Transcription software maximizes your work productivity, and this makes freelance transcription an exciting career. You will come across all types of files, from court recordings, medical dictations, interviews, webinars, church sermons, but without the right software, you will find that the task becomes tedious.
Now, let’s look at 9 Transcription Software that will
increase your productivity. Also, note that most of these softwares are free to
download online.
1. Speech-To-Text Software
You will find that they’re many speech-to-text software
online Apps, some will give you a trial version and then after that, you should
purchase for you to continue enjoying their services.
Their software will require you to sign up with your email
address. After that you can upload an audio file, then after the upload is
successful, wait for some minutes depending on the length of your file. They
will then notify you via email once your machine transcript is ready. You can
then copy your transcript to your Express Scribe for editing.
Also, note that the automated transcript is machine-generated and the accuracy of the file will vary from 50-80% depending upon the
audio quality and also the accent of the speakers. US English has a better
output, while non-native speakers may not be recognized by the software.
Make sure that you have gone through your work thoroughly
because machine transcription is not perfect, look for;
- Mishears.
- Typos
- Missing
words.
- Wrong
paragraph breaks.
- Incorrect
capitalization for words.
- Missing
punctuation.
These Apps will provide you with free machine-generated
transcripts to improve your efficiency and productivity.
2. Express Scribe
Express Scribe is the most recommended transcription
software. It has a free version and a pro version, which is paid and comes with
more features compared to the free version.
It’s an audio player specifically manufactured for
transcribers. You can be able to control it with Hotkeys on your keyboard, even
when typing in MS Word. The Hotkeys are set on f1-f9 keys on your keyboard.
Express Scribe automatically saves your work, so no need to
worry about losing your work. You can also reduce background noise, boost the
audio volume, minimize the speaker’s speed, and adjust the audio volume.
There’s also InqScribe transcription software and FTW if you
want to check more options.
3. Online Audio Converter
Sometimes you will find that the file format that you have
is not accepted by the Express Scribe or InqScribe, so the best thing to do is
use the Online Audio Converter to convert your file to an MP3 file.
You will upload your file online, then click on convert
audio to the format that you want. Note that there are so many file formats,
but you can always convert them to MP3 format, which is acceptable by all
transcription software.
I opted for the Online Audio Converter after realizing that
many offline Apps will only give you a limited amount of minutes for you to
purchase from them to continue enjoying their services. Then the only drawback
that comes with the Online Audio Converter is that it will come with
a.onlineaudioconverter extension, otherwise, it’s faster than most offline
Apps.
You can check it here >>>
https://online-audio-converter.com/
4. WavePad Sound Editor
You will find that most audio files come with background
noise, and you might wonder what to do. Wow, I have good news for you.
You need to download WavePad Sound Editor from NCH. This
software clears background noise for you and the file becomes clear and
manageable. No need to worry, it’s not complicated to use.
Just load your file, then click on Effects >> Clean Up
>> Noise Reduction >> Auto Spectrum Subtraction.
The software will perform a special audio process to remove
the noise, and then you can save your edited audio file. Then you can load it
on your transcription software Express Scribe to work on it. It’s as simple as
1, 2, 3.
5. DFX Sound Enhancer
This is a sound enhancer or amplifier, once you feel that
the audio file is not audible you can amplify the sound by just putting the DFX
Sound Enhancer on. It’s simple to use because it only comes with an off and on
button.
Otherwise, you can also adjust the audio between different
controls. DFX also reduces the background noise of the file, and you will enjoy
working on a crystal clear audio.
6. Internet Download Manager (IDM)
This is a great software and also a lifesaver when
downloading large files. It slices the download and this makes the download
faster and then after it’s done it puts them together.
In case you encounter a network failure, IDM is able to resume
the download without hitches, so it saves you time.
You can also be able to download audio/video files on the
web pages that you visit, as IDM prompts you to download from the page.
So, when you receive large files from your client, don’t
worry, downloading with IDM is a walk in the park.
You can download a free 30-day trial for you to test how
good IDM is. Then, after that, you can decide whether it’s worth the purchase.
7. WinZip
This is a small software but very powerful for unzipping
files. So, it’s a must-have software on your computer. The software is used to
compress files, for example, you can put 6 Mp3 files into a folder, then use
WinZip to compress them and put them in one folder.
So, when you receive zipped files from your client, you will
need WinZip to unzip the files, then you can download them one by one.
8. Grammarly
Grammarly is the best grammar checker that there’s
currently. You can use it to detect grammar errors on your transcripts.
You can either add it as an MS Word plug-in or you can add
it to your Chrome browser as an extension. Grammarly will always highlight your
errors in red, and it will suggest for you how to correct it, but note that if
the speaker was speaking broken English, while transcribing you should ignore
such corrections.
Always remember that good command of English grammar is
mandatory when working online, so your English skills should be top-notch and
that’s where Grammarly comes in handy.
You can sign up here >>> https://app.grammarly.com/
9. WavePad Audio File Splitter
Lastly, we have WavePad Audio Splitter.
Once in a while, you might find that you have a large
audio/video file that you want to split in order to assign your team members
some minutes. It’s easier to split the file and then assign it rather than
sending a transcriber the whole file and then tell them to work on a small
portion of the file.
I have good news for you, with WavePad Audio File
Splitter, this is possible.
WavePad Audio File Splitter is software that’s designed to
split audio files into small portions. This is an easy mp3 splitter software
that can also detect the specified amount of silence and split the file at
these points.
It’s very easy to use, and it will allow you to split WAV
files, mp3 and other audio files within minutes to create the sizes that you
want.
It has three basic operations:
- Slice
into how many files (Slice one 20 MB mp3 file into two 10 MB files).
- Slice
files of X duration, where each file has HH:MM:SS (Split one 20 minute
audio file into two 10 minutes audio files).
- Slice
into individual audios using silence detection.
You can download the free software here and also note it’s
for non-commercial use only >>> https://www.nch.com.au/wavepad/wpsetup.exe
Conclusion
Freelance transcription is a great career like any other,
and you will need the right transcription software to increase your
productivity. Just the way a farmer uses his tools wisely in a farm in order to
have a bountiful harvest, that’s just how every transcriber should use the
right software to increase their output to deliver high-quality transcripts.