Outsourcing Business Audio Transcription - Do You Really Need Verbatim? It's Cheaper Without It! Back to article summary page

People often assume that transcription needs to be 'verbatim' and some definitions of transcription even include the word as part of the definition. However, a verbatim transcription actually includes every repeated word, every 'um' and 'erm', all those 'filler' phrases like 'you know' and 'know what I mean' that may be repeated a hundred times in one interview or meeting, and can also include pauses, coughs, throat clearing etc. if required. Needless to say, this takes longer. If the transcriptionist can filter out all this stuff the transcript will be completed more quickly and therefore cost less. In my company the cheapest level is what we call 'intelligent verbatim' which cuts out all these fillers but leaves the rest exactly as it's spoken. Somewhat more expensive is edited, which corrects the grammar and any mispronounced words as well as knocking out all the fillers. Different transcriptionists work this differently though, so always check when you're phoning for your quote. Here are some brief examples.

Verbatim

So, anyway, you know, I 'm planning to start the um IT project in er … round about … no definitely on the er, 13 September this year. It's tricky though - know what I mean? So it'd be good if you could all er sort of confirm kind of thing. Know what I mean?

Intelligent Verbatim

I'm planning to start the IT project on the 13 September this year. It's tricky though, so it'd be good if you could all confirm.

Edited

I'm planning to start the IT project on 13 September this year. It is tricky though, so it would be good if you could all confirm that you are able to make that date.

You can see that considerably more typing is required to complete the verbatim transcript, and in the context of a business meeting it is far more of a hindrance than a help when reading it back. It's much easier to make sense of the intelligent verbatim version, so it's easier to transcribe, cheaper and a more useful end product. A real win-win situation!

There are occasions when verbatim is required - perhaps for legal reasons, or in a training course where you're looking at the language used, but if you really don't need it, don't end up paying for it!

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