Time it takes to transcribe an hour

Hi Everyone

I've just started again in the Transcription world. In my day we called it Audio Typing! My question is this. I am doing about 12 minutes audio to 1 hour typing. If I can't understand something I tend to go over it a few times before marking it unclear and moving on. Am I being particularly slow? I can copy type at around 80 - 85 wpm but that will get faster as I get more work. What is the average time that you guys take? I would appreciate any comments as it will help in planning future work.

Many thanks, Jo

Actually, Jo, that sounds about right. I figure 4 to 5 times the length of the audio to transcribe it. If the speaker has an accent, I figure about 10 minutes of audio equals 60 minutes of transcription. Hope that helps...

Thanks Margie, that's a great help. I was beginning to think that I was very slow! I've managed to get it up to 14 mins audio to 1 hours typing now so I'm getting quicker. That was with reasonably clear audio. I'll keep going..... Thanks again, Jo

Hi Jo

I did some audio transcription just over a week ago. I don't do it that often. It was taking me 6 times as long as the audio to transcribe it roughly. Then I had to go over it and check it all.

Oddly enough, while typing this post I got a call from them to say that I worked out significantly cheaper than the other lady who was doing the transcription (as I charge per audio minute and not on the time it takes) and that they want to use me in future. I definitely need to increase my speeds now

Best regards
Chris

I do a fair amount of transcription. When I first did the research to see how long it would take me, I heard one hour of audio takes 4 hours to transcribe. With the help of a foot pedal, and as I do this more and more, I have gotten a bit faster. It really depends on who is talking and how many people are talking. And if it is a recording of a phone conversation, it can get even harder as quality goes down.

Good Luck, ladies!

Jo:

There are several factors involved:
Number of speakers
Accents
Clarity of the audio
The equipment you use - if you have a foot pedal, good headphones, etc
The template/format
Also keep in mind your responsibility for editing/proofreading!

As a general rule I figure 1 hour of audio = 5 hours of transcribing.

According to the Industry Production Standards (which I use to calculate my time) the average transcriptionist takes 3.0 to 8.0 times the length of the recording depending on a bunch of factors they have laid out in a chart (clarity, number of speakers, accents, if grammar correction is needed, do you have to stop and research stuff, is it extremely technical, etc.) For the work that I do, my actual time is between 3 to 4 times the length of the recording, most of the time around 3.5. In other words, a 10-minute recording normally takes me about 35 minutes; an hour recording about 3.5 hours.

Depending on the quality of the audio I can do 3 to 4 hours for a 1 hour audio.

Thank you all for your replies. I feel so much better now.

I average about 3 to 4 times typing to audio too - hope that helps?