Updated transcription services website coming soon

The King Audio Transcription & Typing Services website has been undergoing some maintenance and updates and will have a new look when it is uploaded.

The website will display the 'KATTS Professional Transcription Services' logo instead of 'King Audio Transcription & Typing Services'.

This is just a little message to let you know that the site will look a little different when it goes live soon.

I hope you will find the website informative and easy to navigate although if you experience any problems please do let me know.

I'll update you when the site goes live.

Top tips for identifying voices in Focus Group Transcription

If you’ve ever worked on focus group transcription you will know how difficult it can be to identify people from their voices. Hardly surprising, you’ve got a bunch of people you’ve never met before and the only way you can identify them is by the sound of their voice.

This can be very tricky especially when you’ve got several of the same gender in a group with similar voices.

Someone once said to me it’s like being a blind person in a room full of strangers. A pretty good analogy I think.

So I asked some colleagues for their top tips for identifying speakers during focus group transcription and these are some things we came up with:

• A good facilitator of a focus group will ask the participants to introduce themselves at the beginning and say a little about themselves. This is your opportunity to make a voice map. Get yourself a piece of paper and write the names as they are introduced. Imagine they are sitting around a table and place the names around that table as they introduce themselves. 

• Make notes about each participant. 

• Make a note of the time in the recording when each participant speaks next to their name on the voice map. This will be useful for checking back to that time to check voice identities. 

• Can you tell whether the person is on the left or right of the microphone or are they more audible through the left or right headphone? 

• Have they got an accent or any recognisable features to their voice, e.g. quietly-spoken, loud, nasally, deep or any other describing word you can think of to describe the way they sound? Or perhaps they sound like someone famous like an actor. Write these descriptions on your voice map. (Don’t worry; you can destroy the voice map when you’re finished). 

• Make notes about each person such as where they work, where they are from, if they've got children, a partner, a dog. This can come in useful later if they mention it and you can check back with the ‘find’ function to make sure you've got the right name for the right voice. 

• As well as loading the sound file into your transcription software, also load it into Windows Media Player so you can use this if you need to check back and forth to identify voices without losing your place in the transcription software. 

Thanks to Cathy, Suzanne, Pat and Kate for your really helpful tips.

Have you got any tips or techniques you use to help identify voices during focus group transcription? If so we would be really interested to hear them. Please leave your tips in the comment box below. 

If you would like more information or a quote for transcription services take a look at focus group transcription on the KATTS website. 

iPhone m4a transcription services

KATTS provides m4a transcription services; m4a being the format which the iPhone produces.

I use Switch Audio File Converter Software to convert the m4a to mp3, which enables me to load the audio transcription file into Express Scribe Transcription Playback Software.

I can then transcribe the audio transcription file in the usual way.

Simple!

Copy typing solution

I no longer offer a copy typing service as there is not a lot of call for it now. However, I recently had an enquiry for some copy typing. When I said I no longer provide this service, the innovative client dictated the work onto a digital dictation machine and was able to send the sound file to me via the internet. Problem solved!

One of the reasons I no longer take on copy typing is because a few years ago I agreed to do some copy typing for a student who sent me reams of paper and the print was so small I would have needed a magnifying glass if my eyes weren't so good. Needless to say, not a pleasant job.

Therefore, if you have need of copy typing and cannot find someone who provides that service, perhaps you might consider dictating the material onto a digital recorder. You can then send the sound file via the internet for transcription.

Image attribution: By Lin Kristensen from New Jersey, USA (Books of the Past) [CC-BY-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Organic feedback: interview transcription

"Hi Sarah

Just wanted to say thank you, super fast turn-around, much appreciated!"

This is my client's organic feedback in relation to HR interview transcription. By 'organic' I mean it is feedback that the client has given with no prompt from me.

If you have a LinkedIn account you can see some recommendations for KATTS' transcription services here.

Busy October-Book Early

Well October has arrived and its been a typical October day with blustery winds and rain.

The beginning of September is a traditionally quiet period for transcription services although towards the middle to end of September things have been gearing up again and it looks like October is going to be a busy month.

I'm already booked for the week commencing 4 October with an international conference transcription and another prospective conference transcription later in the month.

So my advice would be to book your transcription projects in early because remember, its first-come, first-served and projects are only firmly booked once the Project Booking Form is returned.

Happy October!

Transcription and Editing

I was recently asked to transcribe a long and rambling interview and edit out the 'unimportant bits'. I think the client was under the impression that I would be able to edit the audio as I typed it. Unfortunately this was not the case; it would have been impossible to edit the transcript from the audio. Instead I had to transcribe the audio in its entirety and then go through it on screen to edit out what I deemed to be the 'unimportant bits' (tricky).

As I offer transcription services and editing is not something that I am normally asked for, I was unsure of what I should charge for this service. However, I came across this page at the Society for Editors and Proofreaders (SfEP), which sets out suggested minimum rates for freelancers. I found this page useful as a guide so I am sharing it with you.

Convert cassette tapes to digital format for transcription

I came across a really useful article on converting cassette tapes to digital media, which I thought I would share with you: http://www.andybrain.com/archive/convert-cassette-to-cd-digital.htm

As you will see from this article it is quite easy to convert cassette tapes to digital media. This principle also works with mini cassettes, micro cassettes and minidiscs providing the respective players have a headphone jack.


Converting your own analogue-to-digital could save you money if you’re sending it to a transcription services company for transcription as you may be charged more for the conversion.


An important point in the article: ‘You should record a ten-second clip at first, so you can play it back immediately in Audacity (green triangle button) and make sure your volume levels are right. If the recorded audio is too loud or has too much static, decrease the volume on your cassette player.’

If you’re sending your digital audio to a transcription services company the transcriptionist will listen to the audio through headphones which can sound different to listening on loud speaker. So if you have some headphones, have a listen through them to make sure it sounds clear.


On occasion I’ve received audio for transcription where at full volume quietly spoken words were inaudible so try to ensure that the recorded volume is adjustable for the transcriptionist, i.e. the volume can be turned up to an audible level and higher if necessary for quietly spoken words.


In the UK a male-male stereo audio cable can be purchased at electrical stores or at Amazon. Gold plated plugs give better sound quality.

Transcription Services: first-come, first-served

Here at KATTS I work on a first-come, first-served basis as workload can change from minute-to-minute. Therefore projects are accepted in order of when the transcription Project Booking Form is returned.

Transcription Project Booking Forms are accepted via email attachment in Word .doc format, as PDF or by post. Obviously email attachment is the quickest method of returning the form.

For more information visit the website.

Confidential transcription services

If you are looking for confidentiality and continuity for your transcription project then KATTS can help you.

All transcription is carried out in house by Sarah King. You can therefore be assured that your transcription project will be processed in a completely confidential way and continuity will be maintained throughout.

KATTS do not outsource your transcription projects to outside agencies.

If you would like a quotation for a transcription project you can visit the website at http://www.kingaudio.co.uk/.

Hey! What did you say?

Certain transcriptions take longer to transcribe than others, this is because I have to recognise words and voices. The stronger the accent, the harder it is for me to understand.

This isn’t usually a problem because I am an experienced transcriber (30 years) and can understand people more clearly. If there is a word I can’t understand I look up what it sounds like and distinguish what it is.

It also depends on the speed the person speaks at. Sometimes faster speakers are harder to understand if they don’t speak clearly. But it’s not only that, if the audio recording isn’t very good quality or you get a lot of background noise in the recording the transcription process can be more difficult.

These are things to bear in mind if you are recording say interviews for transcription. Digital recorders are pretty good these days, but it's always wise to do a sound check with your audio equipment and listen back with headphones.

If you would like to find out more about my transcription services please visit my website at http://www.kingaudio.co.uk/

Thanks

How long does transcription take?

I'm going to talk about factors that can influence transcription turnaround times and primarily the factors that can increase the time it takes to transcribe an audio file.

The quality of a recording can have a big influence on how long a transcription will take. A noisy environment with lots of background noises can play havoc with the transcription process.

For instance I had an interview transcription that had been recorded in a fairly busy café or restaurant. The microphone picked up all the other customers, their children and the coffee machine that hissed and popped every few minutes. At first this was amusing to listen to in a ‘fly on the wall’ sort of way but it almost completely obscured the voices of the participants and soon had me losing my sanity. This added to the transcription time and to the amount of inaudible words in the final transcript.

The speed of transcription can also depend on the speakers themselves and whether they speak clearly and at an audible rate. Some people are fast speakers and this coupled with say stumbling over words can make a transcription more difficult.

A good rate of volume on a recording is important. A good quality recording with a low volume that cannot be increased can be as troublesome to a transcriber as a poor quality recording.

Bear in mind that your transcription services provider may not be familiar with the subject matter of your recording and it would therefore be very useful to give them as much information as you can about the contents of the recording, i.e. names of speakers and URLs of websites that relate to the subject matter.

If your recording contains more than two speakers who do not introduce themselves then give your transcriber the order in which they first speak so the transcriber can try to recognise the voices of the individuals.

Here’s a quick checklist to save your transcriber’s sanity and get you the best transcription turnaround:

Avoid noisy environments
Encourage your participants to speak clearly and at an audible level
Check out the quality and volume of your recording by recording a 2 minute test file and listening back through headphones
Provide ancillary information to your transcription service provider


Check out King Audio Transcription & Typing Services for more information.