Cripton's Transcribers: Their Background and Experience

Cripton, a division of Cactus Communications Pvt. Ltd., provides English transcription services to academic and corporate clients. Cripton boasts of a team of highly experienced, qualified in-house transcribers and editors with an average work experience that ranges from 5 to 10 years. The main aim of Cripton is to strive to work closely with the client to understand all the aspects of client needs and provide the best possible transcription services that suit and satisfy the clients’ requirements.

The process of transcription, or the conversion of voice-recorded reports into text format, is carried out by a transcriptionist. The key skills and abilities that go into making a transcriptionist are: Sound knowledge of diverse terminology; usage of correct punctuation, grammar and spelling; appropriate internet search skills; and excellent typing skills.

Cripton has individuals with varied educational backgrounds working as transcriptionists delivering on client documents according to their field of specialization.


There are individuals who are graduates in Science – majoring in either Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Medicine, or Electronics/Engineering – and provide their vast expertise in catering to the transcription needs of clients on subjects related to scientific fields like natural sciences/phenomena, biological life, metaphysics, mathematics, and social sciences; and medical fields like cardiology, chiropractics, gastroenterology, internal medicine, neurology, orthopedics, pediatrics, podiatry, psychiatry, radiology, and a host of other fields.

There are individuals who hold a Bachelors degree in Commerce – majoring in accountancy, business administration, e-commerce, economics, finance, and marketing – and provide their vast expertise in catering to transcription needs of clients on subjects dealing with finance, fiscal and industrial policies, market fluctuations, and trade. The transcripts could be related to board meetings, conferences, interviews, lectures, speeches, roundtable discussions, symposiums, seminars, or teleconferences.

There are individuals who have graduated in Arts or Humanities – majoring in advertising, business management, journalism, mass communication, media studies, performing arts, travel and tourism, and more – and provide their vast expertise in catering to clients on subjects like English being taught as a foreign language or accommodating to a client demanding a transcript in a specific format, example: with timestamps.


In a nutshell, Cripton’s transcriptionists are capable of handling transcripts from as varied and diverse fields like business, law, market research, medical, and any individual with a transcription need, the guiding principle being to understand the client's needs and providing prompt and flexible services, maintaining confidentiality, and regular communication with the client. Thus, one of the main pillars of the success of Cripton and its transcriptionists has been in striving to provide accurate transcriptions on time, every time.

Cripton also provides equal growth of opportunities and thus a transcriptionist can graduate to become an Editor, who edits transcripts and checks for quality, and also grow further to the level of a Quality Lead or a Process Manager.

Why does inserting timestamps necessitate a premium charge?

In today’s article, we will focus on inserting timestamps in transcripts.

· Entering timestamps is largely a manual task performed by transcribers who listen to and transcribe the audio files. This transcript is subsequently reviewed by editors who also need to ensure that the final product is of good quality with careful compliance of instructions.

o Being a manual task, it consumes the transcribers’ time and efforts depending upon the frequency of the required timestamps.

· Inserting timestamps at regular intervals takes the transcribers’ attention away from their basic transcription requirements.

o In order to ensure quality output with timestamps and compliance of instructions, the transcribers spend an unusual amount of time transcribing audio files with such instructions. This ultimately results in loss of productivity for the transcribers.

· The following are some of the examples of the frequency of timestamps, i.e. when to enter a timestamp:

o Every 5 minutes, every 2 minutes, every 1 minute, every sentence (suitable for subtitling), every time there is a change of speaker, etcetera. These are just a snapshot of some requests we have received so far.

· The most time-consuming and exhaustive of the above methods is when one needs to insert timestamps in every sentence. Again, if both the start and end time are required, one cannot expect a transcriber to transcribe more than 20 minutes in a particular day (ideally a transcriber can transcribe more than 50 minutes in an 8-hour shift). This indicates that transcribers need to insert a timestamp at the beginning and the conclusion of a sentence, then again at the beginning and end of sentence2, and so on. This process is repeated until the end of the audio file.

o For example:

§ 0:00:05 – 0:00:20

§ Sentence1

§ 0:00:21 – 0:00:39

§ Sentence2

· Consequently, the lesser the frequency, the more time and efforts required.

· Again, inserting timestamps for every speaker change can be complicated.This is because several times, speakers (mostly discussion participants and in some cases interviewers/interviewees) interrupt each other and thus cut off the flow of the conversation as they tend to speak at the same time. In this case, the process becomes even more difficult.

· These days, there are some software products available which claim to help insert timestamps in a transcript. After exploring those products, we have realized that inserting a timestamp is still a combination of two commands. This means that every time a transcriber wants to enter a timestamp, they need to provide two keystrokes. This instance illustrates that manual efforts have to be taken to maintain the quality of the transcript.

· All in all, inserting timestamps at regular intervals, for example, at a frequency of less than 5 minutes, requires meticulous and intensive efforts on the part of the transcribers.

BPO and Transcription Industry in India – An Overview 2/2

When transcription first began in India, there were various institutes that imparted professional transcription training in lieu of a fee.  The fee varied from as low as 10,000 to 60,000 Indian Rupees.  There were also some organizations that used to impart on-the-job training and then recruit the candidates in-house or provide placements.  The basic training lasts from anywhere between 4 to 6 months.

The transcription training program includes different modules or course subjects – depending on business, legal, general or medical – and is designed to help gain the knowledge and skills towards becoming a transcriptionist.  Numerous exercises and assessments throughout each module ensure that the candidates master each concept before moving on.

Medical Transcription, a subdivision of transcription, is one of the fastest growing fields in healthcare.  In the United States, the entire healthcare industry is based on insurance and detailed medical records are needed to process insurance claims.

Medical transcription is the process of accurately and quickly transcribing medical records dictated by doctors.  A medical transcriptionist transcribes, formats, and proof-reads the medical report of a patient.

 

The ideal qualification for a medical transcriptionist is Graduation and the primary skills required towards becoming an ideal medical transcriptionist are: Good listening and language skills, knowledge of medical terms, fluency in English, and comprehension of various accents.  Undergoing a training course in Medical Transcription is an added advantage.

 

The major end-users of transcription are media houses, universities and institutes, law firms, consultancy services, and business services.