13 Nov The cost for transcription by humans vs speech to text

Transcription services in the UK are developing all the time, but the key question remains: what is the cost for transcription, and how much should you pay?

What to consider first before focusing on the cost for transcription

Security – how confidential your data is and what security procedures you need to implement before outsourcing your transcript are key to factor in when looking at the cost of transcription.

What to consider second before focusing on the cost for transcription

Accuracy – how accurate do you need the transcription to be? Cheaper costs often mean cheaper salaries or ‘per minute’ rates are paid to the audio transcriptionists, and this means that the answer to, ‘What is the cost for transcription?‘ depends on how secure and accurate you need your transcript to be. Different sectors have different regulations and requirements; the financial, medical and legal sectors often require more accurate and secure companies to undertake this sort of work for them. Medical transcription and legal transcription have been around for a long time and often have in-house and offshore transcription teams set up.

The cost for transcription

If you have just one audio transcriptionist working on your project, then it will cost less than having one audio typist and one proofreader. However, if you are looking for accuracy, and if you don’t want to pay for anything that has typos and mistakes in it, then it’s worth asking how many people will work on your transcript.

So, what is the cost of transcription from reputable companies or freelancers? We feel it varies from £1-2 per audio minute for a one-person job and £2-5 per audio minute for a two-person job.

Why is there such a difference between paying £1 or £5 per audio minute for a quality transcription?

Turnaround times have a large effect on the cost of transcription services. A transcription of 1-2 hours, in general, is usually turned around next day or in 48 hours. The more you pay usually reflects the better quality of people who will work on your transcript.

So, to answer, ‘What is the cost of transcription?’ isn’t a straightforward answer. However, this article should at least help to ask the right questions to know what you are paying for – and to not overpay.

The advantage of outsourcing

As with all outsourced services, you save the manpower, employee costs and associated human resource issues.

You have the ability to scale up or down as your business ebbs and flows, without paying fixed salaries in-house – the cost of transcription is therefore flexible to suit you and your needs.

VoiceNotes will meet your needs to be flexible.

Why choose VoiceNotes as your transcription service?

All VoiceNotes’ transcriptions are typed by one member of the team, then proofread (and copy edited, where required) by another editorial-grade proofreader. We consistently offer the reliability and accuracy you are looking for. Our security is the best in the business – we are ISO 27001-compliant – and all employees are under strict confidentiality contracts.

Our client relationships mean the world to us, and we endeavour to react quickly to client requests. The cost of transcription for our clients is not their number-one concern, as they are looking for confidentiality and accuracy. However, we can totally appreciate that some transcripts don’t require the security and accuracy that we can deliver. Therefore, the cost of transcription can be fluid, and one won’t always need to spend big money on it.

A few more reasons why VoiceNotes …

• Quality is guaranteed, as every transcription passes through at least two members of our team – one audio transcriptionist and one proofreader
• Fast turnarounds due to employing our own staff. This means we don’t need to search for a freelancer and check their availability
• Only our trained, experienced, editorial-grade proofreaders and copy-editors will work on your project
• You will have a dedicated account manager
• Everything is date and time-stamped for legal and compliance auditing
• We have over a decade’s experience with FTSE 100 companies, SMEs and individuals
• We are ISO 27001-accredited, ensuring data is kept safe and confidential at all times
• No set-up fees
• No minimum requirements

What are our costs?

We have a transparent pricing structure on this page: Pricing

Please get in touch with any questions or to start your FREE trial – info@voicenotes.co.uk / 0207 117 0066.