Over time the way in which transcription companies have operated has changed, and it is still changing today. Due to the advances in technology and different softwares and regulations being introduced into the transcription industry, means that the transcription process has been made quicker, more reliable, and more accurate since it first started. Due to these advances, more industries are relying on transcription services than ever before. 

How Did Transcription Services Start?

Before transcription services were a thing people used to sit in on important meetings or medical appointments and write out the conversations word for word. As you could imagine this would have been very difficult, and time consuming. Also, with no real way to play back the conversation to make sure you had not missed any important information, you were bound to have something missed out. This method of using a scribe dates all the way back to the 10th century. 

From here, large tape recorders came onto the market which took out the need for a scribe to be present. These machines were not the easiest of things to move between locations due to their size, and weight. 

Once the meeting had been recorded the tape would then be sent out through the post to a transcriber who would play the tape over and over again, writing out the audio word for word. 

These would have been typed out with a typewriter. The typewriter caused a restrictive typing speed which made the process very time consuming, especially when you were trying to keep up with the speed of someone talking. Once this process had finally been completed the typed document would have then been sent back to the client through the post. 

Another restrictive and time consuming aspect of this process was the need to be reliant on the mail system. There were not the protocols in place that there is today, such as parcel tracking, to assure that the parcel would make it to its destination. And if the tape itself got lost in the post there was no backup. 

How Did Transcription Companies Benefit From The Release Of Microsoft Office?

When Microsoft Office was released in November 1990 there was no need for the use of typewriters. By this time they had been replaced by PCs which came with keyboards that made typing an easier, and a much faster task. This advancement in technology massively benefited the transcription industry. 

At this time many other industries realised the importance which transcription companies held, and started to use these services as well. 

How Did Further Advancements In Technology Benefit The Transcription Industry?

Advancements in the internet and various other aspects of technology over time have really allowed for the transcription industry to grow. For example the audio quality improvements that came with the development in audio recording made it a lot easier to understand what was being said. This made the job of a transcriptionist more straightforward, as well as giving clients a more accurate outcome. 

The level of reassurance that clients got when it came to privacy also increased. This is because the need to send the recording via the post was eliminated, and the ability to upload the files directly to the transcription company website became an option. This meant that the files you wanted transcribed no longer had to bypass anyone else, improving levels of confidentiality. This method also eliminated any time wasted due to waiting for documents to be delivered through the post.

By switching to an online method of uploading also allowed for people to receive these files worldwide. This opened the world of offshore transcription services which some companies still use today. 

How Are Transcription Services Expected To Change In The Future?

Alphabet Secretarial transcription services are a company that pride themself on the use of humans in their transcription process. However, there are many companies relying on the use of machines as their transcribers. This is due to it being one of the quickest methods within the transcription industry. 

The use of machine transcription has room for software development which can improve the level of accuracy that they currently possess. This is due to the fact that machines still have difficulties when it comes to differentiating background noise with people talking. They also do not have the ability to remove erms and urms that we use to break up speech. 

To Summarise

Although the transcription industry has already evolved a lot, there is plenty of room for further advancements. It is expected that, as with most other industries, we will head to relying on machines as the way forward when it comes to transcribing. However, there will always be companies that use and trust human transcription services more. 

The demand for transcription services are increasing more and more with many meetings and courses moving to be conducted online. So it is really important that the transcription industry can keep up with the high demand, while still maintaining high levels of accuracy.