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FAQs - these are FAQs for Transcription, but many are relevant to other areas as well _________________________________________________________________________________
AudioLex specialises in the enhancement and transcription of poor quality recordings, for forensic, legal and business purposes. This field is not particularly well understood and there are a number of misconceptions; we have therefore compiled this list of Questions and Answers. It is not intended to be by any means comprehensive, so please contact us for any further information.
1. What are your fees?
We have different rates for a) Police or Legally Aided defence work and b) private, civil or media work
1) Police (and other law enforcement agencies) or Legal Aided Work
2. Transcription for reasonably straightforward recordings (such as police interviews) is charged at a flat rate of $300 per side (up to 45 minutes), plus GST, if applicable.
3. For a "very difficult" or problematic recording, which needs filtering, enhancing, selective gain amplification or other technical manipulation, we charge $250 per hour plus GST, if applicable.
4. ALL FORENSIC TRANSCRIPTION - i.e. for investigative or evidential purposes - is charged at $250 per hour.
2) Corporate and Media work is charged at $500 per hour.
NOTE: these rates are quoted in AUD. Our fees are adjusted for some regions.
2. Why do you charge so much more than ordinary secretarial fees?
We are not an "ordinary" secretarial or transcription agency. Our work involves highly skilled and experienced transcription of recordings in a range of situations. We have the experience, the equipment, and also the background knowledge (e.g. familiarity with the language of drugs and other conspiracies) to transcribe highly specialised recordings. We also conduct ongoing academic and professional research into the processes of transcription and have a strong publication record in this and related fields.
3. Who are your main clients?
We certainly do not give out client details; however, we accept instructions from various law enforcement agencies such as Police or Customs, Criminal and Civil lawyers, Courts, telecommunications agencies, government agencies, insurance companies, a range of businesses and the media.
4. What responsibility do you accept for the final copy of your transcript?
Our transcripts can be supported in any Court or hearing in any jurisdiction. We present forensic transcripts which withstand rigorous cross-examination and we are highly experienced in defending our transcripts in Court in various jurisdictions.
5. Can you guarantee your transcripts are "verbatim"?
Although some firms do use the term "verbatim", we do not. We categorise our transcripts according to the degree of difficulty and subsequent degree of attainable accuracy and completeness. We stress that except in rather rare circumstances, where poor quality surveillance (or other) recordings are concerned, there is really no such thing as a verbatim transcript. Using a particular set of agreed conventions, areas of speculative interpretation are clearly indicated.
6. What methods do you use?
We use a combination of methods including close (critical) listening, loop playback, and selective filtering and gain enhancement. We ensure that we use the best equipment possible and that optimum ambient and physical conditions are provided for the transcriber. For highly critical areas of a recording we can sometimes use signal processing equipment to make acoustic measurements (such as spectrograms) to determine the presence of formants specific to particular vowel sounds. "Binaural listening" is sometimes employed.
We also consider aspects of pragmatic and discourse behaviour where appropriate.
7. How long will it take?
As a roughish guide, allow 6 to 8 chargeable hours' work per hour's recording for a reasonably straightforward recording, and up to 25 hours' work per hour of "difficult" recording. As the task is demanding, however, this does not mean that the transcriber can work for 25 hours straight. Therefore, where your circumstances allow it, please allow us several days for us to work on your recording.
8. Does that mean you cannot accept urgent work?
We can usually accept urgent casework, even overnight. There may, however, be some loss of quality, which we would indicate. Transcripts are best not rushed.
9. What formats can you work with?
We can accept all the usual formats, including standard (compact), micro, mini and Grundig steno cassette tapes, CDs, minidiscs, DATs, miniDATs, DVDs, mini DVDs, video recordings and emailed audio files.
Messages can also be retrieved, sometimes remotely, from mobile telephones and answering machines.
10. How should the recordings be delivered to you?
In some jurisdictions, chain of custody requirements will mean that the recordings must be hand delivered or collected. In most other cases, however, recordings may be sent by Recorded or Special Delivery (or your local equivalent), or by courier. "International Signed Courier" services are available in most jurisdictions. Audio (e.g. .wav and DSS) files, encrypted if required, can also be emailed and other audio files can be telephoned. High security work can be collected from premises such as Consular Offices.
11. Are copies of recordings acceptable?
Sometimes copies are all that is available, and we will work with whatever we are sent. However, if there is any choice in the matter, copies should be real-time and line-in or direct copies (not external microphone or acoustic copies).
12. Do you require any background information, or would this compromise the integrity of your transcript?
The more background information provided, particularly names of participants and the context of the recording, the easier and quicker the transcription task. However, if there are any reasons why it is considered inadvisable or even prejudicial for any information to be provided, we will work with what we are sent.
13. Can you transcribe recordings which are not in English?
We will transcribe recordings in any language for which we have appropriate interpreters.
14. Can you transcribe all dialects of English?
Yes. However in some highly unusual cases we may need to seek the assistance of a dialectician or sociolinguist.
15. Can you transcribe "disordered" speech, or the speech of someone who is injured, stressed or intoxicated?
Yes. In severe cases, psycholinguistic or speech pathologist advice might be sought.
16. Can you transcribe recordings in languages which have no standardised written form?
Yes. We use the International Phonetic Alphabet. A romanised version can then be produced if required.
17. Can you transcribe recordings of non-speech events?
Yes. Most covert recordings contain a large amount of non-speech product which can be described if required. We can perform sound analysis to give an opinion, for example, as to the identity of an object dropped on a table, or the order in which gunshots have been fired.
18. Do you specify which person is speaking at any given time?
If requested we will attribute speakers. In some cases this is straightforward, however in others, this might involve a detailed specific forensic speaker (voice) identification examination.
19. How is the final transcript presented to the client?
Except for forensic transcripts, completed transcripts can be hard copy, disc or document files (Word or WordPerfect), and can be collected/delivered, posted, faxed, couriered or emailed. Forensic transcripts are only available in one original signed hard copy, although interim and supplementary versions can be emailed or faxed to the client.
Any annotations or comments required can be included, either as part of the text, footnotes, appendices, or as a completely separate document.
Bulky transcripts can be bound (comb or wire bindings) if required.
20. Can you also enhance recordings to make them easier to understand?
We have a huge range of noise removal programmes, including predictive-adaptive filtering, and can selectively increase gain on quiet passages. However, although sometimes spectacular results are obtained, these procedures are often more cosmetic than productive, and it is often more convenient and more cost-effective for the client if we prepare transcripts for very poor quality recordings
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