When Hiring a Transcription Company Knowing Your Industry Is Critical to Success
Every industry has its own language, formats, standards and expected turnaround times. When choosing a transcription firm, there is an importance on selecting one that knows your industry so you can save time and speak the same language.
Industry Formats and Expectations are Key
Transcripts are about more than a human typing the words exactly correctly. In many industries, certain formats, timestamping and the ways that speakers are identified is standard. Unless your transcription firm is aware of these expected criteria, your transcripts may require significant extra work on your part to train the firm, or correct them yourself.
As experts in marketing research transcription, we type all our focus groups a certain way. This allows the differentiation from the moderator and the respondents to be clear. For certain online qualitative platforms, we also timestamp so the video can be easily synced, and we API to the platform for ease with short clips. This type of transcription is highly specialized.
The television industry has another set of expectations for a walk and talk interview, with 30 second timestamps and at every speaker change. For the medical industry, we employ a totally different set of formatting and speed standards.
Language Matters
Industry terms are also very important. For marketing research, terms like Respondent – not Respondant and IHUT are part of everyday language. In the legal industry, when “brief” or “accessory” are used in a legal context and not everyday language, it can lead to some complications for transcribers, especially if the audio is not crystal clear.
In fact, some of the most common errors made by new or inexperienced transcriptionists include misuse of words, lack of consistency, and failure to correct conflicting information. This is where industry experience and quality assurance will make your life easier. Not only will our experienced transcriptionists provide verbatim transcription, but the QA team will also proof and flag any information that just doesn’t make sense.
Knowing the Language is Beneficial; Knowing Your Needs Is Expected
Working with a transcriptionist who is experienced in your specific industry is a major benefit when you are seeking services, but having a team that knows the niche needs of your industry is huge. When you consider the security needs of medical and legal transcription, the time-sensitivity of market research, and the accessibility needs of academic transcription, knowing that your transcription provider will have you covered in all these fundamentals will be the difference between a great experience and a costly oversight.
Still, finding a team that can do it all may seem impossible. But at FFTranscription, anything is possible!
Work With Industry Experts and Focus Forward Your Transcription
If you are in need of expert transcription services with a team that is knowledgeable in your specific industry, you need to contact the pros at FFTranscription. We can handle your market research, medical, legal, business, academic, production, audio, video, and podcast transcription with ease. Contact us today to learn how we can help!
Focus Forward offers a comprehensive and consultative approach to research services. From recruitment to transcription, translation and coding, we’re there for you, supporting each phase of your journey to ensure it’s a success.
