Transcription Services: A Full Breakdown
If you’re looking for accurate and reliable transcription services, then you have come to the right place. ILC (International Language Consultancy) gives you the benefit of being able to streamline and speed up your business operations by outsourcing your transcription needs to trained professionals. If this sounds like something that could benefit you, keep reading for more information about ILC and our transcription services.
What Are Transcription Services?
Transcription services involve converting spoken language into written text. This means listening to an audio file or video recording and transcribing the spoken words into a written format for record-keeping purposes, research, or improvement of the viewers’ experience.
Transcribed content can include the following sources:
⦁ Interviews
⦁ Speeches
⦁ Phone calls
⦁ Medical reports
⦁ Webinars
⦁ Podcasts
⦁ Meetings
⦁ Documentaries
⦁ Court proceedings
Organisations in just about any industry may require transcription services. Whether you are a business that needs help with creating written records of meetings, interviews, or conference calls, or you are involved with the education sector and need help creating presentation transcripts as extra resources, IL Consultancy can help you out.
How Much Does Transcription Services Cost?
While there is no exact figure, transcription services typically cost between R0.50-R5.00 per word. A more reasonable estimate would be between R800 and R1500 per audio hour. While transcription services can become a significant cost for companies that need large volumes of information transcribed, the results will be well worth the expense.
How Much Do Transcribers Earn In South Africa?
Working as a transcriber comes with several benefits, including being able to work from the comfort of your own home or anywhere in the world that has internet access. Transcribers are also given flexible work hours, meaning they don’t have to work a typical 8-5. The average transcriber can earn between R100-R300 per work hour, or R30-R100 per audio minute. These costs will depend on payment structures as well as the complexity of the transcription work.
How Much Do Freelancers Charge For Transcription In South Africa?
The cost of freelance transcribers varies. Several factors have to be considered when looking at the price of a freelancer, including the complexity of the transcription work, the transcriber’s experience, the client’s specific requirements, as well as the urgency. Freelancers can often charge between R50-R150 per audio minute.
Freelancers may find work through online platforms, direct clients, and transcription service companies, so the charging rates will vary. Long-term contracts can be developed, allowing a negotiation for lower rates.
What Are The Benefits Of Being A Transcriber?
Being a transcriber comes with plenty of benefits. The main benefits include being able to work from anywhere and having a flexible work schedule. Transcription tasks can often be completed remotely and so you are able to work from the comfort of your home, while travelling, or from your favourite coffee shop. You will also save costs from travelling to and from work everyday.
Transcribers are given independence and autonomy, allowing them to manage their own workflow and tasks. On top of learning time-management and task responsibility, transcribers also develop excellent listening comprehension, typing skills, and learn to pay attention to detail. These skills are very valuable in various other professional settings.
What Does A Transcription Service Do?
A complex and detail-oriented task, transcription services should be performed by professionals from a qualified company like International Language Consultancy. Asking your internal staff to manage transcriptions, using an automated transcriber, or even just doing it yourself, might seem simple and manageable initially – but in actuality, transcribing is an energy-consuming task that can demand hours upon hours of your precious time.
Unlike a lot of automated programs, at ILC, we pride ourselves on our rigorous, organised workflow and structure which produces exceptionally meticulous transcriptions. This streamlined process allows you to sit back, relax, and let the language professionals take the reigns. In fact, the simple process can be summarised in 6 easy steps which are explained below:
Step 1
Send your audio or video files to the transcription manager, and they will check the duration and quality of your audio to determine whether the files are audible. You can contact the IL Consultancy team to get a custom quote made to cater to your unique needs.
Step 2
An estimated rate will be sent to you with a quoted cost according to the audio length and contents of the file. Check the quote and determine if this figure suits you. If you are happy with the cost and rate, you can give the IL Consultancy team the go-ahead.
Step 3
Once you accept the transcription services cost, we can begin with the hard work. At this point, you are encouraged to send IL Consultancy any additional information that will help us tailor the records to your needs. This might include timestamps, predetermined templates, speaker names, and industry jargon.
Step 4
Once the files have been transcribed, the transcription manager will proofread the document. This will be followed by a final check from the Head of the Department (HOD). The HOD will ensure that all of your specifications and additional instructions are fulfilled.
Step 5
IL Consultancy will then send the document back to you for final approval. At this point, you should check whether you are happy with the final product – if you find any issues or mistakes, you can query this with the IL Consultancy team.
Step 6
Files can be uploaded and downloaded depending on the platform that suits you; Dropbox, WeTransfer, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, email, or any other similar medium of your choice. IL Consultancy also promises timeous and punctual delivery which corresponds to the given brief and deadline provided.
Why Would I Need Transcription Services?
In a scenario where you might need physical records for an important speech, a serious interview, or an urgent corporate meeting, it is critical that you attain a precise transcription. Errors and mistakes in an official work document could hurt your company or brand’s reputation, thus it is best to turn to IL Consultancy and let us handle your transcription needs on your behalf.
In modern times, organisations are expected to provide usability and accessibility for all. Transcriptions are able to help bridge the gap between those with hearing or speech impediments, and those without, allowing everyone to learn and access information equally. Whether it be transcribing information for legal proceedings, educational purposes, or creating a more inclusive community at events, transcription services are able to make a difference in people’s lives that most are not aware of.
Quality transcriptions require textbook grammar, diligent attention to spelling, and high-level time management. With so many things to do in a day, the prospect of manually recording and transcribing each and every meeting, proposal, and discussion you participate in can be exhausting. It’s easy to make mistakes, get tired, and lose interest when it comes to certain tasks which is why you should leave it to the professionals when it comes to transcription work.
Although many individuals may think that their experience with computers, typing, and communications would make them qualified for the job, there are multiple variables that make experienced professionals better equipped to handle the workload. Professional transcription services have designated structures in place to ensure the accurate and efficient delegation of your needs. Within these frameworks, your audio and/or video files will be handled by trained staff and then checked again by supervisors and surveyors before it is returned to you, leaving no room for error.
Transcription Services Near Me: International Language Consultancy
Here are some of the different transcription services available to you when you work with IL Consultancy:
Full Verbatim Style Transcription
This style will come in handy whenever you need a complete, word-for-word record of a discussion. This option will capture every word spoken, and it will not make any edits or grammatical clean-ups. This service is perfect if you need full, direct quotes and detailed records, perhaps for a legal or disciplinary hearing.
Clean Verbatim Transcription Service
Unlike full verbatim, clean verbatim transcription services remove any stutters, false starts, repetition, coughing, throat-clearing, filler words, or other unintentionally recorded sounds. However, this edited style will still provide an accurate representation of the audio or video. This option is best if you want to ensure that the document is easily legible.
Non-Verbatim Transcription
Also known as ‘clean copy transcription’, this style removes any unnecessary or redundant language in order to directly convey the meaningful takeaways of the conversation. This style is mainly used by academics, universities, and researchers.
What Factors Influence The Cost Of Transcription Services?
Several factors will affect the cost of our transcription services, including the complexity of the content. If specialised knowledge is required, such as the transcription of a scientific discussion, then this could also impact the cost of our services. Specialised vocabulary, like medical terminology, could also influence the cost of our services or require us to spend more time on transcribing the file.
Customising and providing additional services like time-stamps, formatting and adding speaker labels could also result in extra charges. Other factors which could influence the costs of our transcription services include the following listed below:
⦁ Security and confidentiality requirements
⦁ Volume of the content, and how often you require our services
⦁ The file format, which may need to be converted
⦁ Turnaround time or urgency of the needed transcription
⦁ Audio quality
⦁ Verbatim transcription, or the need to include pauses, filler words, and every spoken word
⦁ Accents and languages
Transcription Services In South Africa: International Language Consultancy
International Language Consultancy (ILC) services are carried out by careful and considerate human transcribers. For this reason, we can provide contextualised reports in thorough accordance with your linguistic needs, as well as value add-ons and after-sale support. ILC has a good reputation amongst reputable South African companies thanks to our excellent services and our additional support for clients. For example, if a client is in need of last-minute revisions, or particular formats, IL Consultancy can accommodate you.
With such a strong foundation in the language industry, you can be assured that your documents are being handled professionally and carefully. Furthermore, by using native speakers with a discerning ear for stutters and miscommunication, you can rest easy knowing that your final document will use human language and polished, sensical grammar. Besides transcribing, we also offer several other services, some of which are listed below:
⦁ Translation services
⦁ Editing and proofreading
⦁ Interpreting services
⦁ eLearning
⦁ TEFL services
IL Consultancy is a reliable Cape Town company that incorporates a non-disclosure agreement that will protect your data in a way that online automatic transcribers cannot. Unfortunately, companies that rely solely on online software are prone to mistakes. With qualified IL Consultancy transcribers, you will be able to interact with a helpful transcriptionist who can comply with your requests and customise your report to your needs.
Explore our website for more information or contact us if you have any questions.