---
title: "What is transcription?"
description: "What is transcription? It turns recorded audio, such as a client call or a voice note, into written text you can search. Read a short sample."
url: https://assistbpo.com/glossary/transcription/
updated: 2026-09-20
publisher: AssistBPO (SS Support Network LLC)
language: en-US
---

# What is transcription?

Glossary

What is transcription? Transcription is turning recorded or live speech into written text, either word for word or lightly cleaned up for readability. It is used for interviews, meetings, depositions, podcasts, dictation and customer calls. Accuracy is judged against the audio, and the output usually carries speaker labels and timestamps.

Updated September 2026 · Reviewed by [Nimra Khalid](https://assistbpo.com/team/nimra-khalid/)

## How does transcription work?

1. Agree the style: verbatim including stumbles and pauses, or intelligent verbatim with filler words removed.
2. Set the format up front, including speaker labels, timestamp interval, paragraph rules and how to mark unclear audio.
3. Automatic speech recognition produces a first draft, and a person corrects names, terms, numbers and crosstalk.
4. Anything inaudible is marked with a timestamp rather than guessed, so a reviewer can check the original.
5. Turnaround and cost rise sharply with poor audio, multiple speakers and specialist vocabulary.

## A worked example

A market research consultancy in Minnesota ran 20 customer interviews a month, each about 50 minutes. The consultant had been typing them herself over weekends. A transcription assistant took the audio, ran a first pass through speech recognition, then corrected product names, competitor names and numbers against the recording, marking two unclear passages with timestamps. Transcripts came back in one business day with speaker labels, and the consultant moved straight to coding the themes.

## Where does transcription show up in your tools?

Drafts come from Otter, Rev, Descript or the built-in transcript in Zoom and Microsoft Teams, then get corrected by hand. Finished transcripts usually land in Google Docs or Notion, with a term list kept alongside so names and jargon are spelled the same way every time.

## Common mistakes

- Accepting a raw machine transcript as final, which leaves every proper noun and figure at risk.
- Recording on one room microphone with five speakers, then expecting clean speaker separation.
- Never agreeing a style, so one file is full verbatim and the next is a tidy summary.

## Why does transcription matter?

A transcript makes spoken work searchable, quotable and reviewable months later, which is the whole value of recording anything. Machine drafts have made the first pass cheap, and the remaining work is exactly where the value sits: names, numbers and the parts the machine could not hear. That correction step is what separates a usable record from a rough approximation.

## How does AssistBPO handle transcription?

Our transcription assistants work to a style sheet you approve, correct machine drafts against the audio, and mark unclear passages with a timestamp rather than guessing. A term list of your product, client and staff names keeps spelling consistent across every file. Recordings are handled on managed devices with scoped access, and health information only by HIPAA-trained staff under a BAA.

[Meetings and calls transcribed accurately](https://assistbpo.com/services/transcription/)[Get a staffing plan](https://assistbpo.com/get-a-staffing-plan/)

## Related terms

- [Minutes](https://assistbpo.com/glossary/minutes/)
- [Action items](https://assistbpo.com/glossary/action-items/)
- [Data entry](https://assistbpo.com/glossary/data-entry/)
- [HIPAA](https://assistbpo.com/glossary/hipaa/)

## Where it is used

- [Meetings and calls transcribed accurately](https://assistbpo.com/services/transcription/)

## Next in the A to Z

- [Travel itinerary](https://assistbpo.com/glossary/travel-itinerary/)
- [Two-party consent](https://assistbpo.com/glossary/two-party-consent/)
- [UTM parameter](https://assistbpo.com/glossary/utm-parameter/)
- [Vendor management](https://assistbpo.com/glossary/vendor-management/)

[All 148 terms, A to Z](https://assistbpo.com/glossary/)

Next step

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---

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