Customer Guide

If you uploaded files as a guest, an account will be created for you with the email address supplied during payment. You can monitor the progress of your files, view the draft transcript, download the transcripts, manage payment methods, order more files from your account

We require payments to be made in advance via credit card and/or PayPal. Once the payment is processed, we promptly begin working on your file. As a bonus, we offer free credits for trial runs. Don't forget to join our newsletter to avail of our free credits.

Additionally, we offer billing and invoicing options for large orders. To set up a billing account, a contract must be executed. If you require further details, please feel free to contact us.

You can cancel your transcript order at any time before it reaches 60% completion (as indicated by the progress percentage). If you choose to cancel, refunds will be issued proportionally, deducting the cost of the work already completed on each file. Refunds can be sent to your original payment method or credited to your account.

Once the transcript has been delivered, we do not offer refunds. However, if you find the transcript quality unsatisfactory or require additional changes, we provide free re-reviews. We are committed to achieving the promised 99%+ minimum accuracy and will redo the transcript as many times as necessary.

Please note that we do not offer refunds for blank portions in the audio file where there is no spoken audio. We recommend using audio editing software like Audacity or utilizing the Trim Audio functionality on the files page to remove such portions.

Once the transcript has been delivered, we do not offer refunds. We also do not offer refunds for duplicate file orders placed in error. Please double-check your files to prevent unintentional duplication before proceeding with the order. However, if you find the transcript quality unsatisfactory or require additional changes, we provide free re-reviews. We are committed to achieving the promised 99%+ minimum accuracy and will redo the transcript as many times as necessary.

Custom formatting is available upon request and is subject to an additional charge based on the specific requirements. The cost is determined by the complexity of the formatting and how much it deviates from the default format.

In case you need extra formatting on your transcript that deviates from our default formatting, please enable the Custom Formating option when placing your order. When enabled, we will apply your formatting requirements based on the instructions and sample output provided.

The first step when ordering custom formatting is to contact support first so we can enable the custom plan for you. Please provide your custom formatting instructions and a sample output so we will be able to gauge the scope of work and estimate the additional charge. Once this step is done, you can now proceed with placing your order.

The custom formatting can be ordered in two ways, as follows:

1) Simultaneous with Ordering the Transcript
Once we have enabled the custom plan for you, you can already place your order (transcription + custom formatting) with us. When placing the order, after clicking on the Order Transcript button, you will be shown the optional features. Please enable Custom Formatting and the agreed-upon additional charge will be added to the transcription rate.

2) After the Transcript is Delivered
If you already ordered the transcripts and these are done, you can place the custom formatting order on the Delivered Files page. Please click on the drop-down menu and select Custom Formatting. A custom formatting invoice will be generated based on the agreed-upon custom formatting rate.

If you already have the transcript and you want it to be custom formatted, you can also order it from us. Please email us (support@scribie.com) your custom formatting instructions and sample files (input and output) and we will be happy to generate a custom formatting quote for you.

The Transcript Editor is an online tool which helps you quickly and efficiently check the transcript against the audio file. Click on the audio waveform and the cursor will be placed in the corresponding position of the transcript. Conversely, place the cursor in any position of the text and you can play the corresponding audio.

Additionally, you can also play from the start of paragraphs, check and edit any inaudible words which are time stamped and marked with a blank, and cycle through blanks. On Google Chrome, audio playback can also be sped up or slowed down to carefully examine difficult audio sections. Various keyboard shortcuts are also available to help you navigate without the mouse.

The Transcript Editor is packed with features and is a huge time-saver for assessing the accuracy of the transcript. We strongly recommend that you check the file before downloading and add those last finishing touches before using it for your end purpose.

Please also read the Integrated Editor blog post on how to use this tool and learn about keyboard shortcuts that can help you navigate its functions more efficiently.

Maintaining the confidentiality of all transcription files is our utmost priority. Access to the files is strictly restricted on a need-to-know basis, limited to our employees and contractors. All transcribers, employees, and contractors are bound by a confidentiality clause outlined in the Terms & Conditions.

Furthermore, you have complete control over your files. Once you delete your files, they are permanently removed from our servers as we do not keep backups. You also have the option to delete your Scribie.com account at any time.

To further ensure confidentiality, we split up the files into smaller parts before distributing them to our transcribers. This way, they only have access to specific portions of the file. Our website also utilizes industry-standard 256-bit SSL encryption for secure communication between servers and browsers.

We strictly adhere to a no-selling, no-renting, and no-sharing policy for personal information with third parties. Our Privacy Policy covers all data uploaded to our servers, including transcripts. If you require a specific confidentiality agreement, please send the document to support@scribie.com, and we will provide you with a signed copy.

Please note that we are currently not HIPAA compliant.

For human transcription, we understand that sometimes the quality of a transcript may not meet your expectations. That's why we offer free re-reviews for human transcript orders. If you're unsatisfied with the quality after delivery, you can place a re-review order from your account. Please provide specific instructions, and we will proofread the file once more and send it back to you. The re-review process takes approximately 1 business day.

Customer satisfaction is our priority, and we take feedback seriously. When you place a re-review order, we thoroughly investigate the root causes of any issues and take necessary measures to prevent them from happening again in the future.

Please note that we do not provide refunds after the transcript has been delivered. However, you can cancel your transcript order at any time before it reaches 60% completion.

You can cancel your transcript order at any time before it reaches 60% completion. If you decide to cancel, a refund will be processed within 1 business day. The refund amount depends on the progress of the transcript, which is calculated by multiplying the amount paid with the progress. For example, if the progress is 0%, you will receive a full refund. Additionally, upon cancellation, you can download the draft transcript (for the percentage that has been completed) as a text file from your account.

Once the transcript has been delivered, we do not offer refunds. However, we provide free re-reviews to address any quality concerns you may have.

The Teams feature is a versatile collaboration tool suitable for various types of organizations, whether they are large entities like universities or law firms, or small teams associated with podcasters, YouTubers, or videographers.

To utilize this feature, you can navigate to the settings page of your account and create a team. Once created, you can invite multiple members to join your team. This enables you to securely share files with team members without disclosing your password.

When you are a part of one or more teams, you can easily switch between your private workspace and the team workspaces by using the dropdown button on the file page. Switching to a team workspace grants you access to various actions such as uploading files, ordering transcripts, reviewing and editing transcripts, viewing invoices, adding credits, and more within the context of the team workspace. All uploaded files and transcripts within the team workspace are shared with all team members. Additionally, important email notifications are sent to all team members as well.

The person who creates the team holds administrative privileges and can manage team membership by adding or removing members. They are also the only one authorized to add a payment method for the team.

It's important to note that your private workspace remains exclusive to you and is not shared with other members of the team(s) you may be a part of.

In addition, you have the flexibility to create multiple teams from the same account. Members of each team can only access their respective workspaces and do not have access to the workspaces of other teams.

Please also visit the Team Workspaces blog post for more information about this feature.

The sharing of files permits multiple individuals to access the same transcripts and audio/video files. The level of access granted to users may vary, with certain individuals having the ability to modify files based on their access permissions, while others may have only read-only access.

Collaborating with clients and internal teams while ensuring security is crucial, regardless of device or location. To simplify collaboration while ensuring security, Scribie’s Share File feature provides a solution that enables our customers to access files securely from any device, share files, and establish efficient workflows.

There are two types of user permissions or access levels for the Share File feature, the Viewer and the Editor permissions. The following sections describe these in detail.

Access Levels

Upon sharing a file with another individual, you have the option to specify their level of access, as follows:

• Viewer Access: Individuals can view and download the shared file; however, they are unable to alter the shared file, so access is read-only.
• Editor Access: Individuals have the ability to launch the online Editor, modify or edit the shared transcript, and download the shared file.

Share File Process

To share a file, the step-by-step process is as follows:

• Select the file you want to share
  • Log in to your Scribie account, go to the Delivered Files page or the Pending Files, or navigate to the folder where your file is located. Select the file you want to share then click on the dropdown menu and select 'Share'.
• Add who you want to share the file with
  • A popup window will appear where you can add the emails of the people you want to share the file with. After typing the email address, you can specify the Permission or Access Level on the dropdown menu on the right side of the window. The options available are Editor and Viewer.
  • After adding who you want to share the file with, you can click on ‘Notify people’ so they are notified that the file was shared with them.
• Check that the person has the right permission
  • The window will also show a list of people you have shared the file with. It's important to review the list to confirm that you've shared the file solely with the intended stakeholders and that the access privileges you've assigned are correct.

Please also visit the Share File Feature blog post for more details and screenshots on how to share files and set permissions.

The Folders feature is a powerful organizational tool that allows you to better manage your files and documents. You can use it to group related files and folders together and quickly access them whenever you need them. 

To get started with Folders, simply navigate to the All Files page of your account and click on the "New Folder" button. You can then name your folder and click the create folder button.

Once you have created your folder, you can easily drag and drop files into it, or move existing files into the folder using the "Move" option in the toolbar menu. You can also create subfolders within your main folder to further organize your files.

The Upload Folder feature allows you to quickly and easily upload large numbers of files to your account. You can either drag and drop a zipped folder or click on the "Upload" button in the Uploads page to select the zipped folder from your computer. You can also drag and drop the zipped folder in the All Files page.

Please note that by default, folders are private and can only be accessed by the account holder. Your private files will remain private and cannot be accessed by other users.

For more information and screenshots on how to use this feature, please visit the Scribie Folder Feature blog post.

Account credits are funds which you can add to your Scribie account and use it to pay for transcript orders, automated transcripts, or any other payments on Scribie. Your credit card will be charged only once. You can add anywhere from $10 to $15,000 at a time. Account credits can also be shared with team members and they do not expire. However, account credits cannot be withdrawn or transferred. You can only use them for payments on Scribie.

You can add credits from the settings page. You can also choose to send any refunds to your account credits from the settings page.

The transcript files are delivered in the following formats:

• Microsoft Word (.doc)
• Adobe PDF (.pdf)
• OpenDocument Text (.odt)
• Plain text (.txt)

A template file is used for conversion for the first three formats. The plain text file contains only the transcript in UTF-8 encoded text.

Our base rates apply to files with American accent speakers. For files with speakers of other accents, additional charges will be incurred. We have expertise in a wide range of accents, including British, Australian, Indian, African, as well as various European and Asian accents.

We guarantee 99%+ accuracy for files with accented speakers. Please note that accented files may require more time and may be subject to additional charges.

We are able to transcribe files that are recorded in noisy backgrounds, such as cafes or crowds, as long as the main speakers are clear and audible. Even files with ambient background noise, like air conditioning hiss, can be transcribed as long as the main speakers can still be heard clearly.

Please note that noisy files may require additional time to process and may also incur additional charges. In cases where the files are deemed untranscribable, a full refund will be issued.

Our rates and turnaround times are based on files with clean audio and American speakers. However, for files with the following issues, an additional charge of $0.50/minute to $2.00/minute may apply, along with a potential delay in delivery.

The additional charge is NOT applied automatically and can be declined. Please note that additional charges are non-negotiable and final. According to our terms of service, our assessment is final and binding, and any disagreement will result in immediate order cancellation.

Based on our data, files with any of the listed issues require approximately 3 to 4 times more effort to ensure 100% accuracy. Compensating our transcribers for the additional time and effort is the most efficient approach to achieving our goal. Our system is optimized for clean files with American speakers, providing the best accuracy-to-price ratio for such files.

For recommendations on how to avoid these charges, please refer to our recording tips. You can also read our manifesto for a broader understanding of the reasoning behind this policy.

The audio quality of the recording is the most crucial factor that impacts transcript accuracy. Good audio files require less time and effort to transcribe, which is why our system prioritizes them. In comparison, poor audio files require approximately 3 to 4 times more effort. To save on transcription costs and ensure highly accurate transcripts, we recommend following these simple steps:

You can specify certain options when placing your order with us. The following table presents the available order options for our human transcription services, indicating which ones are free and which ones involve additional costs.

Our Transcription Progress Tracking feature enables you to track the progress of a transcript from your account at any stage. We provide the completion turnaround time as well as the draft transcript. The estimated turnaround time is calculated based on the stage at any point in time. We also provide a draft transcript which shows the changes made. The accuracy of the draft transcript may be lower and may also contain inconsistencies (all of which will be corrected during later stages).

The following is the mapping between the stage of the process, the percentage progress, and the estimated turnaround time. Please note that the estimated turnaround time may vary depending on the duration of the file and its audio quality.

Progress Tracking is a unique feature of Scribie. The draft transcript is useful if you need something to work on right away. The Transcript Progress blog post has more details about this feature.

Our transcription service offers features that save you time and money. Transcription is a very labor intensive work and we ensure that you get the best possible transcript.

• Our transcription process ensures that the file is checked multiple times by different people. Even the shortest file is worked on by more than three people. More eyes and ears produce a higher quality transcript.
• You pay a fixed price for the transcript based on the audio length and not the time spent transcribing.
• We provide the best price-to-accuracy ratio for clean files with American speakers.
• We are committed to quality. The additional charges ensure that the transcript is as accurate as possible, regardless of the difficulty level.
• We carefully vet each one of our transcribers and continuously monitor their performance.
• We research uncommon terms, acronyms, etc. and ensure that the transcripts are contextually correct.
• We deliver files on time. If we anticipate a delay then we will inform you well in advance.
• You can monitor the progress and check the Draft Transcript from your account at any stage.
• You can order a free re-review if you are not satisfied with the transcript.
• We are consistent, predictable and accurate. You can plan around us.
• As a company, we take confidentiality very seriously and we handle your files with utmost care.
• We respond to your questions in a timely manner and continue supporting you even after the file is delivered.

The following is a sample audio and the corresponding transcript. More sample transcripts are available on our blog.

We provide phone, live chat and email support on all weekdays. Our customer support team is well trained and responsive. We ensure that all questions and issues are addressed promptly. Please do not hesitate to reach out to us.