audio or video recordings

 audio or video recordings

If you are dealing with audio or video recordings, you will need to transcribe at least some of the files yourself. While this process takes time and effort, a dedicated transcription service like Scribie could make your life easier.

If you want to save time and effort, you can create an automated alternative by uploading audio or video clips to the web in many categories. Extra costs can add up, but it’s a great alternative to many other options available on the market today, such as Google Docs.

Pricing

When we last tested the service, Scribie had optimized the calculation rate, but now it costs $0.80 per minute to transcribe an audio file manually and comes back within 36 hours. Scribie claims 99 percent accuracy for its manual transcription, and it’s more than twice as accurate as Google Docs and Google Translate.

In addition to the essential cost, you can choose from a few bonuses. There is an additional fee of $0.50 per minute for poor quality audio, strong accents, and noisy backgrounds.

Automatic transcription used to be free, but now it costs $0.10 per minute, with a minimum fee of $1.00 per file. Scribie does not offer a free trial.By comparison, Trint, an automated transcription service, costs $15 per transcription hour, which is more expensive than Scribie’s plan. Still, Otter offers a free automatic transcription service, and scripts are generally good value.

Web dashboard

You must sign up for an account to use Scribie’s automatic and manual transcription services. The first option, GoTranscript, costs $0.72 per minute, and most files under 30 minutes return to $12 per hour after 12 hours. Rev. charges $1 per minute for manual transcriptions, regardless of sound quality or accent.

Once you start adding more features such as audio editing and playback, the cost can shoot up to $2 per minute. The Scribes web console is only average; it is visually inconspicuous and can be confusing to navigate, but it is a good start. A quick way to improve the overall image would be to streamline the details in some areas of the file and apply a uniform color scheme and design style to all elements.

Scribie lets you upload files to your local drive, use links from YouTube or Vimeo, and even connect to Google Drive, Dropbox, or OneDrive accounts. If you do not match the file format listed, it is easy to convert your file to any format that Scribie supports.

You get to a dashboard with a list of all files. They have uploaded necessary information for Scribie to process, and the panel that lists them. Files are sorted by date, with the most recent appearing at the top of the list, but there is no way to customize them.

In the drop-down menu, you can rename items, change tags, trim audio, and edit any transcription in the built-in editor. Automatic transcriptions appear on the list of files, and a download link appears after the transcript has been ordered.

There is no delivery limit, although you can upload up to one hour of audio to Scribie for processing. On the right sidebar, Scribies displays a list of all available audio files, as well as the number of hours available for download.

All you need to do is set up a recording and subsequent transcription of a conference call and the participant dials into the call. As a service, Scribie hosts calls and takes recordings on the server, and subscribers dial into calls.

The Settings section has many customization options, while the sidebar menu simplifies navigation. I particularly like the ability to add team members to your account, and Rev has a similar team-based functionality. In the price list you can see all the details of your orders as well as the price for each order.

Transcription Process

Scribie follows a four-part transcription process, which is described in detail on its website and gives the company transparency. First, the transcript is divided into segments and sent to the freelancer who started the work.

The files remain separated until the next step, where they are re-read to correct any discrepancies. Next, the transcriptionist fixes any errors and adds the correct version of the transcript as well as the original audio file. The last step is a quality check, and Scribie checks for any discrepancies between the two versions and the final version.

As soon as the transcript is ready for dispatch, it is switched to the last of the two phases and read again. Once it reaches or exceeds an accuracy rate of 99%, the transcripts are returned to consumers for verification.

With regard to privacy, Scribie says that access to the files is based on a strict knowledge requirement and that all its employees are bound by confidentiality clauses. A 256-bit SSL encryption is also used for the communication between server and browser.

Online Editor

Once the transcription is complete, you can access the files from the dashboard, but there are additional precautions to have access to the complete files.

Every transcription service needs a capable editor to clean up the files, and writers make a good impression. The web editor is a modified version of what Scribies freelancer’s use, but it is still very similar to the original version. The editor looks minimalist and uses black and white elements without feeling crowded, so I like it.

At the top, just below, is a list of all key combinations and an overview of each key combination. On the right, there are other options to customize keyboard shortcuts, pull up the instruction manual, and make various improvements to the audio file. The basics include the ability to mark analyses for unusual words and phrases, the use of the “A” and “B” keys, a “D” for “d” and a number of other features.

Accuracy testing

To test the accuracy of the transcription service, I uploaded the same 16-minute recording for everyone. It is not a simple recording, but my voice is clearly audible and I made sure to use all the right words and phrases, as well as the right grammar and punctuation.

Scribie brought the transcript back in just over a day, which is the promised time frame of 36 hours, but not quite as fast as I expected. I chose three paragraphs, one for each speaker, to compare the totality of the test protocol. The automated transcription service completed the task in three to four minutes. Wherever there were missing or additional words, I marked the error with an error mark.

The total error rate was calculated by dividing the total number of errors by the length of the combined sections of each section and the average error rate for the entire test.Although it does not fulfill the promise of 99 percent accuracy, it is worth noting that all testing methods, definitions and accuracies were my own.

Automatic services work better for some tasks, but they are still not perfect.

When choosing a transcription service, accuracy is the primary metric you should use to make a decision. They have done an excellent job using a wide range of vocabulary and definitions, as well as a wide range of technical formulations.

Bottom line

Scribie gets good marks in all the above categories. The once-free automated transcription service is still a good deal, and it also has reviewed pricing.

Even though Scribie lacks a mobile app and its web design could be streamlined further, none of these flaws are egregious. It is a solid transcription service that delivers accurate results at a good price.