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Thinking of VIQ Solutions? Why You Might Want to Think Again

An image depicting VIQ solutions vs Ditto Transcripts An image depicting VIQ solutions vs Ditto Transcripts

Have you ever wondered how court hearings, insurance claims, or police interviews become written transcripts? Transcription companies typically provide these services at scale, and certain companies like VIQ Solutions offer AI-powered transcription services that promise all the speed and computing power their clients need. 

However, is VIQ all it’s cracked up to be? Let’s examine the service’s finer details and see how Ditto Transcripts compares. 

In this review, you’ll learn:

  • Employee reviews on Glassdoor and Indeed highlight VIQ Solutions’ flexible remote work as a positive but cite low pay, inconsistent workload, and limited career growth as negatives.
  • The company’s AI transcription technology claims high accuracy. However, the effectiveness varies depending on audio quality and specific use cases.
  • Scam Detector has flagged VIQ Solutions with a low trust score of 12.7/100. It cites potential phishing risks and association with suspicious sites.

Who is VIQ Solutions?

VIQ Solutions is a digital content management company focused on transcription and other documentation services. Founded in 2004, it has positioned itself at the intersection of AI and content processing.

VIQ targets industries that deal with large volumes of data, such as the legal, criminal justice, insurance, and healthcare sectors. Although the company uses AI-powered solutions, the effectiveness of its technology can vary depending on specific use cases.

Another notable fact about VIQ Solutions is that it’s a publicly traded company on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the NASDAQ.

Primary Services Offered by VIQ Solutions

VIQ Solutions uses AI tools and human expertise to provide transcription services across industries. Their service platforms, such as FirstDraft and NetScribe, offer automated options and claim high accuracy while maintaining data security. Some of their primary offerings are listed below.

Service CategoryDescription
Court TranscriptionProvides digital court recording and transcription services for legal proceedings.
Law EnforcementTranscription and evidence management services tailored for police departments and investigative units.
Insurance TranscriptionSpecialized transcription for claims processing and underwriting.
Government ServicesSpeech-to-text solutions for local, state, and federal governments.
Corporate & FinanceConversion of meetings, earnings calls, and presentations into actionable transcripts.
Media BroadcastingTranscription and captioning for broadcast networks.
Translation ServicesOffers translation and transcription in multiple languages.

VIQ Solutions Employee Reviews

Let’s jump to what employees (or former employees) think of VIQ Solutions. The information below is taken from Indeed and Glassdoor. Spoiler alert: it isn’t the most delightful.  

Glassdoor Overview

First, let’s talk about the positive and negative sides of the picture.

Positive Aspects:

  • Work Environment: Reviews often highlight a flexible work environment, especially for transcriptionists and remote employees.
  • Remote Work: Many employees appreciate the work-from-home opportunities.
  • Team Dynamics: Good teamwork and a supportive environment in certain roles or departments are mentioned.

Awesome, right? Now, let’s move to the not-so-pretty ones. 

Negative Aspects:

  • Career Growth: A common complaint involves limited career advancement opportunities.
  • Pay Issues: Some grievances relate to compensation not meeting expectations or being inconsistent.
  • Workload Variability: Employees note that the workload can be unpredictable, which impacts income stability, particularly in contract positions.

To add up, 48% of employees who gave their feedback said they would recommend the company to a friend. I don’t know about you, but that percentage doesn’t look pretty to me.

Overall Rating: VIQ Solutions averages 3 out of 5 stars from employee reviews.

Indeed Highlights

We’re not sure; someone from Glassdoor might have a personal grudge against VIQ Solutions. 

So, I scraped the internet to find a different perspective about the company, and voila! I found VIQ Solutions employee reviews from Indeed. There was a lot to unpack:

  • Remote Work Benefits: For some, working remotely and having a flexible schedule is a positive aspect. Legal transcriptionists, in particular, sometimes highlight the autonomy of working at their own pace as a main benefit.
  • Low Pay and Inconsistent Workload: Low compensation is a frequent complaint among transcriptionists and remote employees. Many workers also report fluctuations in available assignments, which, of course, makes it challenging to maintain a steady income.
  • Challenging Software and Processes: Employees often describe VIQ’s software as outdated or clunky, with many crashes. One even mentions that changes to the system lead to inefficiencies, with improvements offset by new issues.
  • Management and Communication Issues: Workers cited poor communication between departments and within teams. Some report challenges when trying to address concerns or push for workflow improvements.

Again, there was much to tackle from Indeed’s highlights about VIQ Solutions. The ones I’ve covered are simply the most notable. For that matter, I’ll leave the final judgment to you. 

VIQ Solutions Customer Review

As much as we’d love to hear from their clients, there are no widely available customer reviews for VIQ Solutions. However, I can offer a personal perspective based on my experience of their services.

As pointed out in the previous sections, the company produces AI-driven transcription, which could save time and cost for organizations dealing with large volumes of audio and video content. The emphasis on accuracy and security in their marketing materials also suggests a commitment to quality that would be critical in legal environments.

However, as with any advanced technology solution, I would anticipate some challenges:

  1. There might be a learning curve for staff transitioning from traditional methods.
  2. Integration with existing systems and workflows might require careful planning and execution.
  3. The effectiveness of AI transcription could vary depending on factors like audio quality and accents. Recent studies show that AI transcriptions are only 86% accurate at best. This means the potential cost and time savings benefit is still debatable since editing transcripts to perfection can also take much time and resources. 

So, if you’re a potential client, requesting demos or free trial periods directly from VIQ Solutions would be wise. This way, you can assess how well the technology meets their needs.

Is VIQ Solutions a Scam?

This doesn’t make me feel delighted to cover; however, it’s critical. Scam Detector has flagged VIQ Solutions as a potentially risky site with a very low trust score of 12.7/100. Although there were many concerns to discuss, the review emphasized several.

  • Phishing or Spam Risks: The website is connected to spam activity and potential phishing risks, raising red flags about its credibility.
  • Association with Suspicious Sites: VIQ Solutions’ proximity to other high-risk or suspicious websites further exacerbates concerns. This could imply the site is knowingly or unknowingly linked to questionable online environments.
  • Blacklist Status: The domain is listed in blacklist databases. This indicates previous issues with trust or malicious activity.
  • Technical and Security Aspects: While the site does use valid HTTPS encryption and has a long domain history (established in 2004), these elements alone do not offset the negative indicators.

Although there is no definite answer, the Scam Detector is leaning towards the conclusion that the site is untrustworthy. They emphasized that you should proceed cautiously if you plan to engage with VIQ Solutions. 

What This Means For Transcription Security

This security issue can be a big problem regarding sensitive transcription requirements. As we all know, law enforcement, legal, and medical recordings can contain sensitive and confidential data, and any leak can lead to serious regulatory and legal trouble for their clients. If you can’t trust the company’s website, how much can you trust its security? 

A deep dive into their service pages indicates that the company has a CJIS ACE Seal. While that sounds official, ACE stands for Audit and Compliance Experts. So, the CJIS ACE seal is just a designation for companies working with third-party security vendors who want to achieve full CJIS compliance. That means VIQ Transcription does not yet have CJIS-compliance levels of security.

There’s also no mention of HIPAA, which will not fly with hospitals, clinics, and any medical provider’s regulatory compliance requirements. 

VIQ Pricing

VIQ operates in many regions, so understandably, their price ranges can differ based on location. However, not seeing any transcription pricing on its website just… doesn’t sit well with me. 

What assurance do I have that price quotes for one customer in one region are not different from those of another in the same place? How can people check, aside from asking each other if they’ve gotten the service? There are a lot of potential issues here. 

The Verdict On VIQ Solutions

All in all, VIQ seems to be a “take it or leave it” service provider with many caveats. Employee insights suggest workflow and workload issues, significantly affecting transcription quality and accuracy. 

Meanwhile, its lackluster security and lack of regulatory compliance certification can be a massive turn-off for government bodies, law enforcement agencies, and healthcare providers. Its lack of transparent pricing is another potential issue. 

Lastly, the company’s reliance on AI transcription means its clients must contend with inaccurate transcripts.  

Do You Want or Need an Alternative to VIQ

Unlike VIQ, Ditto is a 100% U.S.-based, 100% human-powered transcription service provider. We don’t use AI in our processes to ensure more than 99% accuracy on all transcription jobs. 

Our services include the following features: 

  • Fast turnaround times
  • Different affordable rates for different budgets
  • Flexibility and customization
  • No lock-in periods or contracts—pay as you go
  • Multi-channel communication
  • Industry-leading customer support 

Ditto’s transcription service prices are also 100% transparent; check our pricing page for more details. We’ll even call clients if any changes are made to the quoted prices, even if its only cents. 

Furthermore, our FINRA, HIPAA, HITECH, and CJIS-compliant security suite offers the following features: 

  • Detailed Reporting and Tracking Features
  • Individually Defined User Access Levels
  • Individual User Names, Passwords, and PINs (immediate deactivation upon request)
  • Scaled Network Redundancy
  • Virtual Private Network (VPN) Integration
  • Dedicated Data Centers
  • Encrypting All Data With SSL 256-bit Encryption
  • Employee Background Checks*
  • Transcribers Must Be Willing To Sign A Non-Disclosure Agreement

So, what are you waiting for? Call us if you need accurate, affordable, transparent, and highly secure transcription so you can experience the difference. 

Ditto Transcripts is a FINRA, HIPAA, and CJIS-compliant transcription company based in Denver, Colorado. We provide fast, accurate, and affordable transcription services for companies of all sizes. Call (720) 287-3710 today for a free quote and ask about our free five-day trial.

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