Transcription is the process of converting spoken words into written text. Whether it’s recorded interviews, meetings, podcasts, or video content, transcription transforms audio (or video) into text that’s searchable, referenceable, and accessible.
What are Transcription Tools? #
Transcription tools are software applications or services designed to assist in this conversion process. They come in varying levels of automation and support:
- Manual transcription tools, which provide simple play-pause controls, time stamps, and editable text fields for human transcribers.
- Automated or AI-powered transcription tools, which use speech-to-text, natural language processing, and machine learning to automatically convert audio to text, sometimes in real-time.
Key Features of Transcription Tools #
- Audio Player Integration: Allows users to listen, pause, rewind, and adjust speed while typing the transcript.
- Speaker Identification & Time-coding: Especially useful in meetings or multi‐person interviews.
- Export & Format Options: Lets users download transcripts in various formats (Word, PDF, time-coded versions) for editing, analysis, or archiving.
- Language Support & Accuracy: Advanced tools support multiple languages, accents, and may automatically clean up punctuation and structure.
Benefits of Transcription Tools #
Using transcription tools: #
- Saves time compared to fully manual transcription, especially when using AI features.
- Makes audio content accessible and easier to analyse—useful for researchers, reporters, and organisations.
- Helps create searchable text from spoken content, boosting usability and reference value.
Limitations & Considerations #
- Automated transcripts may still require human review—especially when audio quality is poor or speakers are non-native.
- Many tools rely on internet connectivity or cloud services, so privacy and data security matter.
- Manual tools are more labour-intensive, and automated tools sometimes struggle with accents, overlapping speech, or industry-specific terminology.
Transcription tools exist to bridge audio and text. Choosing the right one depends on the volume of work, language and speaker complexity, budget, and need for accuracy.
List of recommended resources #
For a broad overview #
How Secure Are Journalists’ Favorite Transcription Tools?
This article by Martin Shelton and Yael Grauer discusses popular transcription services used by journalists and researches and analyses uses security and data protection while using these services.
How to Transcribe Audio to Text in Word
This step-by-step YouTube tutorial by Kevin Stratvert explains how to convert audio into text using Microsoft Word. This is a useful feature that can save a lot of time and hassle when one needs to transcribe something. Stratvert uses Whisper AI and Microsoft 365 tools for the same.
For in-depth understanding #
This blog post gives a comprehensive understanding of transcription, focusing on transcription software and its benefits.
What Is Transcription Software?
This article provides an in-depth explanation of transcription softwares which convert speech to text digitally. The article discusses how these software work as well as their benefits and some tips to efficiently use transcription tools.
Case study #
(Re)thinking transcription strategies: Current challenges and future research directions
This paper by Sébastien Point and Yehuda Baruch focuses on transcription strategies and explores the biases and challenges of various transcription strategies. The paper aims at contributing to more reflexivity on the existing strategies regarding transcription and how to increase transparency in qualitative research.
This research paper by Helen Eftekhari describes audio data transcribing, current challenges, opportunities and implications in using intelligent speech recognition technology for transcribing. An application of this methodology is also presented.
