How Transcribing Has Changed Over the Years

Back in the day, a transcriber would sit at a desk equipped with cabling running from an enormous PC to headphones the size of a military gas mask. Feet would sit perched on a big, flat, foot pedal with more cabling connected to a dictation device containing an audio tape. The transcriber would wind forward and back by pressing a foot pedal listening to the audio while typing onto a keyboard with keys the size of typewriter buttons. Those good old days were only 10 years ago!

To put things in perspective though, at around the same time your television was big enough to double as a coffee table and your cell phone came with  suitcase sized satellite receiving device and you had to use both hands to grasp the handset.

Technology has been evolving fast and that has meant massive change for transcribers (not to mention television and telephones). Today’s transcriber listens to small, digital data, recording devices. He or she types onto a slim, possibly ergonomic, keyboard and uses hands to forward and rewind. Correction applications in software mean the transcriber may pay less attention to detail knowing that spellcheck is possible. Transcription technology today looks very different than it did in the past. Like all computerized tech, transcription devices are smaller and more efficient. Transcription software has been trying to keep up but to date, with only mediocre results.

Transcription today continues to change rapidly. As of TranscribeMe, specialized digital recording devices are no longer necessary. Transcription can occur anytime, anywhere, using a smartphone carried in the hand or placed in the middle of a table. Today’s technology can record multiple voices and not only that, these voices are distinguished and transcribed with individuals identified. This is something that the transcriber of the 00s would have struggled to believe. So what wonders remain for tomorrow’s transcriber? Here is a glimpse:

• Tomorrow’s transcriber will have clean audio uninterrupted by superfluous sounds
• Tomorrow’s transcriber will use his or her voice to forward or rewind or to create notes within text
• Tomorrow’s transcriber will enjoy silence free audio
• Tomorrow’s transcriber will enjoy easier user interfaces than ever imagined in the past
• Tomorrow’s transcriptions will turnaround faster than ever before thanks to technological support and it will be more accurate than ever before too!

Did I say tomorrow?

Well that was yesterday and as of right now, all of these transcription tools are available to TranscribeMe transcribers and customers – today.