Fantastic Frequently Asked
Questions
What makes your transcripts fantastic?
No other company works as hard as Fantastic
Transcripts does when it comes to transcription.
We are constantly working to improve and refine our transcription process.
We put ourselves in your place and ask what you would like to see in your
transcripts.
That's why we have our transcriptionists do a second pass on every transcript
while other companies only do a single pass, and we have our managers do
a final check before sending it out. Clients expect accurate transcripts,
even from less-than-ideal audio sources, and with our triple-check process,
our transcripts are as accurate as humanly possible in the quickest time
possible.
It's also the reason our transcripts look different from the ugly, 1950's.
typewriter-looking transcripts you receive from other companies. Except for
legal transcripts, we've modified our formats to make our transcripts attractive
to enhance readability.
On the technology side, we use 120-watt amplifiers and 10-band TEAC graphic
equalizers to enhance what we hear, so we can gleam every understandable
syllable from your audio while reducing background noise and tape hiss by
50% or more.
Since our transcriptionists can hear more of the words from the start, they
can type more of the words with less "inaudibles" than you get from other
companies.
Because of our dedication to accuracy, nearly all of our clients were clients
of other transcription companies where they didn't receive the level of accuracy
they wanted in their transcripts. That's why every day we hear from people
wanting us to do their transcripts.
Our mission is to do our job better than any other company can and we prove
it to our clients. Let us prove it to you.
Other transcription companies charge by the
line or by the page. How does your per hour rate compare with these
rates?
Many of our clients were customers of transcription companies that charge
by the line, by the page, by the keystroke, or by some other method.
When final invoices are compared, our clients have told us that our charges
are about the same or just slightly higher than other companies that do not
do a second pass on their transcripts.
When we format our transcripts the same way other companies do (using large
type and large margins) and figure the costs, our regular rate translates
to about $3.75 per page, or about 15 cents a line, and medical or legal
transcription translates to about $5.00 per page or 20 cents a line.
This includes our second pass proofreading, which few other companies
do not do.
As for quality and accuracy, we've told repeatedly that our transcripts easily
surpass other companies' transcripts, especially with hard-to-hear tapes.
That's why nearly all of our clients have sought us out.
The reason for our success is in the way we do our work. Companies that charge
by the word, line or page have the incentive to work as quickly as possible
to generate their income. If they're working with a hard-to-hear tape, or
if they hear terminology they're unfamiliar with, it's easier to type "inaudible"
than spending the minute or so it might take to dig out the word. Our
transcriptionists do not have the pressure on them to crank out transcripts
as fast as possible to get paid and they can take their time to produce
the best possible transcript.
That's also why you see transcripts with large fonts, fixed-length letter
spacing and double or triple line spacing from other companies. These tactics
increase the number of lines or the number of pages, and therefore increase
the amount you pay.
Legal transcripts are so bloated by these methods that the industry standard
is to print draft copies in a window-pane format that displays four pages
on one page! Customers are basically paying a four-page rate for a single
page's worth of information.
Since we charge by the hour of work, our incentive is to do as good a job
as possible. We can spend the time to go over hard-to-hear material to produce
transcripts that accurately reflect what is being said. Our clients tend
to be people who want accurate transcripts and not the "rough draft" method
of transcription that is standard in the business.
We're also willing to spend the extra time necessary in working with difficult
materials that other companies refuse.
As a result, we produce a product that we believe no other company can match,
and we feel that our rates are comparable to other billing methods.
I've been quoted a lower per hour rate by
another transcription company. Why should I use Fantastic
Transcripts?
When comparing prices, be careful - what might sound like a better rate could
turn out to be otherwise.
Some companies charge a low per hour rate but then charge you more hours
per hour to increase the bill.
When obtaining estimates for a job, always ask what is the total estimated
charge for the project and how long it will take.
A lot of companies will quote an initial low rate, but have long turnaround
times of up to 30 days. If you want the job back quicker, you might have
to pay double or even triple their base rate. At
Fantastic Transcripts, we do all
our transcripts as quickly as possible without a rush charge. You can usually
get back a one-hour transcript the next day.
You should also try to get an idea of what kind of transcription company
you're dealing with. A lot of so-called transcription companies aren't companies
at all, just people working out of their homes with no payrolls or office
overhead. While they might be offering a bargain price, they may only be
able to handle a couple of hours of audio a day, and they may have other
jobs ahead of your job. There's been a lot of times when we've had to do
"rush" jobs for clients whose audio has sat at another "company" for 30 days
or more without being worked on.
At Fantastic Transcripts, we have
no rush charges, and we can tell you how much a transcript is going to cost
and when it will be ready. We have over 20 transcriptionists we can call
on in a moment's notice as well as four full-time staffers to deliver our
work on time and within our estimate.
My tapes are confidential. Will you be willing
to sign a non-disclosure agreement?
All of our work is done confidentially and we do not allow anyone else to
read or have your transcripts without your permission. We have no problem
signing non-disclosure agreements.
We have done work for various government departments and agencies. If they
can trust us, you can too.
Why does Fantastic Transcripts require a
credit card number or a cheque before it will transcribe my
material?
We have found that many companies are delaying their payments for longer
and longer periods of time, and there are some companies that don't pay at
all. Many times, the larger the company, the more people who have to
approve payment, even making us fill out paperwork, and the longer we have
to wait for payment.
Since we cannot tell in advance which companies pay quickly and which do
not, we have instituted a policy that requires clients to pay when services
are rendered.
This helps to keep our prices low since paying customers do not have to subsidize
non-paying customers.
We also save money by not having a collection department and by not having
to borrow money to pay our employees.
Instead, we can concentrate on what we do best, transcription, not bill
collection.
I have video tapes that need to be transcribed.
Do you transcribe video tapes?
Yes, we do. If you have a copy on VHS, CD-ROM, VCD or DVD, we can transcribe
it. And we can include timecode with our transcripts for a small additional
fee. If you have a digital video tape, just make a VHS or audio cassette
copy and send that to us to transcribe.
Can you transcribe digital audio files on
Websites or e-mailed to you over the Internet?
Yes, we are one of the few companies that can transcribe directly from our
computers. We can handle all digital formats including Real Audio, MP3, Windows
Media files and Olympus DSS files.
You can e-mail us your sound files if they are under 10 mb in total, mail
them to us on a CD-ROM, or tell us where they are on the Internet, and we
will quickly transcribe them and send you back a typed transcript via e-mail.
Why do you recommend against using
microcassettes?
The microcassette format is designed for dictation only. That means having
the built-in microphone right up to a speaker's mouth. When used in this
way, we don't usually have a problem transcribing the material.
But when a microcassette recorder is used some distance away from the people
talking, such as on a table or in the audience during a conference, the sound
is difficult to hear because the format simply is not designed to be used
in this way.
Even at its best, microcassettes have two-thirds less quality than full-size
cassettes (5kHz bandwidth versus 15kHz, and that's at the "fast" 2.4 speed).
It has a lower signal-to-noise ratio, meaning recordings are very noisy.
The lack of quality is due to microcassettes using smaller, thinner
tape, thinner audio tracks and slower recording speeds.
Because microcassette tape is so thin, it is more likely to break under the
stress that transcription puts it through, complicating the process.
In addition, most microcassette recorders are cheaply made, low-quality devices
that do a poor job of recording. The typical built-in microphone is a 10-cent
iitem, and it produces audio that sounds like it was recorded with a 10-cent
item.
Typically, even an inexpensive full-size recorder will produce better sounding
tapes than an expensive micro. Add an external microphone and you can usually
get clear, easy to transcribe recordings. If you do a lot of recordings,
we recommend a professional cassette recorder or mini-disk recorder.
It will pay for itself in transcription savings.
Although Fantastic Transcripts does
all it can to type accurate transcripts from micros, we usually have to spend
more time working on these tapes, listening to them over and over, sometimes
even re-recording them and digitally cleaning up the audio before we can
work on them. This winds up costing you more money, usually adding an extra
couple of hours of work.
These are some of the reasons why we do not recommend the use of microcassettes.
We would like an interactive CD-ROM made
of our conference. Do you do that?
We are partnered with several multimedia companies that can turn your conference
into a CD-ROM or DVD. We will handle the transcription and audio mastering
and supervise the design, and our partners will handle the programming and
disc mastering. Small jobs we can do in-house.
I would like to put my conference on the
Internet. Can you help?
Certainly. We can digitally encode audio and video recordings from your
conference and create a Web site that makes these sessions available 24 hours
a day, seven days a week for anyone in the world to attend. You can hear
some of our work at
The Independent Institute
Web site.
Call us and we can discuss the details with you.
Why are some of the words listed as "inaudible"
in my transcript?
In a typical transcript there will be some instances where our transcriptionists
and proofreaders cannot understand words because the speaker mumbled, talked
too fast, the recording volume was low, or background noise obscured the
words.
We don't have our transcriptionists make up dialog or fill in what they think
was said, as other companies do. Our transcripts reflect exactly what we
can hear. You should expect to do some light editing on our transcripts to
make sure we identified people properly and used the correct spelling of
your company's products or services.
The number of "inaudibles" in a transcript is usually an indication of the
recording quality of the material. The more difficult the audio is to hear,
the higher the number of inaudibles. Clear tapes usually result in no inaudibles
at all.
We do our best to clear up as many inaudibles as possible and to identify
speakers and spell company terms correctly. We use the Internet to research
company and product names, and we routinely ask clients to provide a list
of names and terms that might have been used. The more we work with
a client, the more familiar we become with names, voices and terminology.
And that's why customers use us again and again.
Why are some all of the speakers not identified
or misidentified in my transcript?
We our do our best to identify who is speaking in our transcripts, but there
are times when it isn't clear who is speaking, especially if participants
have similar-sounding voices or accents, or if the speakers aren't identified
originally and there's no way to infer it from the dialogue.
We try not to guess, but sometimes we're fooled. We usually suggest that
somone who was at the recording read over the transcripts, especially if
they're going to be printed or posted to a Website.
I think I lost a transcript you did for me.
Is there any way I can get a copy?
We archive our transcripts for such emergencies and there is a good chance
we can find your missing transcript - even a year or two later. Contact us
and we will do a search for you at no extra charge.
What other services do you offer?
We offer a wide range of secretarial and communication services for our clients.
We type manuscripts, digitize and encode audio and video, certify court
transcripts, proofread and copy-edit galleys, tabulate survey results, and
even design Web sites and printed publications.
Please look at our Business
Services page for more about what we do.
I'm looking for work. Is there a way for
me to do transcription from my home?
Although most of our transcription is done at our offices, we do take information
from people looking for work-at-home employment.
For employment opportunities in our offices, see our
employment page, and for
work-at-home opportunities see our
work-at-home page.
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