What do you think of when you think professional transcription services? Most people think of it as something like this:
Audio File + Transcriber = Transcript
And let’s be honest, that’s transcription in a nutshell. We take an audio file, assign it to one of our transcribers, and a transcript is created in a specific format. This process encompasses basic transcription services but does not address the “professional” part of it at all. Let’s explore the professional part of the transcription piece and see how that word applies to what we do here at TruTranscripts.
What Is Included in Professional Transcription Services?
First and foremost, professional transcription services encompasses amazing quality. We’ve talked extensively about TruTranscripts human transcribers versus AI. The end product from our service will always beat out an AI-produced transcript.
Aside from the input/output of transcription, professional transcription includes a variety of other services. Some of these you will certainly be familiar with, others may be entirely new to you.
SRT – An SubRip Subtitle (SRT) file is a subtitle file. No longer limited to foreign films, subtitles are increasingly used by businesses to increase availability of content to persons with disabilities.
VTT – Video Text Tracks (VTT) format is a format for displaying timed text tracks over a video. Unlike closed captioning and SRT, it is not a continuous text overlay. You can time the text overlay to appear at any point in the video.
Time Code – Time codes (00:00:00) are included in the transcript. These can denote elapsed time (like 5-minute intervals) or speaker changes.
Burnt-In Time Code – Burnt-In time code (BITC) applies time codes to the transcription to match the video tract. These are included only in the transcript, not overlaying the video itself. See our article on burnt-in time code.
Closed captioning – In our post-COVID world, closed captioning (CC) is gaining in popularity. Captioning is the process of converting the audio content from a media presentation (live or recorded) into text and displaying the text on a screen or monitor. Captions can display spoken words as well as speaker identifiers, sound effects, and musical description.
Records Review – A Records Review (RR) involves a dictated summary of an individual’s medical records. The goal of RR to extract all the pertinent information related to a specific injury or disease process from the entire medical record into one document.
Meeting Notes – Meeting notes come in a variety of formats, from verbatim notes with speaker identifiers to a summary of topics discussed, conclusions reached, and goals set. Transcripts can be as specific or as general as you need. Audio from your online meeting platform, in-house phone system, or digital recorder is easily converted into clear, useable notes.
Who Uses Professional Transcription Services?
Everyone who wants quality transcription! Researchers, social workers, investigators (law enforcement), and attorneys need time-coded transcripts for interviews. Independent medical examiners and insurance adjustors use records review. Media and journalistic outlets use BITC. All types of businesses need SRT or VTT for promotional and marketing presentations. Businesses increasingly use closed captioning to make accessible videos that are ADA and WCAG compliant, and C-level professionals benefit from verbatim or summary meeting notes for decision making.
If your business fits somewhere in that list, contact us for more information on the professional transcription services we provide to make your job easier.