Transcription and translation is the writing down of the speech in an audio or video recording and, if requested, its translation into another language. mots Tercüme provides this service to organisations for meeting, interview, training and event recordings.
Scope of the service
Transcribing the recording, distinguishing the speakers, adding time codes where required and translating the text are within this service. The output is always written text.
Verbatim or edited?
Verbatim transcription also records hesitations and repetitions; edited transcription produces a readable text. Which one is needed is chosen at the start of the job according to the intended use of the recording.
Speaker identification
In meetings with many participants, who said what determines the value of the text. If a list of speakers is provided, names are used; if not, consistent labels are used.
Time codes
Time codes make it possible to find where in the recording a statement in the text occurs. How often they are inserted is decided at the start of the job.
Unintelligible passages
Passages that cannot be made out because of sound quality, overlapping speech or noise are not filled in by guesswork. These passages are marked with a time code and clearly indicated in the text.
Sound quality determines the turnaround
Transcribing a clean recording takes noticeably less time than a noisy recording or one with many speakers. Turnaround is not discussed before a sample of the recording has been reviewed.
Terms and proper names
Providing a list of the organisation names, personal names and technical terms that occur in the recording improves accuracy. A name whose spelling is unknown is not guessed from the sound; it is flagged.
Confidentiality
Meeting recordings often carry confidential information and personal data. Recordings are listened to only by the team doing the job and are not uploaded to any free-of-charge automatic transcription or translation service.
The difference between minutes and a transcript
A transcript writes down what was said; minutes record decisions and summaries. If the organisation wants minutes, it is discussed at the outset that this is a separate job and who will do the summarising.
Multilingual recordings
If more than one language was spoken at the meeting, the passages in each language are marked separately. Which passage is translated into which language is determined by the flow of the recording.
The translation step
Translation takes place once the transcript has been completed and checked. The features of spoken language are carried over in translation into a readable written register.
What is needed as input
The recording file, the list of speakers, the list of terms and names and the intended use are sufficient. The recording is transferred through the secure channel specified by the organisation.
Delivery format
The text is delivered as an editable file with speaker labels and time codes. If a bilingual side-by-side layout is requested, it is prepared separately.
What is not included
Audio and video editing, subtitle timing and interpreting are not part of this service. If video subtitles are needed, they are handled as a separate project type.
Takeaway
Quality in transcription begins with honestly marking what could not be understood. A gap filled by guesswork undermines confidence in the entire text.