We are independent & ad-supported. We may earn a commission for purchases made through our links.
Advertiser Disclosure
Our website is an independent, advertising-supported platform. We provide our content free of charge to our readers, and to keep it that way, we rely on revenue generated through advertisements and affiliate partnerships. This means that when you click on certain links on our site and make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn more.
How We Make Money
We sustain our operations through affiliate commissions and advertising. If you click on an affiliate link and make a purchase, we may receive a commission from the merchant at no additional cost to you. We also display advertisements on our website, which help generate revenue to support our work and keep our content free for readers. Our editorial team operates independently of our advertising and affiliate partnerships to ensure that our content remains unbiased and focused on providing you with the best information and recommendations based on thorough research and honest evaluations. To remain transparent, we’ve provided a list of our current affiliate partners here.
Technology

Our Promise to you

Founded in 2002, our company has been a trusted resource for readers seeking informative and engaging content. Our dedication to quality remains unwavering—and will never change. We follow a strict editorial policy, ensuring that our content is authored by highly qualified professionals and edited by subject matter experts. This guarantees that everything we publish is objective, accurate, and trustworthy.

Over the years, we've refined our approach to cover a wide range of topics, providing readers with reliable and practical advice to enhance their knowledge and skills. That's why millions of readers turn to us each year. Join us in celebrating the joy of learning, guided by standards you can trust.

What Is Audio Transcription?

M. McGee
By
Updated: May 17, 2024
Views: 21,225
References
Share

Audio transcription is the process of taking spoken words and making them into written text. In the past, a person would sit and write words as they were spoken. Now, audio recordings of various types and several methods of transcription exist. Analog and digital recording methods will allow a person that isn’t present during the talking to still transcribe the text. In addition, many software packages will read audio files and quickly convert them to text without having to actually play them.

For many years, audio transcription was a specialized and tedious profession. People that transcribed speech had to be present at the time of speaking, often meaning companies would have to hire people trained in advanced techniques such as shorthand. This also limited transcription services to those who had access to a trained transcriber.

With the invention of audio recordings, this field changed dramatically. With a recording, the transcriber could work from anywhere where the recording could be delivered. In addition, transcription no longer needed shorthand as the recording could be reversed and listened to multiple times. A single transcriber could also work for a multitude of clients simultaneously, since she no longer needed to be present for the speeches.

With the increase in computer use and Internet speeds, the field of audio transcription stayed largely the same. Files, rather than tapes, were often emailed instead of being sent by normal mail. The speed of the process increased, but the methods didn’t.

This changed in the late 90s with the increasing use of speech recognition and dictation software. The job of transcribing was going more and more towards computer assistance and then full automation. Software packages came out that could read the information inside an audio file and use the speaker’s wave patterns to build a text version of a speech. This would take seconds rather than the minutes or hours of a human transcriber.

Computer-automated audio transcription has a few flaws that are difficult to overcome, the largest of which is a relative lack of corrective speech. When a human transcriber listens to text, she can correct slight errors in the speech in order to make it more readable. While some transcription is verbatim, meaning it is exactly what the person said, most is not. Without corrective speech, a human will often have to check the transcription for errors before it is used.

The other common flaw of computer-based audio transcription lies in the very speech of humans. Since people have a huge range of tones and patterns when they speak, creating a computer program that can accurately read and translate the entire range is exceptionally difficult. This means that a certain amount of error is common in nearly all transcription software. The most common way of working around this flaw is through learned speech, where the program and a single speaker work together enough that the program focuses on the single person’s patterns.

Share
WiseGeek is dedicated to providing accurate and trustworthy information. We carefully select reputable sources and employ a rigorous fact-checking process to maintain the highest standards. To learn more about our commitment to accuracy, read our editorial process.
Link to Sources
M. McGee
By M. McGee
Mark McGee is a skilled writer and communicator who excels in crafting content that resonates with diverse audiences. With a background in communication-related fields, he brings strong organizational and interpersonal skills to his writing, ensuring that his work is both informative and engaging.

Editors' Picks

Discussion Comments
By anon214185 — On Sep 14, 2011

GMR Transcription provides accurate and affordable audio transcription services.

M. McGee
M. McGee
Mark McGee is a skilled writer and communicator who excels in crafting content that resonates with diverse audiences....
Learn more
Share
https://www.wisegeek.net/what-is-audio-transcription.htm
Copy this link
WiseGeek, in your inbox

Our latest articles, guides, and more, delivered daily.

WiseGeek, in your inbox

Our latest articles, guides, and more, delivered daily.