Transcription Made Easy: Tools for Converting Audio to Text

Transcribing can be a difficult task. Depending on the recording you're converting into text, you may have to deal with a fast speaker, a poor recording, a noisy environment, or an unusual accent. There are a variety of tools now on the market that make the process of transcription simpler. While computers aren't quite capable of automatically transcribing recordings, they can help make the process more efficient for you.

Transcription Software

If you're handling recordings on your computer, having the right transcription software can make a big difference. While there are several different software options available, there are certain features that you should look for when making your decision. Most important is the ability to control the playback, either with an external peddle or with keyboard shortcuts. You should be able to pause, rewind or even slow down the recording without ever taking your hands off of the keyboard.

Most transcription software should also provide you with the tools necessary to manage your recordings and transcriptions, as well as automatically load recordings. Express Scribe is one option that has the necessary features for a transcriptionist. It's available for free for both Windows and Mac. Other options include HyperTRANSCRIBE and InqScribe. A few software packages, such as Dragon Naturally Speaking now offer voice recognition; however, be cautious. Many of these kinds of tools provide transcripts that contain many errors.

Transcription Hardware

A transcriptionist's pedal is one of the main tools used to control how recordings are played back. Such pedals were originally developed to be used with cassette tape players. However, the majority of them now are meant to be used with computers and plug in with a USB connection. The Vpedal Foot Pedal is typical: it offers three-pedal operation. You can press either side of the pedal to rewind or fast forward, as well as press the center of the pedal in order to pause or play the recording. There are still some non-USB pedals for sale, but they're becoming harder and harder to find, especially as tape recorders become less common in the face of digital recorders. Even hand-held digital recorders typically have an option available to move recordings over to a computer these days. That fact, combined with the low cost of digital recorders, has made them the preferred tool.

There are other tools available to make taking notes and other tasks related to transcription much easier, as well. There are a number of pens on the market, such as Livescribe's Pulse Smartpen that can record the notes and drawings you take and send them to your computer. Evernote, an online application, takes an alternative approach: if you photograph and upload your notes to Evernote, even with a cell phone, the application will process the text within the note and make it searchable.

Recording Tools

If you're providing transcription services to someone not sure of the best way to create recordings for you, you can suggest a digital dictation system. By using digital dictation, you'll have access to recordings that can be played back on any computer. A digital dictation system, such as Vdictate, provides a microphone that plugs into a computer with a USB slot. The microphone has playback buttons that allows a user to easily handle recording.

It's also possible to use most recording programs that come with computers to create audio files for transcription. Because most transcription software can handle standard audio formats (such as MP3s), most recordings made with commonly available software should be easy to play back through transcription software.