6 Things To Consider in Choosing Your Transcription Tool

A professional transcriptionist usually has their own way around how they transcribe a specific piece of audio. This means that transcriptionists have their own transcription tool that helps them not only come up with transcription but also come up with the transcription in a timely and accurate manner.

A transcription tool is a particular tool that aims to help both the transcriptionist and those that need to transcribe a specific piece of audio or video. While there are a lot of different transcription tools out there, there are only a few that are genuinely useful and provide good results.

Just like any other service in this day and age, there are always free versions that do not really give good results and there are those premium ones that might cost quite a high price. The trick is to find the perfect service that is priced somewhere in between instead of too high or too low that has the best offerings compared to others. Remember, it is not always the case that the most expensive service is certifiably the best.

There are a few things that need to be made sure of when getting a transcription tool especially if you will be paying an amount in order to acquire or use this tool. The list below shows a few of the things that need to be taken into account when acquiring or using a transcription tool so that you won’t waste a single cent of your hard-earned transcription money.

6 features to look for in a transcription tool

1. Easy-to-use

Sometimes complicated could mean better features. However, the perfect transcription tool does not have to be too complicated with all those tools and still help the transcriptionist access them. Aside from just the time spent on adjusting to the transcription tool, if a tool is generally hard to use over time, this could result in really inefficient outcomes and might cost the transcriptionist more time than saving it.

An easy-to-use tool basically means it is not exaggerated and is hosted in a really simple platform that is very easy to navigate. Not all the time will the transcriptionist be able to swing left and right.

2. Accuracy indicator

The confidence that the transcription tool has in its transcription allows the transcriptionist to assess just how much do they need to transcribe and how much they can leave. The better the audio file and the clearer the speaker is, the higher the accuracy that will be produced.

While it is a given that sometimes, the transcriptionist is provided with a really faulty audio, it is important for the transcription tool to indicate just how accurate they are able to make out of the given audio so the transcriptionist can expect how much work they need to put in.

3. Speed

Instant is the name of the game and without speed, the transcription tool won’t be able to serve its purpose which is to cut time and allow the transcriptionist to do less transcription work. Efficiency is very important and if a transcription tool does not function in a speedy manner, it sort of loses its purpose.

It is still important, however, to choose quality over speed as some instant transcription tools for free provide instant transcription but still very faulty and would end up requiring more work done by the transcriptionist in the end.

4. Security

When doing legal, medical, or any type of transcription, it is important that the transcription tool used is a professional service that does not steal the data inputted into the platform. This is one of the problems of a free transcription tool. Since the tool is free, it usually makes money by gathering the user data and selling it elsewhere.

The platform itself has to have a page that assures customers and lays down the details of its security and how they can protect their data. It is important that the transcription tool provides some sense of security for their users as privacy is very important in transcription.

5. Hidden charges

What’s scary is that when a particular transcription tool would charge its user a certain amount then upon extraction would charge the user again. There are a few transcription tools like this which can be very frustrating and also very expensive in the end.

Some transcription tools allow you to use a certain segment but to unlock everything, the user will be forced to pay extra. Finding a transcription tool that works at a fair price and does not include hidden charges is very important since switching from transcription tool to transcription tool can be very time-consuming.

6. In-platform editing

While this feature is not always available in every particular transcription tool, it is still very important to have especially if a transcriptionist needs to transcribe a huge amount of workload. Transferring the text from one platform to another is not only time consuming but also confusing.

A transcription tool that allows for the text to be edited in-platform is very important since this would allow the transcriptionist to work with both the audio and the text at the same time as well as go back and forth without any problems. The all-in-one audio-to-text plus editing tool is only available for certain transcription tools.

When looking for the perfect transcription tool, it is important to have a set of choices but when one checks off all of the needed features mentioned above, there will be no more need to switch from one transcription tool to another. In the end, adaptation and adjustment takes time which is why it is important to find the perfect transcription tool right away.

Looking for your go-to transcription tool? Izitext.io is here to help you. Aside from offering automated transcription, Izitext even enables you to edit the transcript freely without messing up the automated timestamps. Each word also matches the corresponding part of the audio file, so the entire transcription process is sped up massively. You won't regret choosing Izitext.