The time of typing word-after word while listening to the media player is long gone. The digital market can provide a wide range of services nowadays: from software with basic features for beginners to advanced ones for professionals. Transcription service suppliers deliver a full range of services that do not need complicated installations but place an order online.
The article examines the top leading transcription services in 2022. Students, the private sector, involved in official organizations, and business companies are welcome to select the best one for a long-term collaboration.
5 leading transcription services in 2022
Although many existing computer programs and applications exist in the digital market today, many clients are looking for all-inclusive services. Naturally, a team of skilled professionals can cope with large volumes of work with a narrow specialization, such as medicine, engineering, and other sciences.
They can successfully combine automatic transcription and human assistance to get an accurate and correct document without data and text distortions. The transcription services online have equal steps for placing an order. These are registration, file uploading, and result receiving. However, let’s focus on the leaders:
1. Transcriberry. This transcription service offers four types of services:
- manual transcription with 99 percent of accuracy for 1.25 USD per minute;
- automated transcription with 80 percent of accuracy for high-quality audio;
- professional human translation in French and German for 10 cents per word;
- subtitling service for 3-7 USD per minute.
This company covers various audiences: authors of podcasts, speakers, and bloggers. It provides multiform business assistance, e.g., transcription of meetings, phone conversations, and other media content. Journalists use the services of Transcriberry to convert speech-to-text for documentaries, press conferences, interviews, and collateral media content. Students and trainees apply for transcription of dissertations, webinars, lectures, and seminars. The rich practice speaks about the high professionalism of the team and rich experience in many fields of science.
This company occupies the first place because it can cope with any volume of work and offers the most affordable price available on the market of transcription.
2. Rev. This company has gained the respect of the world-trusted companies in various failed industries, such as education, legality, and marketing. The scope of their services covers:
- audio to text conversion for 1.5 USD per minute;
- machine translation for 25 cents per minute
- subtitles for 1.5 USD per minute;
- video translation with foreign subtitles including for 3-7 USD per minute;
- captioning of video conferences in Zoom for 20 USD per host.
Also, they have flexible tariff packages for individuals with random needs in transcription and businesses with small projects. The package of services includes:
- high-quality transcripts, rationing, and subtitling;
- short turnaround time;
- customer support around the clock;
- confidentiality guarantees.
Individuals and companies with ongoing and large projects can offer a PRO tariff with:
- discounts depending on the project volume;
- filling up the invoices;
- enhanced security for enterprises;
- team management assistance;
- account manager for each client;
- advanced customer support.
The team of REV consists of freelancers with proven grammar and transcription skills.
3. Temi. This service provides software supported by speech recognition technologies. It allows getting transcription quickly for only 0.25 USD per minute. The service does not offer tariffs or subscription plans; additional charges are absent. Transcripts shorter than 45 minutes are free and include access to all software features. If you want to economize on the transcriptions, Temi would be the best choice. However, the result of the transcription highly depends on the quality of the source file. Ordering transcribing an audio file without background noise, accents, or a clear speech, you will get 90-95 percent results of accuracy. The service allows transcription editing. Unfortunately, poor-quality files distorted by heavy background noise with several speakers and pronounced accents will be inappropriate for usage. The absence of subscriptions and monthly charges makes it ideal for the seldom transcription of high-quality source files.
4. TranscribeMe. This company offers secure transcription with 98% accuracy percent for 0.79 - 2 USD per minute. Along with transcription, they provide translation services for the most demanding sciences: hi-tech, medicine, economics, marketing, and management, education. The large-scaled accurate transcripts for commercial enterprises focus on the customer’s needs, including narrow-specialized formatting according to various geographic locations. TranscribeMe provides the services with a precise focus on interviews with a few speakers, meetings and conference recordings, administrative documents, audio, and video educational materials, etc. Their First Draft Service (raw text) allows clients to review and edit the transcripts to meet their needs and save expenses. That is a standard service of transcribed audio provided within one day or 2-3 days for timestamps requirements. The Machine Express service supported by automated speech recognition technology provides the automated transcription of high accuracy. They accept payments in the most spread world currencies.
5. TranscriptionPanda. The target audience of this service is educational, governmental, and medical establishments. Individuals, graduate students, and enterprises are welcome to apply. A team of in-house workers offers human-based and high-class transcription and translation, focusing on meeting the needs and requirements of the customer. The pricing system is very transparent: clients get charged for each step of the work and know precisely the rates for each type of task. The range of services varies depending on the type of work and turnaround time:
- 5 business days - 0.79-0.95 USD;
- 2 business days - 1.2-2.4 USD.
Clients can order the additional related services:
- timestamps for 0.25 USD per minute of media;
- verbatim for 0.3 USD per minute of media;
- translation for 2 USD per minute.
TranscriptionPanda accepts the outsource files with distorted audio content (background noise, cross speakers, etc. Be ready to add 0.5 USD for each minute. The detailed pricing policy means the absence of hidden fees and timely order completion.
Useful tips to spend money for transcription wisely
Doubtlessly, all benefits of transcribing companies serve for a smooth and fast working process. But it might be complicated to calculate the expenses for start uppers on a tight budget. Moreover, the long-time existing companies also would not mind saving money on transcription. Read on to observe the methods of selecting the best economically-effective company:
- Choose professionals only who can cope with the relevant terminology in your field of study or research. Properly educated and skilled transcribers will meet your requirements and provide a professionally transcribed text within the settled deadline.
- Avoid hidden payments. When selecting a transcription company that fits your demands, place a small order, e.g., 10 minutes of audio. For instance, the charge for transcription is 1 USD. According to a simple calculation, the final payment for the transcribed file will be 10 USD. If (for unknown reasons) you will have to pay 25 USD in total, it is not significant spending, but this company is tricky. Later, when it comes to larger orders, you may lose a fortune. Discuss with the company representatives the pricing policy in detail.
- Plan the format. I might be messy when it comes to the transcription formats. Firstly, determine the extension of your source media. To avoid extra charges, you can convert it individually to one of the most frequently accepted formats, e.g., convert WebM to MP4. Also, give more thought to the outcome format. The transitional outsource file for transcripts is a Word document. Inform the company beforehand whether you have other requirements, e.g., XML or PDF. Further conversion of DOC using additional software may become draining and cause significant additional expenses for large orders. Evaluate your source file timely and plan your final format preliminary.
- Balance turnaround time effectively. As you could notice from the list, the price may significantly vary depending on the turnaround time. If you do not need your transcription urgently, you can choose a longer turnaround time, not paying extra charges for hastening. Balance pricing policy and urgency correctly.
- Bulk orders. Companies that focus on providing transcription and translation services to large companies and corporations always offer pleasurable discounts for high-volume tasks. Bulk orders help to reduce the price of large-scale audio and video content. Also, transcription companies usually offer to upload all files in a single slot and get the transcripts ready gradually after finishing each separate file.
A thoroughly thought collaboration strategy with transcription companies is beneficial and cost-effective for business enterprises and governmental establishments.
Wrapping up
Selecting a reliable and highly professional partner for future collaboration is essential. Despite the general rating, the level of provided services may vary depending on the complexity of the tasks, quality of the outsourced file, turnaround time, and a package of additional services (timestamps, subtitles, translation, etc.). Check your case particularly to see how the transcription firm meets your requirements. Genuine professional companies are always ready to provide an individual approach and deliver the best possible level of service.