Information overload is a HUGE problem for organizations at present. I know fellow business leaders who used to have the same issues – key personnel were overwhelmed, making it hard to extract valuable insights. Fortunately, many of them invested in solutions like intelligent transcription companies to help ease the burden of administrative tasks, and the results are pretty compelling.
In this article, you’ll learn:
- Intelligent transcriptions free team members from scribbling duties, which lets them fully engage in discussions.
- Accurate conversation records emotional and contextual details that would otherwise be lost in the discussions.
- Proper documentation of discussions helps bridge communication gaps for teams with diverse members, which turns cultural differences into opportunities.
What Exactly is Intelligent Transcription?
Like other types of transcription, intelligent transcription means turning recorded language into text, except that it requires more specific editorial decisions to improve clarity.
It’s notably unique from verbatim transcription, where you capture every spoken word – since intelligent transcription requires removing false starts, grammatical errors, repetitions, filler words, background noise, etc., for a concise and readable document.
Moreover, intelligent transcription includes standardizing casual words and organizes scattered thoughts into text that makes sense, making it different from polished to edited transcription.
Other Common Types of Transcription
There are many types of transcription. Including intelligent transcription, below are the rest of the most commonly used transcription styles.
| Types | |
| Verbatim Transcription | Captures everything exactly as spoken, like filler words, pauses, background noises, and speech errors, crucial in court proceedings. |
| Edited Transcription | Polishes the transcripts by removing filler words. The aim is to improve readability but preserve the core idea of the recording. |
| Phonetic Transcription | Focuses on pronunciation using special notation to represent sounds accurately |
Benefits of Intelligent Transcription
Transcription in general is beneficial for various scenarios and organizations. Each type of transcription also has its own advantages, depending on the utilization. For now, I’ve focused on the benefits that intelligent transcription provides.
Understanding Context
If the implied meaning is important, intelligent transcription may be the best option there is. This is because transcriptionists are required to get the context below the surface, such as matters most people assume but don’t say, or the vibes between the lines that help paint the picture.
With intelligent transcription, you’d also interpret cultural references and the emotional undertones in someone’s voice – critical in police matters.
For example, if someone says they’ll put an issue on the back burner, the transcriptionist should know it means deprioritizing something, not literally putting something on a stove at the back of the building.
There are far more similar scenarios, but if you need a nuanced interpretation of a recording, especially in high-stakes situations, having both verbatim and intelligent verbatim transcriptions would be handy.
Knowledge Preservation
Intelligent transcription is also handy if you consider keeping your organization’s memory intact. Those conversations that usually just disappear when meetings end can be turned into lasting resources everyone can use later.
Transcriptionists will highlight those “aha moments” or breakthrough ideas that even the people in the meeting might not realize are important at the time, which happens quite frequently in my experience.
Those documents can then be used to create a record of both the official knowledge and all the unspoken wisdom that comes up naturally in conversation but hardly ever makes it into official documents.
That said, in my opinion, intelligent transcripts are more valuable during project post-mortems as they let everyone go back to their thoughts without hindsight bias.
Decision Trail Documentation
For many organizations opting to transcribe their recordings, the most important part isn’t recording the decisions but all the different viewpoints that could help shape the outcome of a project. Guess what? Intelligent transcripts are valuable in these settings.
Putting those decision moments aside, intelligent transcription could also highlight other options and why each choice was made.
For example, suppose your marketing team decides not to pursue a seemingly promising campaign. In that case, the transcript will highlight what concerns that led to that decision – maybe something like experiences with similar audiences might backfire.
Also, the transcripts create historical records, which are also valuable when looking back at decisions months later, or even years – when simplified stories have replaced complicated discussions.
Keeping the Info in Transcripts
Again, intelligent transcription highlights those aha moments, right? It also takes note of meaningful pauses, emphasis, tone changes, or even hesitations that say as much as the words being used. I refer to this as adding depth to otherwise flat text.
Let’s say your boss responds to your idea with “That’s interesting,” but actually sounds like “That’s…interesting.” Can you see the difference? Intelligent transcriptions will take note of this pause, which probably means your boss is skeptical of your idea, NOT EXCITED. You’d miss that in basic transcription.
Moreover, it keeps the emotional vibe of conversations – when someone has a breakthrough or when everybody’s confused – which helps readers understand what’s really going on. Without those, you’ll misread it as neutral text.
Cutting Down on “Brain Drain”
In my experience, when people don’t have to write notes, they dive into conversations more and actually contribute. I’m including those meetings that involve trying to do two things at once – scribbling and engaging.
The thing is, most people have NO IDEA how much of their brain power gets depleted by note-taking during important discussions, which is something they could use to listen and say something smart or meaningful – the very essence of every meeting
However, with transcription handling the administrative task, everyone in the room can focus on whoever’s talking. Everyone gets to have more mental space for better comprehension and the whole meeting becomes more meaningful since everyone can build off each other’s ideas.
Once the meeting is over, the participants can get copies of their intelligent verbatim transcriptions that are easy to read (instead of having to decipher their chicken scratch notes with incomplete sentences).
Language Barrier Mitigation
Depending on the requirement, transcriptionists can untangle those unfamiliar expressions or those regional ways of speaking, which often leave non-native speakers scratching their heads. They can take all the slang and turn it into something everyone can actually understand.
It might be funny, but having worked with people from around the world, I can always spot those who grew up speaking English and those who didn’t.
For example, when you say cutting corners or ballpark figures – it’s easy, right? Well, I’m telling you these can completely derail a conversation. Fortunately, intelligent transcripts can spot these potholes and either explain them or find clearer ways to say the same thing. It’s a lifesaver for many!
Why You Shouldn’t Let AI Transcribe Your Recordings?
Artificial intelligence got a long-overdue popularity boost with the widespread appeal of ChatGPT. Companies like Google, Microsoft, Amazon, IBM, and Nvidia are racing to develop competing platforms.
And like anything currently popular on the internet, AI is applied in everything. Robots, self-driving cars, healthcare management, smart assistants, smart homes, social media, investing, and marketing all use AI to improve themselves.
These days, AI chatbots are being used as selling points for smartphones. Seriously, who needs smartphones with ChatGPT integration that will undoubtedly eat up the already-limited computing power of your phone and burn through your battery like wildfire in a dry forest? But I digress.
Meanwhile, automated speech recognition, or ASR, has existed since the 1950s. With the current iteration of AI, transcription companies everywhere are racing to adopt the technology into their transcription solutions. According to most, it’s cheaper, faster, and the greatest thing since sliced bread—with an entire transcript seared and toasted on both sides!
So why haven’t companies like Ditto Transcripts adopted AI transcription? Well, the answer is simple, and it starts with the letter A.
Artisanal Sliced Brea—I mean, Accuracy Is Non-Negotiable In Transcription
The first thing that any transcriptionist or service provider highlights is the accuracy of their service. That’s to be expected since all the benefits of transcription I’ve mentioned depend on the accuracy of the finished product. Miscommunications, legal ramifications, loss of credibility, misinformation, operational errors, medical errors, negative financial consequences, damaged relationships, and time and resource waste are some potential effects of incorrect transcripts.
Unfortunately, AI transcription is inaccurate despite being a shiny new piece of technological advancement. Studies show that AI transcriptions are only around 62% accurate in the best of circumstances. Meanwhile, audio recordings taken in typical settings are rarely done in the best circumstances. No matter what side you look at, it’s not a good match.
Ditto Offers The Best Transcription Services At Affordable Prices
Ditto offers both intelligent transcription, intelligent verbatim transcription, and other types of transcription services that cover all of your needs. We have 100% human, U.S.-based transcription staff that can far outstrip any other service’s accuracy rates. On top of that, we offer affordable pricing, fast turnaround times, guaranteed security, customizable transcripts, and the best security in the industry right now.
So don’t settle for less. Choose Ditto and see the difference.
Ditto Transcripts is a leading HIPAA, CJIS, and FINRA-compliant transcription service provider in Denver, Colorado, 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.