Skip to main content

Customer Support

Explore our FAQs below. To ask a question, contact support.

Service Option Questions

I require a customized transcript for my project. How do I arrange for custom services?

TranscribeMe has a professional services team that can help you with your custom requirements. Please contact us with your project details and we will be in touch with you shortly!

What is your First Draft Service?

Our First Draft service passes through the initial transcription step, where a team of transcriptionists work on your content in-tandem. This can be returned to you as raw text. We also offer timestamps and speaker IDs with First Draft without the additional layer of editing for punctuation and consistency throughout the transcript, that comes with our Standard service.

First Draft transcripts remove “umms”, “ahhs”, “likes”, “you knows”, and other filler words in addition to stuttering. We do not correct grammatically incorrect language – we transcribe the audio exactly as it is.

First Draft transcripts are completed in 1 business day, or 2-3 business days if you select timestamps and speaker IDs.

Our First Draft service comes with an expected ~98% accuracy, but it is not guaranteed and will vary based on audio quality.

Instructions on ordering our First Draft Service can be found here and you can learn more about the product and connect with our Sales Team here .

Check out samples of our First Draft transcripts, compared to Standard and Verbatim here .

What is your Machine Express Service?

Our Machine Express service uses the most advanced automated speech recognition algorithms creating the highest accuracy automated transcription on the market. The accuracy of your Machine Express transcript depends on high audio quality, which includes:

  • No background noise.
  • Speakers close to the microphone.
  • No crosstalk.
  • Clear accents.

The transcripts are returned with automated timestamps (at every speaker change). We remove “umms”, “ahhs”, and stuttering to improve readability.

If you want to learn more about the product or have bulk or custom requirements, you can contact our Sales Team.

This product has no accuracy guarantee and refunds will not be provided for accuracy reasons. We suggest purchasing with a short file first to see if it fits your needs.

Our platform allows you to upgrade your Machine Express file to our human transcription options easily and quickly if you are not satisfied with the accuracy due to audio quality.

Can I upgrade my completed transcript to get additional features?

Yes! Once a transcription is completed it is eligible for an upgrade in 2 different scenarios.

  1. If you ordered a First Draft transcript you can upgrade it to our Standard transcription service, which is reviewed by our Quality Assurance Team, and is subject to our 99% accuracy guarantee.
  2. If you ordered a Standard transcript without timestamps, you can upgrade it to include the timestamps and speaker IDs.

What is your Automated Timestamps (beta) service?

This service applies a timestamp at each speaker change or thought change automatically (for long monologues and single speaker files) without having an accompanying speaker identification.

We offer automated timestamps for $0.10 per minute. It is available for English, Spanish, and French. Select this option at checkout under the “Timestamps and Speaker IDs” menu.

Timestamp accuracy is dependent upon audio quality and is not guaranteed.

Service Delivery Questions

What is your standard turnaround time?

Turnaround times depend on the Transcription Type ordered.

Machine Express: Transcripts are completed in about 3x the duration of your audio file. So a 10 minute file will take about 30 minutes to transcribe.

First Draft: Transcripts without timestamps and speaker IDs are usually completed in 1 business day regardless of turnaround selected, or 2-3 business days if you include timestamps and speaker IDs.

Standard: 1-3 Days

Verbatim: 2-5 Days

Files spanning 90-120 minutes will take an additional business day, and any additional minutes past that, in 60-minute increments, will need an additional business day. For instance, if you have a file that is 240 minutes, this would take an additional 3 business days.

We offer a rush turnaround service in 1 business day (PST), for high quality audio files that are 70 minutes or less. If you submit low quality audio our turnaround times may be extended. Feel free to contact us if you need rush delivery for files over 70 minutes or have low quality audio.

Contact us to Learn More

Can I see a sample of your First Draft Service compared to your Standard and Verbatim products?

Standard Transcript

Verbatim Transcript

First Draft Transcript

Standard transcripts go through both an initial layer of transcription, and then to our Quality Assurance Team to output our guaranteed 99%+ accuracy. These transcripts remove “umms”, “ahhs”, “likes”, “you knows”, and other filler words in addition to stuttering. Please note that with our Standard service, we do not correct grammatically incorrect language – we transcribe the audio exactly as it is.

Verbatim transcripts  go directly to our specially trained Quality Assurance (QA) team to deliver on our 99%+ accuracy guarantee. We capture speech exactly how it sounds. This includes all filler words, stuttering, and speech errors.

First Draft transcripts pass through our initial transcription step, where a team of transcriptionists work on your content in-tandem. Your transcript does not pass through a final editing step like our Standard and Verbatim services. We remove “umms”, “ahhs”, “likes”, “you knows”, and other filler words in addition to stuttering. We do not correct grammatically incorrect language – we transcribe the audio exactly as it is.

Can I see samples of single and multi-speaker transcripts, with and without timestamps?

Single Speaker Transcript

Multiple Speakers Transcript

Automated Timestamps (beta)

No Timestamps & Speaker IDs

Absolutely! Single speaker transcripts have line breaks when there is a change in thought or topic. Multi-speaker transcripts have a line break each time the speaker changes. If you select to add timestamps and speaker IDs this will be placed at the beginning of the line break, with speakers marked as S1, S2, etc..

We also offer a beta version of Automated Timestamps. This applies a timestamp at each speaker change, or at each thought change (for long monologues or single speaker files) without applying a speaker ID. It is available for English, Spanish, and French. Timestamp accuracy is dependent upon audio quality and is not guaranteed.

If you do not wish to have timestamps and speaker IDs, select the option ‘Not Included’ and you will only have the paragraph breaks.

I want only a certain portion of my audio file transcribed. Can I do that?

No. We transcribe the full duration of media files; however, it is easy to trim your audio or video using free software like Audacity or Quicktime. Please see this article for more information.

What is your accuracy guarantee and how do you achieve it?

Our Standard and Verbatim service tiers come with an accuracy guarantee of 99% for all audible words in a high quality audio. We monitor the Word Error Rate (WER), which is what our accuracy guarantee is based on. Out of the total number of words, less than 1% of them will be inaccurate.

If a customer is not satisfied with their transcript and has not made modifications to their transcript, we will review the file for the Word Error Rate – and if it doesn’t meet our standards, we will happily redo the file.

I am not happy with the quality of the delivered transcript. How can I submit it for review once more?

It is paramount for us to ensure your satisfaction with the completed transcript and we are sorry to hear if you are not happy with the final output. Please email us with the name of the file, email address used to upload your file, and let us know the exact problem you’re seeing with your transcription.

Please do not alter or correct your transcript if you would like us to redo it.

Pricing & Payment Questions

How much does it cost to get my audio transcribed?

Pricing is set at a per minute rate which varies depending on the service that you choose, as well as the options that you choose at checkout. Click ‘Get A Quote’, fill out the selections and we’ll be able to provide a finalized price for bulk orders.

What payment methods do you offer?

Our standard payment method is by credit card. We accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover Card.

If you have bulk transcription requirements and your company, school or organization requires payment by invoice, please contact us to get set up!

What currencies do you accept?

Purchases can be made in USD, AUD, NZD, EUR, JPY, and GBP.

Do I have to pay sales tax on my purchase? What about if I live in another state or country that requires additional taxes on services?

Tax laws vary by location. If you reside in a location that taxes services you may be charged sales tax for your purchase. The final price of the order, including any fees or taxes, will be displayed when you checkout.

Can I get a refund on my transcription order?

Refunds are typically handled on a case by case basis depending on the situation, here are a couple of frequent scenarios:

  1. If you realize that you have uploaded the incorrect audio file for us to transcribe, we’re able to offer a 1 hour cancellation window after purchase, for our Standard and Verbatim service tiers, but not Machine Express or First Draft due to our turnaround times – so please be sure to upload the correct file.
  2. You feel that your transcript is inaccurate after it’s been completed – we will conduct a review, depending on the service tier level that you purchased.If it’s First Draft, there is no accuracy guarantee, however we will conduct a review to audit quality and make a determination after the review.If you ordered Standard or Verbatim we will conduct a review using our Word Error Rate (WER) guidelines to determine accuracy and will work with you if there is a discrepancy.For Machine Express orders, there are no refunds and we suggest uploading a sample file to test for this reason.
  3. Delivery times are an estimate of what your file should take but are not guaranteed. If you’re having an issue with not getting your files back in time, please contact us to resolve.
  4. For rush orders not delivered within our projected turnaround time, please contact us for a partial refund.

Anytime you are contacting our customer support please provide the file name, email address used to upload your file, and a summary of the problem.

Security & Technical Capabilities

What is TranscribeMe’s confidentiality policy?

TranscribeMe provides best-in-class security and confidentiality. Our process of segmenting audio ensures confidentiality by preventing any one transcriptionist from having full access to your recordings. The full recording is only available to our Quality Assurance team, all of whom have signed NDAs.

Moreover, TranscribeMe’s platform is built on Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud solution – which is best-in-class in regards to data security.

If you have bulk transcription requirements, and require us to sign an NDA specific to your needs, please contact us and we will be in touch.

Do you have an API?

Yes. We have integrated into a large variety of companies from Fortune500’s to small startups, and we have a tech team that will happily provide support. Please visit our API page to learn more.

Can’t find what you’re looking for?

Launch Knowledge Base

Launch Knowledge Base

Get a Quote

Get a Quote

Contact Support

Contact Support