Outsourcing Transcription Services to the Philippines

Transcription work can be categorized into:

• Medical transcription: medical documents such as referral letters, patient summaries, progress notes and other reports. Includes audio and video transcription of medical events and conferences.

• Legal transcription: legal documents, audio and video recordings of court hearings, depositions, general correspondence and articles for legal journals.

• General and business transcription: recordings of interviews, meetings, conference calls, seminars, podcasts, radio shows, television talk shows and police reports.
  
  

Just about any business document can be dictated and transcribed instead of typing it yourself. The great news is, your transcriptionist will get faster the more you work together. They’ll get to know the ins and outs of your business, and they may even be able to edit and improve on your draft before sending it back for approval.

Transcription skills and experience

The 5 most important skills that every transcriptionist should have are:

• Good communication skills

• Good listening skills (still part of communication skills)

• Excellent typing skills (speed and accuracy)

• High attention to detail

• Word processing and document formatting.
  
  

Following on from the general skills, you might prefer a transcriptionist with specific experience in your field, so they’re already familiar with industry terms and jargon.

For medical transcription, many companies prefer candidates with a healthcare or medical background such as nurses or physical therapists so they can correctly transcribe medical terminology. The same goes for legal transcription; companies may prefer candidates from law firms, undergraduates of law, paralegals or legal secretaries with knowledge of legal terms.

If you need a transcriptionist with particular experience, you can be specific in your job brief.

Based on years of experience, a local transcriptionist in the Philippines may be:

• Junior: less than 1 year of relevant transcription experience.
• Intermediate: 1-3 years of relevant transcription experience.
• Senior: 3+ years of relevant transcription experience.

Transcribing tools

Various transcription programs are now available commercially, however, most companies have internally developed platforms. No matter which system you’re using, they all follow the same basic process, so any skilled transcriptionist will pick up the details quickly.

Outsourcing transcription to the Philippines is a straightforward process. The usual method is to upload an audio file of the letter or interview to be transcribed. The transcriptionist will listen and type the contents of the audio file into a suitable template, such as a Word document or online Google Doc. They’ll add any questions that need to be clarified, and mark any words that were inaudible. Your transcriptionist will also proofread to check their own work, and polish up the formatting. Finally, they’ll send it back to you for approval.