At a time where everyone is working online as a transcriber, you might be wondering what exactly is an automated speech/machine transcriber. If we have human beings working as transcribers, how is it possible that machines can also be referred to as transcribers? These are questions that I believe you’ve been asking yourself and which prompted you to search for answers. You came to the right place because on this article, I will give you a 101-special introduction to machine transcription.
- What exactly is machine transcription?
In layman’s language, machine transcription is the process where audios/voices are converted into transcripts by the help of machines.
Basically, machine transcription is a process where audios/ audio visuals are processed from one format into another. This means that an audio is converted into a hard copy document or a transcript. We can also refer to the machine transcribers as special machines that help in processing words or voices. So, transcription machines are a combination of transcribers and dictation machines.
The reason why we say that transcription machines are a combination of both human transcribers and dictation machines is for the mere fact that a human transcriber has to go through the transcripts created from a machine transcriber, in order to ascertain accuracy. This does not in any way mean that one can’t use a machine transcriber, and be content. You can use machine transcribers without using human transcribers if you are looking for general speech to text automation and are not keen on the quality and accuracy of your transcripts.
- What is the History of Transcription Machines?
Transcription machines have been in existence since time in memorial. It is noted that they became quite popular during the radio cassette era and ever since they have been quite an asset to people in different professional fields. The whole point of transcription machines is to help in converting audio recordings into hard copy documents which we all know are easy to safe keep and document for future references. It is not new that recordings usually get distorted over time and it is important to keep certain information safely. From professional lawyers, to students, to journalists, these are different people who find transcription machines of great use and importance to their day to day lives. Accuracy is important and being able to record a speech, word for word in order to convert it into a transcript later on, is better than hand written notes which are usually done in summary style, meaning you might miss important information.
As I mentioned above, transcription machines became popular during the cassette era and till date there are some transcription machines which still use the cassette style but with time things have changed and with the growth of technology and everything going digitally, we have transcription machines which are digital and easy to access from anywhere in the world. If you ask me, digital transcription machines are more advantageous and beneficial than cassette transcription machines. One of the advantages of digital transcription machines that is worth noting is the fact that you can load easily onto a computer, and thus not required to replace tapes and other outdated sources with latest storage devices like DVD’s and CD’s as they can’t be after the user runs out of space. Moreover, digital recording offers the chance to dramatically improve the interface of transcription machines.
- Where we use Transcription Machines?
Now that you are aware of what a transcription machine is and what it does, you might be wondering where you can use it and how it can benefit you in your day-to-day life. For the longest time, people didn’t know the importance of machine transcriptions and that’s why they steadily moved from it and embraced human transcription. Human transcription does offer quality and accuracy but transcription machines offer a little less of that (which is also beneficial) but at a very low price and the turnaround time is very fast. Some of the professional industries who have embraced transcription machines range from hospitals, Court rooms, schools and other voice-oriented communication Industries. It is important to note that as much as human transcribers are preferred over transcription machines, transcription machines make work extremely easy for human transcribers, because all they have to do is proofread a machine transcribed transcript to ensure that its 100% accurate. With time developers have been developing transcription machines whose accuracy is quite high, might not be 100% because of quality of recording and accents used in different audios but the technology of transcription is steadily growing and getting better with time. These machines are necessary in the precision of voice recordings.
- What Is the Scope of Transcription Machines?
Transcription machines are here to stay. They have been there; they are here and they will continue to be here. It is extremely hard to get rid of something that has been of great importance and acted as a tool to help in record keeping for a lot of professional industries.
Did you know that before you get to enjoy the subtitled Netflix films that you do, transcription is one of the processes that take place? How hard or easy do you think it would be for a human transcriber to transcribe a whole season of “La casa de papel”? Unless it’s a lot of transcribers working on it at once, it will definitely take close to a month for only one transcriber to finish. What then happens is that a transcription machine is used to transcribe the audio visuals which later human transcribers are able to go through, proofreading and proving the accuracy concept to them. So as much as transcription machines are not accurate, they come in handy and make work simpler for human transcribers. As a human transcriber myself with almost 5 years’ experience, I can swear by transcription machines. It is easier working on an automated audio text than working on an audio from scratch. Simply put, what I’m saying is that the scope and future of transcription machines is brighter than ever before. People are still discovering its importance and without a doubt they will definitely jump on the bandwagon and start using transcription machines.
Human transcribers need to know that transcription machines are beneficial to them and will make their transcription experience quite interesting and enjoyable. Now, on the other hand, they should be aware that transcription machines won’t replace them in any near future but if technology continues growing and developing and a way to make them accurate is found, then they might be replaced. Everything is moving digitally and the future is digital so anything is possible. The best digital transcription machine in the market now is Native transcribe. With the level of accuracy for both spoken and recorded voices being at 98.9%, it goes without saying that you as a transcriber should get on the wave and start using it as soon as yesterday. It offers a free version for up to 500 minutes’ worth of audio. Be sure to try it out on your free time. Machine transcription is the new age way of transcription and the sooner you accept it and embrace it the better it will be for you and your profession.
