When it comes to audio typing, or transcription services as it is now more commonly referred to, I am so grateful to the advances in technology. I remember being an audio typing whilst working for a Overseas bank in London and the manager used a Sony Dictaphone! He provided recordings of all letters & meetings that needed typing. The sound quality was dreadful, so a lot of my work involved guesswork and assumption. I managed to work my way up from VDU operator to secretary, so guesswork and assumption paid off!

Thankfully, digital dictation has improved and as a ‘school secretary', most recordings were sent via email. Pause has gone from a clunky stop/start to the click of a mouse, and volume control equates to more clarity than crackling background noise.

Technology has now advanced so far that recording meetings, interviews and even conversations and thought processes are easier than ever. Smartphones are now equipped with apps that will record and transcribe - however, we do not speak the way we write!

Transcription which aims to capture what was said as opposed to transcribing exactly what was said is called Intelligent Verbatim Transcription. The ‘filler’ words – the ‘um’s, ‘ah’s and ‘you know’s’ are removed to provide a more coherent transcription.

The digital era has also brought what is now an ever-present medium – video. From webinars to tutorials and social media campaigns to ‘vlogging’… Businesses and consumers are making, viewing and sharing an ever-increasing number of videos.

And transcription has taken off as a result, re-vamping and re-defining an age-old office service.

Many small businesses and entrepreneurs are now employing Virtual Assistants to undertake transcription of video recordings to provide clients and consumers with additional company literature, presentations and newsletters. Transcription services are now more frequently being used in the production of manuscripts for documents, essays and books.

Do you have audio files of meetings, interviews or conferences which would be great formatted into a document? Or have you thought about transcribing your podcasts or YouTube videos into presentations?

If you’re interested in outsourcing your transcription tasks, please call me for a free consultation: 07817 190 714 or email me: peggy@p3va.co.uk