In our post on What Are Professional Transcription Services, we looked at the basic transcription formula for generating a transcript:
where a is the audio file, b is a transcriber, and c is the transcript. In keeping with our algebraic theme, let’s head to summer school and take a closer look at these variables.
Variable a: The Audio File
The audio file can be broken down into several components:
t = technology component
bg = background component
s = speaker quality component
Technology affects both how the speaker is captured on the audio as well as ambient background noise. This yields us the following formula for a.
Variable s can be further broken down based on the speaker’s accent (c), enunciation (n), volume (v), and speed (S). An increase in speaker speed inversely affects all of the speaker attributes, or as we say in math lingo, speed is inversely proportional to the other variables. Therefore, our variable a is actually expressed as:
Variable b: The Transcriber
Now let’s take a closer look at variable b, the transcriber. First, hearing acuity plays a pivotal role in the transcriber’s ability to decipher the voice file. Second, a transcriber’s education and training is directly proportional to their transcription success. Throwing on a pair of headphones and typing just doesn’t work. Lastly, the transcript quality is affected by the transcriber’s critical thinking skills. These three variables are designated:
I = hearing acuity
x = education and training
ct = critical thinking
Variable b can now be expressed as:
Now, there’s one more variable that affects the transcriber, and that’s q, which stands for quality assurance. Our quality assurance program at TruTranscripts ensures that a second set of eyes looks at your transcript before it’s returned to you. Quality assurance affects the transcriber in a positive way. Their listening acuity, training, and critical thinking are all improved by QA feedback. Our final equation for variable b looks like this:
Therefore, our final equation for a perfect transcript looks like this:
Class is concluded for today. We hope you enjoyed your summer school lesson. As you can see, many variables affect the final outcome of your transcript. Before you head out to enjoy the sunshine, contact us to get a quote or upload a voice file. TruTranscripts can plug in all the right variables and generate a perfect transcript for your business!