Needless to say, the process is quite time-consuming. A single hour of recording can take anywhere between 5-9 hours to transcribe.

Since a lot of transcription services charge by the hour, it’s a good idea to have a basic understanding of the factors that affect transcription turnaround time.

1. Accents

The stronger (and uncommon) the accents of the speakers, the longer it takes to transcribe a recording.

2. Number of Speakers

Any recording with more than 3 speakers would take longer to transcribe, especially if the speakers are all talking at the same time.

3. Subject of the Recording

Recordings with technical terminology require research for spellings and therefore take longer to transcribe.

Simple recordings with lots of names of places, personalities, books etc. can also take time for the same reason.

4. Rate of Speech

If the participants on a recording speak really fast and with very few pauses, the recording will definitely take a lot of listening and re-listening. That means extra transcription time.

5. Audio Quality

Outdoor recordings or recordings made without using microphones usually have background noise or ‘echo’. These recordings need several rounds of listening and therefore take longer to transcribe.

6. Typing Speed

Typing at the speed of around 80 wpm, it would take approximately 8-10 minutes to transcribe a 1-minute recording. So an hour of clearly recorded audio/video would takes about 5 hours to transcribe.

7. Experience

Experience plays a big role in transcription time, for e.g., knowledge of a subject (like software or finance) can greatly reduce research time and improve transcription speed.

Familiarity with a speaker’s style and the words they commonly use also helps improve transcription time and accuracy (that’s why people like to stick to their transcription service once they’ve found a good one).

All factors considered, here’s a simple guide to transcription turnaround time for a 1-hour recording:

Simple recording (no background noise, 1-3 speakers): 5 hours.

Complex recording (background noise, more than 3 speakers, strong accents, or technical content): 7-9 hours.

Knowing this is helpful in calculating costs if your transcription service charges by hours worked. But there are some transcription companies that charge by audio-minute (1 audio minute = 1 minute of recording). This means you pay only for the audio length, no matter how long the transcription service takes to transcribe it. That’s usually a better way go because of the transparency it allows.

Duration of the audio or video recording

A clear 60-minute recording can take anywhere between 2-4 hours to transcribe and another 1-2 hours to proof. First the transcriptionist types out the entire recording without rewinding any part. Then she proofs the transcript by listening to the entire recording once again and simultaneously reading the text. While doing this she corrects errors and fills in the blanks left out in the first round. If there are too many blanks or mistakes in the text, a second round of proofreading may be needed, consequently increasing the transcription turnaround time.

Number of speakers

Speaker identification in recordings with multiple speakers can take time (depending on the rate of speech of the speakers and how disciplined the conversation is).

The transcriptionist has to carefully identify of each speaker’s voice and mark their name correctly each time they speak on a recording. For this the transcriptionist has to go slow and may have to re-listen to parts of the recording more than once.

Accents

Transcribing recordings in strong accents – such Irish or Australian – not only requires an understanding of the accents but also colloquialisms. A transcriptionist must have experience in working with difficult accents and has to carefully listen/re-listen to the recording to ensure accuracy.

Accents almost invariably add to the turnaround time for transcription.

Technical Content

Transcribing interviews, seminars, and other recordings on technical subjects requires research. A medical interview may involve medical terminology or a board meeting may involve financial terms that are not commonly known and must be researched.

Generally a transcriptionist would mark these terms as blanks while creating the first draft. Then he’ll go back and research each term to fill in the blanks at the time of proofreading. This obviously adds to the transcription turnaround time.

Audio Quality

This is a big one. A clear recording, free of background noise and recording issues is the easiest to transcribe. But many audio files (especially those created outdoors or created using inadequate equipment) are not well recorded. For example, an interview conducted over dinner without using lavaliere microphones may have the sound of cutlery, background music and side conversations recorded along with the actual voices of the participants. This makes transcription difficult and naturally slows down the process.

Transcription turnaround time is also impacted if the volume of the speakers is not high enough. It is always advisable to use microphones and (when possible) conduct the recording in a quiet room to minimize noise.

Transcription Style

There are 2 main styles of transcription used by most people. Verbatim Transcriptionand Clean Read Transcription. Verbatim transcription normally takes longer.

Editing

Editing a transcript for grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, etc. requires an editor to go through the entire text. This adds to the time taken to produce a finished product.

Formatting

Adding formatting such as headings, subheadings, italicizing or highlighting text, paragraphing, adding margins, etc. also adds to the transcription turnaround time.

In essence, transcription turnaround time depends on the recording quality, complexity of the subject, and what you need the final document to look like. The best way to find out how long your recording will take is to send a sample to your transcriptionist and ask them to give you an estimate.