Cheap Transcription Services – Quality versus Saving a Buck

Are you looking online for cheap transcription services? At Capital Captions, we offer low cost transcription services without compromising on quality? How? Bucking the trend, we do not work with voice recognition software and instead, always rely on highly skilled, trained professional transcriptionists. In today’s AI driven business world, relying on good old fashioned humans may seem counterproductive, but our high quality transcription services speak for themselves. If you’re looking to save pennies by working with AI and automated transcriptions, this blog covers much of the difference of low cost versus higher cost transcription, Artificial Intelligence versus Organic Intelligence.

Low Cost Transcription – Quality Checks and Procedures

The difference in processes when transcribing at a low cost versus high cost can have a huge impact on the quality of the finish transcript. At the very lowest end of the scale, cheap transcription services can involve a company taking your video, uploading it through software and simply exporting a transcript created through voice recognition software. Professional transcription companies that offer higher quality services may also use some voice recognition software, but this will at a minimum, be overseen by a professional transcriptionist who will listen along to the file, making amendments as required. At the top end of the scale, transcription will be carried out by a professional transcriptionist to begin with, and will then be quality checked by a second professional, ensuring the highest quality possible.

As a general rule, the higher cost the transcription service, the more thorough and diligent the transcription and quality checking procedures in place.

Cheap Transcription – Artificial Intelligence and Voice Recognition

Where cheap transcription involves voice recognition, the software will include every spoken word within a video, whether or not it is relevant, has been mispronounced or spoken entirely in error. Accents can mean that words are incorrect and this can have a detrimental impact on the coherency of a transcript.

In contrast, at the high end, transcription will involve a professional with experience in the topic of your video (be it medical transcription, legal transcription or something else entirely), will type out your video while listening. A professional transcriptionist will listen through and choose what can be omitted if your script isn’t required to be verbatim. For example, speakers may use constant repeating filler words such as ‘You know, sort of, kind of,’ etc. When using voice recognition, all of this will be included, but a professional typist will understand that overuse of these words within a written script can have a detrimental impact on coherency and ease of reading.

Budget Transcription – Grammatical Accuracy and Coherence

Whether a transcription company is saving costs through the use of automation and voice recognition software or through hiring low cost, inexperienced transcriptionists, the results can often be seen in the grammatical accuracy and coherence of your video transcript. Where AI and inexperienced writers will often add commas simply where there is an audible pause in speech, high quality transcriptions should read with absolute grammatical accuracy.

This takes experience, knowledge and a full intellectual grasp of the topics being discussed within your video or audio file. Software may be great at picking up grammatical inaccuracies when it comes to the written word, but transcripts are designed to reflect speech, which is presented in a very different way and should be written as such. It’s a transcriptionist’s job to accurately record speech in a way that’s both coherent and as grammatically correct as possible. This takes time, skill and experience, and may be compromised on low quality, overly cheap transcription.

Urgent Transcription – Fast Turnaround Times

When it comes to working on a budget, looking for cheap transcription, there can be a paradox around urgency. The two fastest options in having ordering transcription on a tight deadline are the lowest cost automated transcription, versus the highest cost fast turnaround times offered by skilled transcriptionists. At one end of the scale, you may receive back a transcript astonishingly fast, but be left spending time fixing numerous errors. At the other end of the scale, your transcript will again, be received back very quickly, with absolute accuracy; however, the dent you will feel may not be in your time, which you were looking to save in the first place, but rather in your pocket as the rates tend to increase for urgent turnaround typing services.

Professional Transcription Services – Skills and Experience

Remote working has grown exponentially in popularity, especially since 2020. In addition to the growing use of voice recognition as an option within transcription services, many office workers have begun to turn their heads (and fingers) to providing online typing services. Oftentimes, freelance typists may offer very low rates within the industry, only to find out that their typing speeds and writing experience and ability to reflect the nuances of the English language in the written word are not up to speed. Whether it be artificial intelligence, or limited intelligence through lack of experience, when working with the cheapest transcription services, skills, experience and knowledge are where that money is compromised.

At Capital Captions, we provide cheap transcription services to our clients, where we only use professional, highly skilled experienced typists. We offer urgent transcription services at highly competitive rates. Whether you are a student, production company, corporate business, legal company, medical practitioner or a private client, we are happy to speak with you about your project and work around your budget.