1. Experience
2. Expertise
3. Empathy
1. Experience - Dee Briston, the Director and Project Manager of Audiosec Limited is, herself, a professional transcriber. She does not outsource work to inexperienced typists that only have basic knowledge of audio typing (i.e. typing up one-person dictation of notes, letters etc) or provide an online service just to make 'easy' money at the expense of the client. She passionately believes that if a service is offered online it should deliver the promises the website promotes. We only use professional transcribers who have proven their abilities (see expertise) and are experienced in the fields of transcription our clients need, i.e. in-depth interview transcription, focus group transcription, under caution interview transcription, conference transcription, lecture transcription, telephone interview transcription, financial web-cast transcription and video transcription. We don't provide transcription of general correspondence as we do not consider this transcription but audio typing. We would advise clients to be very wary of companies that offer general secretarial services alongside 'transcription' as the service provider will be extremely limited in their hands-on experience of in-depth transcription.
2. Expertise - All of the transcribers who work with Audiosec Limited are professionals. Each applicant is vetted for their experience, that English is their mother tongue and that they are either residents of the British Isles or that they are ex-pats in European countries (we have two in Spain and three in France, all ex-pats and professional transcribers). A sample ten minute in-depth interview is sent to each applicant, along with precise instructions for layout and style of transcription (i.e. totally verbatim, including every um, eh and audible sound). Alarm bells ring if we get an enquiry that says 'I have a home computer and am a fast typist and would like to work from home'. Each test transcript returned is fully proof read against the original audio file and it has taken two years to find a team of 20 transcribers who have proven their expertise in not only transcribing accurately from an in-depth interview (with two foreign speakers - the interviewer and the participant) but also their ability to follow instructions accurately. It is no good us having a transcriber who is accurate but is unable to follow instructions and uses their own past experience to determine the layout, totally ignoring instructions. Our team members have to work as one unit so that clients don't get 30 interviews returned to them that are accurate but different in layout throughout. This vetting process prior to taking on transcribers means our clients can rest assured their work will be excellent throughout and that if there are any problems, the Project Manager is here to deal with any issues promptly.
3. Empathy - We Know what it is like to expect excellent service, get shoddy workmanship and still be expected to pay for it because 'you signed the contract', or be fobbed off with excuses for poor workmanship. We use the word empathy for good reason ~ Empathy is often characterized as the ability to "put oneself into another's shoes", or to in some way experience the outlook or emotions of another being within oneself, a sort of emotional resonance. Our business runs along those lines - we offer the sort of service we would expect if we were paying for it. We don't want clients to feel they are being 'taken for a ride' or being overcharged for less than perfect service. We know clients are on a budget and will need to 'shop around' but we hope that clients appreciate that our prices are fair and honest. We don't over-charge or under-charge. We quote and are open (within reason) to negotiation. We would rather win your service than have you go elsewhere, get the work done cheaply but regret using another service provider.
4. Excellence versus economy - Looking at some of the sites on the web offering transcription services, the fees you would be expected to pay vary considerably. Some businesses offer a per audio minute rate less than we charge, in fact less than the team members here get paid. Frankly, these low prices cause me great concern - and that is not fear of competition or 'sour grapes' but experience speaking. We get offers constantly from offshore Asian or European companies asking us to outsource our work and we never take them up on their offer of cut price fees. With the in-depth interviews we deal with, the regional and foreign accents we are asked to transcribe, we wouldn't trust anyone but the excellent team here to work on those projects. Take a look at what one of our clients found from using a cheaper service.
We try to be as accommodating as possible with our pricing but the bottom line is the ladies get paid what they are worth and because they get paid well and are appreciated they do excellent work. They don't give up easily, they painstakingly research the internet and ask amongst the team members for input to ensure their transcripts are complete. You won't get lots of gaps with the excuse that the audio was difficult to hear if that's not the case.
If students come to us for transcription and can't afford VAT we recommend they contact Dee Briston through her non-VAT registered business at www.deewp.co.uk. If she is personally booked at the time of your enquiry she will pass your enquiry to one of the 20 transcribers who work with Audiosec Limited. This means you get access to first class transcribers but at prices that we could not offer as a VAT registered company.
We are in business but most importantly we make it our business to prove to clients that there are still companies offering services on the internet that offer fair pricing, excellent customer service and brilliant results.