Reliable conference transcription services ensure accurate documentation of conference proceedings. This article gives you some tips on what you can do to ensure timeliness and accuracy.

1. Transcribing and Documenting Conference Calls
Reliable conference transcription services ensure accurate documentation of conference
proceedings. This article gives you some tips on what you can do to ensure timeliness and
accuracy.
Conferencing is an integral operational activity in the most organizations and institutions.
Speakers give expert opinions and advice on specific issues at a conference. These sessions,
including all important facts and figures, need to be documented. However, in-house
conference transcription can prove to be a difficult task and can take a considerable amount
of time (if you are not an expert transcriptionist). A practical option is to rely on a
transcription service. Here are some key tips to help you choose a professional transcription
company that can meet your needs.
Book the Transcription Service in Advance
As an initial step, it is important to select the transcription service provider before the
conference as the participants may want to see the transcript as early as possible. It takes
more time to type than to speak, and so the practical option would be to book your
conference transcription service in advance. Discuss and finalize on a turnaround time in
advance so that your transcript will be ready on time.
Reliable and professional transcription companies provide special offers for clients who sign
a transcription contract in advance. Some established firms even offer a free trial. A
professional transcription company will have trained and skilled transcriptionists who can
not only type but also proofread and edit, punctuate English correctly and recognize accents
and homophones. They can provide you with a transcript that is up to 99% accurate.
So if you book your recording in advance and inform the transcription company that you will
send it on a specific date, they will be able to deliver it in time to meet your deadline. If
there is a change in the conference date, don’t forget to inform the transcription company
about this.
Getting Accurate Transcription from your Recording
At the end of a conference, there will be questions from the audience’s side. Hence, it is
vital to arrange the following recording equipment to ensure that the questions are audible
• Arrange for “roaming microphones” that can be easily carried around the audience
and can ensure audibility of the questions in the recording.
• Arrange for a quality conference recording set-up to make the main speakers are
clearly heard
• For a panel question session, arrange separate microphones for each member

2. Give the transcriptionist a list of the delegates and speakers. This would help them recheck
the names of delegates or speakers who ask questions at the end of the session.
While conducting a conference, it is better to choose a digital recording system rather than
cassettes or tapes. A digital recording system offers better recording quality than a cassette
or a tape. It can be used by multiple transcriptionists at the same time allowing the
transcription work to be completed quickly. It is also important to provide the
transcriptionist with supporting material related to the conference as this is useful when it
comes to understanding unfamiliar terms and “keywords” relevant to the topic.
Find a Reliable and Affordable Transcription Service Provider
This is easier if you can find someone who has used conference transcription services and
can recommend a reliable transcription service provider. Be wary of “referral marketing”.
Conduct a thorough online search and look for a reliable transcription company. Browse
through the company website to check whether
• The company provides top quality conference call transcription services
• The information provided in the website useful
• The content in the site does not have spelling and grammatical errors
You can get a definite idea about the type and quality of the transcription services offered
by a company from the information published in the company website. When you contact
the transcription service provider via phone or email it is important to check whether they
ask you intelligent questions about your recording, recording type, recording quality, clarity
of speech and length of recording. Going by these tips can help you get quality conference
transcription services.