The Benefits of Using the Correct Hardware and Software for Transcription

Most people think of transcription work as; listen to the audio and type what is being said electronically on word. Right! Wrong. At Capital Captions we know there is so much more to it than that, for instance we know how important using the correct hardware and software is when it comes to producing top quality transcripts and in a timely manner. So, in today’s blog we’ll be taking a look at some of The Benefits of Using the Correct Hardware and Software for Transcription. 

Hardware 

First we’ll start by taking a look at what some of the correct hardware you’ll need would be:

Foot pedals: Using foot-pedals to allow you to rewind and play audio without the need to move your hands off the keyboard is one of the most fundamental ways to save time whilst transcribing. Most professional transcriptionist use foot-pedals as it is so much quicker to be able to rewind the audio and the quicker you are typing the more money you can earn. 

Quality Audio Headphones: Using high end headphones can make a massive difference when it comes to listening to hard to hear audio or deciphering between really thick accents and dialects. Headphones, as one may expect, is one of the most fundamentally important hardware aspect of the job. Choosing the right headphones for the job can be tricky. You need to be able to hear the audio as clean as possible. Our suggestion would be to go for noise-cancelling headphones and wrap around the ears ones. This is so you can hear the audio  without any of the background noise you normally get with in-ear headphones.  

Comfortable keyboard: This one sounds obvious but having a keyboard that you are comfortable with makes a huge amount of difference when it comes to your potential typing speed. Your typing speed can determine whether you earn £100 a day or £30. Having a keyboard that you are comfortable with makes a difference. 

Software 

The software you use is just as important as the hardware you use in order to save you time, effort and money in the long run, Using quality software programs like Express Scribe and the correct file converter software can make your job so much easier and quicker. Lets take a look at some of the best software for transcription. 

Express scribe: This software is a free player which is designed for transcriptionists and typist. The software features foot pedal control, speech to text integration and supports a wide variety of audio formats including MP3 and WMA’s. Audio recordings can be loaded directly from CD, local hard drive or an FTP program. This is one of the best free software for transcriptionists and would highly recommend it. If you are interested in trying it out for free, check out this link: Express Scribe Transcription Software

File conversion software: A good file converter software package that can convert any file is a must. sometimes you may get a file which will not open with any software you work with so having a good software package will eliminate this.

So there you have, you may think that transcription is quick and easy to do, and in some cases, if you have a really nice short, clear audio to transcribe it can be, but the reality is that in most cases the audio is hard to hear, accents can be thick and difficult to understand and having the best headphones and foot pedals to help you rewind quickly and efficiently is your best option to get the job done in the quickest possible time. 

If you’re thinking of becoming a freelance transcriptionist then why not take a look at our working guidelines and send your resume to us today.