your business’s customers might expect their records to be fully transparent.
One of the best use cases for this is a customer service call. Audio files can and should be provided upon request—it’s their data, their choice. However, that process can be unwieldy.
Providing transcripts instead of those audio recordings, on the other hand, is better, faster, and more convenient. This can improve customer relationships and can help you grow your business.
Should You Use Automated Transcription Solutions?
We all know that transcribing content can be time-consuming. Even with professional services, the typical transcription process is usually three to four times the length of the recording. In other words, transcribing one audio hour may take three to four hours.
Since time is money, businesses may be tempted to use automated conference call transcription tools. These AI-powered transcription software can provide transcripts in real-time, and they often come cheap.
However, AI transcription is unsuitable for any business process that requires accurate transcription. That’s because automated transcription, speech-to-text programs, and speech recognition technology can only reach 86% accuracy in the best recording circumstances. It’s not exactly ideal if you’re looking to ensure quality.
Besides, while AI might save valuable time initially, fixing and editing the resulting transcripts is surely going to eat up a lot of your man-hours.
Why Outsourced U.S.-based Human Transcriptionists Are The Way To Go
So, the best way to get your transcripts is to enlist the help of a reputable, human-powered, U.S.-based business transcription service provider like Ditto.
Now, some of you might think that’s a big claim since AI is getting better all the time, and offshore providers are often dirt-cheap. However, it’s essential to look at the issue from every side—and let me tell you, every side tells the same story. Let’s talk about it here.
Contextual Understanding
Communication is a messy, messy subject. Despite the relatively advanced state of linguistics these days, it is possible—nay, extremely probable—for humans to misunderstand each other. Please refer to your nearest on-again, off-again relationship for a specific example.
The point I’m driving at is that native speakers usually develop an almost instinctive grasp of language yet still have difficulty communicating efficiently. What more if you throw a non-native speaker or a large language model into the mix?
Non-native transcriptionists will miss important contextual details like implied sarcasm or upfront irony. This can lead to misunderstanding the video or audio content they are transcribing, leading to potential errors.
Similarly, AI works by transcribing what it thinks it hears. It has no concept of context and will just as easily write “there” instead of “their.” Despite all the hype, AI tools cannot transcribe as accurately as humans.
Working with U.S.-based human transcriptionists allows you to sidestep both issues, ensuring accuracy and better service quality.
Ability To Understand Ambiguous Speech And Unfamiliar Accent
Non-standard accents are to be expected when transcribing video and audio content. Non-native speakers and natural language processing software will have difficulty handling such cases if they’re unfamiliar or, in AI’s case, not trained with the accent.
Experienced transcriptionists will be exposed to different accents throughout their careers, making it easier to accurately understand and transcribe audio and video content.
Furthermore, transcribers can also use context to generate transcripts faster. The best example of this is a human’s innate ability to guess the next words a speaker would say based on the subject matter and what is currently being said. With professional U.S.-based transcriptionists like the ones who work with us here at Ditto Transcripts, this skill is dialed up to ten, making them faster and more efficient.
Specialized Knowledge
Business events and encounters can cover a wide range of topics. A production company can hold conferences about its latest line of medical equipment, which would inevitably lead to conversations using specialized medical terminology. Businesses commonly hold conference calls to discuss their current and future earnings, including terms like P/E ratio, EPS, dividend yields, and more.
To the uninitiated, some of these medical and financial terms may sound like Greek—not an ideal situation for transcriptionists to find themselves in.
Using transcription services with proven experience across industries can ensure that accuracy will be maintained despite the diverse topics your recordings may involve.
Privacy, Security, And Discretion
Here in the U.S., we have government agencies and regulations like HIPAA and CJIS to ensure confidential data is kept confidential.
That might not be the case in other countries, as the issue of data security is different worldwide.
And don’t get me started on AI. These platforms are practically gold mines for information hackers. They’re susceptible to social engineering attacks, data poisoning, model inversions, and lateral bypasses through support systems.
Your best bet is to enlist the help of a secure transcription provider. Ditto, for example, is FINRA, HIPAA- and CJIS-compliant, meaning we provide elevated security measures lightyears beyond your typical birth year password and dog’s name combo.
Ditto Is The Premier Choice For Business Transcription Services
The truth is, anyone with a computer and headphones can offer business transcription. However, not everyone can provide accurate and high-quality transcription as we do.
With Ditto, you know you’re working with professional transcriptionists who understand the English language better than most. All our services come with our 99% accuracy guarantee, high-quality transcription, secure channels, and the best customer service in the industry. Contact us today and see the difference.
Ditto Transcripts is a FINRA, HIPAA, and CJIS-compliant Denver, Colorado-based business transcription services company that provides fast, accurate, and affordable transcripts for individuals and companies of all sizes. Call (720) 287-3710 today for a free quote, and ask about our free five-day trial.