Audio, Video File Formats - High Quality Recordings for Transcription/Translation

Having audio and video transcribed or translated is becoming more and more common in the modern world for various reasons. Recordings that you may need transcribed or translated may include business meetings, focus group discussions, conferences, seminars, interviews, TV/radio shows, audio books, CDs, DVDs, videotapes, webcasts, podcasts and streaming media. However, before you go ahead and get your audio or video transcribed you need to know what file formats your audio/video transcription service handles. Most audio/video transcription/translation services have experience with many types of file formats including digital and analog formats for both audio and video. The more popular digital file formats include MP3, MP4, WAV, AVI, WMA, MPEG, WMV, SWF, MOV, FLV, GVI, DIVX, AIFF, etc. Whereas the more common analog file formats include magnetic taps, micro and mini cassettes and VHS.What makes a recording low quality?

One of the most important things to keep in mind with recordings meant for transcription or translation is quality. If the recording is of poor quality then the accuracy of the transcription or translation will also be, that is, if it is even possible to make a transcript at all. Some of the factors that make a recording have low quality include background/ambient noise, a low quality microphone, fluctuating volume, etc.Tips for high quality recordings

So, just how do you make sure that your recording is of high enough quality to guarantee a 100% accurate transcription or translation? Well, if you are making the recording yourself for instance recording a sermon, lecture or business meeting, make sure you have a good microphone. Microphones are either unidirectional (record sound from one direction) or omnidirectional (record sound from all directions. With the audio coming from only one direction a unidirectional microphone will work best because it will not pick up as much ambient noise. It's best to shop around and look for a microphone that best suits your needs and works well in the environment which you will be recording in.

The environment where you will be recording in contributes to the level of quality of the recording. Of course, the highest quality recordings come from professional sound studios with hi-tech equipment and sound proof walls, but other recordings can also be pretty good if they try to emulate those conditions as much as possible. Make sure to keep the background noise as low as possible which may include turning off machines nearby or closing windows and doors to keep out noise.

At the end of the day it does not matter as much what format you choose to record your files in, but the care you take to make the recording as high quality as possible. Nevertheless, if you have a recording that has less than perfect audio many transcription/translation services offer a "difficult audio" option that costs slightly more, but makes the best of recordings that are hard to make out.

Audio/Video Transcription Translations, File Formats for Transcription/ Translation Services, Candid Tech (18664108787-toll free) experts in handling Mp3,WAV,WMA,FLV,MPEG,SWF,CD/DVD,Cassettes,VHS,Magnetic tapes.Author: Victor ChristSource: http://EzineArticles.com/

Medical Transcription Outsourcing-Convenient Solutions

Medical transcription has earned its place in the healthcare process by creation of patient records, converting the audio records of the patient-healthcare professional encounter into text format. This process becomes even more convenient when outsourced to a professional service provider.
What is meant by convenient services?

The word convenience has been defined as being favorable to the user’s comfort, suiting the purpose and needs of the end user. It has also been defined as accessible, fitting, appropriate, timely and suitable. It is important to assess whether these services fit all these criteria.

· Favorable to the users’ comfort: These services serve the needs of a healthcare facility at several levels. The primary beneficiary of quality patient records is the healthcare professional. Others who benefit from these services are the support staff, the administrative staff and the billing department. An efficient transcription vendor would serve the needs of all the users, by providing benefits like:

a) Familiar and flexible modes of dictation
b) Creation of patient records with maximum accuracy
c) Archives
d) Eliminating overheads
e) Keeping up the turnaround time commitments, enabling the billing process to start on time· Suiting the purpose and needs of the end user: The purpose of this exercise are:

a) Saving time of healthcare professionals and other staff
b) Providing specialty transcription based on the specialization of the healthcare professional with speed and accuracy
c) Reducing cost per line of transcription
Sourcing the right transcription vendor would fulfill all these objectives

· Accessible: Ensures the accessibility of services. It enables the healthcare professionals to avail services according to their time and volume constraints

· Fitting: Ensures that the services are tailored to suit the needs of different healthcare professionals. Requirements like turnaround time, templates, formats, modes of dictation, mode of document delivery and even fonts are included while designing the services

· Appropriate: One of the major requirements of healthcare facilities is protecting the sanctity of confidential patient information. Medical transcription service providers understand the need to protect the information and appropriate measures are taken to ensure protection of data at all stages

· Timely: Ensures that the creation of patient records take place in a timely manner. Not only this timely creation of patient records also helps quicken the receivables cycle

· Suitable: Provides suitable solution for the problem of shrinking budgets and increasing demands on the limited resources available to the healthcare facilities. It not only ensures lowering of transcription costs but also saves on the overhead costs of the healthcare facility towards in-house transcription

It can be concluded that outsourcing medical transcription is indeed a convenient solution for the documentation needs of a healthcare facility, as it fulfills all the criteria by being favorable to the user’s comfort, suiting the purpose and needs of the end user and by being accessible, fitting, appropriate, timely and suitable. However to benefit from all the advantages it is important to source, evaluate and choose the right service provider.Author:Quality MT Renee KellySource: http://articlenexus.com

The Impact Of Advanced Technologies On Medical Transcription

The Impact Of Advanced Technologies On Medical Transcription By: Anne Shaw

Copyright (c) 2010 Anne Shaw

The use of machines has made transcription services more accurate and more productive. The medical transcription field has seen a lot of changes and there has been advancement in the type of speech recognition machines that are available today.

A lot of professions make use of transcription machines to change the spoken language into written documents. There are people in professions like reporting and medical transcription for whom these machines have become a necessity. They get help in tracking hearings in the courtroom and other meetings and events like speeches.

In earlier years, cassette players were used to record voices and now digital formats have evolved and information processing has thus become easier. There are a number of components in such transcription machines that can be combined together and a number of purposes can be served like recording. The machines that are used for the purpose of transcription are simple and the parts that are included in it are explanatory. Traditional machines usually come with a tape recorder that also has controls to adjust volume.

The controls present on transcribers are also meant for controlling the speed of recording. To listen to the recording, one can insert headphones in the jack provided for the purpose. The machines will generally have these headphones to make it easy for the person to listen to recorded audio file.

The machines also have speakers so that the audio file can be played and others too can listen to it, if they need to do so. While recording, the user also needs to keep a track of the recording time. For this purpose, transcribers have counters. Some of them may also have foot pedals or switches to turn them on and off.

The usage of such machines is now being done in a number of areas and the components of most of these machines are same. You can successfully do all the transcribing work with a good speed and can thus save energy and time. Controlling the speed of recording is easier and you can increase or slow down the audio levels so that recording can take place accurately. Whatever is being spoken by anyone at that time will be recorded in the machine. If the recording is done in a slow speed, you will not have to stop and rewind to listen to what is being said in the audio tape.

Although the work done by machines is same, there can be some variation in the style. The machines that are used in the court may make use of shorthand so that the reporter in the court is able to record what is being said by lawyers, judge and everyone else.

The machines that were used in past did not have shorthand options. The medical field too has come up with these modern machines and transcribers are using them extensively. Assessments are provided by the doctors with the help of such recorders and they can then be printed and typed. These reports can then be put in the records of the patient.

About the Author
Anne Shaw is the CEO of Transcription Vendors Inc., a Santa Ana, California based transcription company, which attempts to bring transcription providers, general customers and transcriptionists together on a common platform for their business needs. Apart from providing Transcription Services , Transcription Vendors also provides Academic Transcription specializing in business transcription, meeting transcription and interview transcription.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/

Tips to transcribe difficult terms

Materials that are full of technical, financial or specialized terminology may be unfamiliar to the transcriptionists. It may be necessary to listen to words, terms, sentences or even a whole section several times in order to transcribe them properly. In such circumstances, it helps enormously if a glossary of keywords can be provided in advance or words can be spelt out while dictating.

If you are working with a new author or in a new area of business, you would be wise to get prior information about vocabulary and difficult words that may crop up. These words may not be specialist terms but may just be terms that are specific to the particular recording to be transcribed. Getting such a glossary avoids you using incorrect words throughout a document. Also, if you have a prior knowledge of a topic and information on the kind of words or names that may come up, you will find it easier to decipher words that on the first hearing you may think are audible.

Knowing how to spell difficult names or words will help not only to make the final version of your document more accurate, but it will make your task more enjoyable. There is nothing more frustrating than hearing a word time and time again and having no way of checking whether you are transcribing it correctly. This is particularly the case with people’s names because no dictionary, specialist or otherwise will help you check the accuracy of the spelling.

If you are transcribing the recording of a meeting, you might wish to ask for a glossary, which contains the following-

1. The name of the attendees
2. The name of the project being discussed and related projects
3. Name of other people and organizations who are closely involved in the project
4. Relevant addresses, place names, property names
5. Technical phrases, jargons, abbreviations that may be used during the course of meeting

Create your own glossaries as you work. In addition to requesting a glossary from the authors, you may find it helpful to note down, as you transcribe, any words that you find difficult to hear or spell for your own future reference. In this way, you can create your own on-going glossary that you can refer to and add to any time-in financial, medical or legal terms.

Article Provided By: My Articles Directory
About the Author: This article is issued in general public interest, and contains
information on transcription services compiled by
GMR SpanishTranscription Services.
To learn more, click on the link.

Transcription Services: What to offer?

Transcription is a valuable service for many industries. You can find transcription services for different fields. Whether you want someone to do audio transcription of interviews, data, legal information, medical records, seminar, conference or any other recordings, a transcriptionist can get you the text you need from the audio format. Quality, accuracy and efficiency are the three essential elements of a robust and effective transcription service offering.

Transcription services now range from small, one-person home-based business to sophisticated, high-tech corporations. Fortunately, technology advances have allowed transcriptionists in one part of the country to work from home for employers located elsewhere.

Transcribers do business within a variety of industries. The following illustrates some formats that the transcriber would transcribe-

• Court hearings-the coverage of court room hearings including testimonies
  
• Board meetings/focus groups/conferences- discussion of various agendas among a group of people and their responses
• Interviews-dialogues between an interviewer and an interviewee
• Medical records- such as patient’s history, consultation, doctor’s advice and pathology reports
• Podcasts and videos need to be transcribed and put onto the site for differently abled people.
  

Transcription services vendor

How can you choose which transcription service to use? Based on the following features, you can judge on your own.

1. Accuracy- A transcription service should provide the final transript, which is accurate and completely error-free. There is no room for making errors as a transcriptionist. Imagine a situation where you were transcribing for a doctor and misinterpreted a medicine! Being a transcriptionist is a serious, meticulous and deadline driven job.

2. Timeliness-A transcription service should provide high-quality final transcript with deadline in mind. Deadline is very important in transcription services.

3. Complete- Whether it is a verbatim transcription or only editing a project, finding a service that will provide a complete product is critical.

4. Cost- This can vary widely. Find out if the transcription services you are considering are billed by the hour, the line, or the job and get estimates in advance of the final cost.

A transcription service is offered at changeable rates and is carried out as freelance or full time opportunity by homemakers, professionals, technical experts and any body who is good in English and typing.

Depending on what type of transcription service you are looking for, there are several options. You can even find transcription services that are able to do translation from another language such as Spanish, Chinese, German or Indian dialects. Transcription services are high-valued businesses and have become more prevalent in many industries and individuals.

Article Provided By: My Articles Directory
About the Author: Transcription Institute is a Transcription Service company that provides accurate and professional transcription services in various fields.