Best Transcription Software in 2024

What Is Transcription Software?

Transcribing audio to text all by yourself can be quite a daunting task. Thanks to transcription software applications that are readily available to not only transcribe audio but also videos, interviews, phone calls among other things into text in multiple languages.

Transcription software makes speech-to-text transcription an automated process, thus assisting businesses to save money, time, and human effort in capturing intricate details.

How Does Transcription Software Work?

Transcription software helps transcribe audio and video quickly using both manual and automatic transcription method. The software uses speech to text technology, that is, it listens to a file and converts it into meaningful text. Hence, one need not take notes manually and instead stay focused and engaged during the conversation.

One of the top benefits of using transcription tools is the manual effort and time users can save. It would be apt to say that AI is helping transcribers save time!

Who Can Use Transcription Software?

Transcription software is used across multiple industries. Some of the notable ones are as follows:

• Corporate: Transcription software for sales professionals can help you transcribe audio to text. You can convert sales call for feedback or training purposes or even use it to onboard new sales representatives.
• Education: Transcription tools will help you view notes in a systematic manner. It also allows you to focus on the lecture instead of jotting down notes manually.
• Human Resources: Transcription software is helpful for hiring managers when it comes to recording meetings, training new HR specialists, transcribing log notes or calls. This helps the team to easily review previous interviews/meetings and analyze what works and what not.
• Legal: Using transcription software in legal proceedings helps to get clear transcripts that are important for lawyers handling cases like medical malpractice, workers compensation, to name a few.

Features of Transcription Software

Some of the common features of transcription software are:

• Automatically transcribes audio from interviews, video, conversations and more to text
• Offers advanced management tools to transcribe files securely
• Provides necessary tools for editing files and reviewing 
• Capable of scanning transcriptions to find specific keywords or phrases
• Used for training reps or for new hire onboarding process
• Ensures information accessibility to everyone including people who have hearing loss
• Creates a recording of rep to customer conversations for future reference
• Quick integration with other apps

Benefits of Transcription Software

Let’s look at some of the major benefits of using transcription software.

• Convenient to Use: In the technological world where people have become more and more dependent on their mobile phones, transcription software offers convenience to users. This is especially beneficial when it’s available on mobile apps. The best part is even the most complicated software is quite user friendly and a great alternative to typing manually.
• Saves Time and Effort: Automatic transcription tools allow you to transcribe a recording/ audio or text within minutes. The software will display all the key elements of your write up which otherwise you may miss.
• Boosts Productivity: Transcription software can be invaluable in increasing your work efficiency and productivity. This is especially beneficial if you have multiple projects to work on at the same time or need to quickly jot down pointers. And the best part? These tools are quite easy to implement.
• Increases Accessibility: By converting audios to text, you’re targeting an audience that prefers reading to watching a video and thus accelerating your marketing efforts. Moreover, for people with hearing problems, a transcript can prove to be an ideal source of information.
• Boosts SEO: Transcription software provides texts that allow search engines to crawl and index. A properly indexed content online has a higher chance to rank high, thus drawing more viewers to your content.
• Increases Engagement: Transcribing audio into text not only enhances your video but also helps increase overall engagement. With increased user experience comes longer viewing times and your audience starts connecting with your brand. Well, who knew that subtitles for your videos would lead to increased user engagement!

Key Factors to Consider When Buying Transcription Software

Some of the crucial factors to consider when choosing transcription software are as follows:

• Accuracy: Accuracy is one of the key factors to look for when you want to transcribe online. The accuracy of the transcription software depends on quality of the recording, microphones used, background noise and so on.
• Audio formats: In addition to accuracy, you should check whether the transcription software you choose supports various audio formats or not. This is essential as the audio format you require would largely depend on the type of projects you work on.
• Features: Most transcription software provides a range of features like ability to input timestamps, unique templates and even support uploading of large files among other things. You should consider buying the transcription tool that provides specific features to suit your unique requirements.
• Pricing: The price of the transcription software should be budget friendly. Also, remember that you need to pay only for the services provided to you. In case of overhead charges, discuss with your software provider before signing the agreement.
• Customer service: It is best to opt for transcription software that provides personalized customer service. A great post sales experience matters the most to customers.
• Processing time: The processing time of transcription software depends on the length of a recording. Usually, the time taken to transcribe an hour-long file is half an hour.
• Optimization: It is crucial to check if the transcription software allows for optimization feature or not. Using the custom feature, you can make your output more accurate by adding words that you commonly use.
• Integrations: Modern AI based transcription software allows for quick integration with other apps, thus saving time in fetching audio and video files. Hence, before choosing transcription tools, see that it integrates easily with other apps.
• Usability: Along with attractive features, opt for transcription software that is easy to navigate. A simple user interface provides a positive user experience.
• Security: Take some time out to thoroughly research about the data privacy and security features followed by a transcription software vendor. It is important to ensure that security is prioritized when looking for the best transcription software.