Hiring a Transcriber: Audio Hours vs Person-Hours

Transcription: Audio Hours vs Person-Hours

If you’re looking to sell our your own e-book then have a look at Jared’s post at Startups Open Sourced. He’s had great success with it and has written up a detailed how-to of the steps involved. One of his tips is; get your interviews recorded and hire a transcriber to transcribe everything which you can work off.

The Difference

While hiring a transcriptionist, keep in mind the difference between the audio hour and person-hours, which Jared mentions in his post. An hour of audio can take anywhere from 4 to 6 hours to transcribe. If you’re paying by the hour then your cost will basically be multiplied by that factor.

“An hour of audio can take anywhere from 4 to 6 hours to transcribe. If you’re paying by the hour then your cost will basically be multiplied by that factor.”

On the other hand, if you’re paying by the audio hour, then the amount of effort spent does not matter. You’ll pay for the amount of audio transcribed and not the time that was taken for it to be transcribed.

How We Handle Audio at Scribie

On Scribie.com, we charge by the audio hour for all good-quality audio files.

However, if the audio contains background noise, isn’t recorded well, or has non-North American accents, there may be an additional fee for high-difficulty files. These types of files require more time from our transcribers in order to maintain Scribie’s expectation of quality.

Turnaround Time	Price Per Audio Minute
Automated (0.5 to 2 hours)	$0.10
Manual (36 Hours)	$0.80