9 reasons you haven’t thought of to hire a transcriptionist

There are many reasons why hiring a transcriptionist to transcribe audio files is needed by businesses. The most obvious, and what people think of straight away, are for interviews and meetings. But there are so many other reasons you might not even have thought of. Here’s quite a few we have come across in our many years of running a transcription business.

1. Research Projects  – Whether it be a university or work project, research can often utilise a variety of formats, including interviews and focus groups. Even if you are conducting hundreds of interviews, transcribing the audio can dramatically  reduce the amount of work required by the researchers.

2. For the Hearing Impaired  – Transcribing audio can assist for the hearing impaired. You can record your audio  and have them transcribed, giving the hearing impaired the opportunity to communicate in situations where they might not otherwise be able to.

3. Transcribing Court Records – A precise word-for-word transcript of court proceedings may be required by law. A transcription capturing both content and tone can assist lawyers with an accurate account of what has occurred, as well as better preparing them for their cases.

4. Add SEO Value – Transcriptions of audio recordings important to your business can add SEO value to your website. Adding more content with key search terms, customers looking for products or services that you offer are more likely to see your website, potentially increasing your organic traffic.   

5. Subtitles for Video Recordings – Video production companies can often outsource transcription of a video and then charge a mark-up, which makes this service more expensive than it needs to be. Hiring a transcriptionist to transcribe it for you can keep the cost down.

6. Recording Mobile Phone Conversations – The audio recording facility on a phone is really handy for recording important phone conversations. Make it even more user-friendly by transcribing those calls that are business-critical, to make sure you’ve captured all the data. 

7. Keeping Focus Group Notes – Instead of having to take lots of handwritten notes when supervising a focus group, recording it and getting the transcription later can save a lot of time and energy. This allows you to focus on running the focus group.

8. Live Streaming Videos – Live streaming webinars and town hall meetings are a great way to get people involved and interested. Make sure the content can be used later by having a transcriptionist turn the audio into a text file. 

9. Audio CDs – Does anyone have a bunch of audio CDs lying around that you don’t even have a CD player for any more? Get a transcriptionist to turn them into text files and use them for more than just coasters! 

Do you have any other out-of-the-box uses for transcription? Let us know in the comments below!