Transcription Services

Audio transcription you can rely on

Clear, accurate transcripts of your recordings in 300+ languages, in the style your work needs.

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Audio transcription turns a recording into a written transcript you can read, search, quote and share. Prism Linguistics transcribes audio in more than 300 languages, in verbatim, intelligent or timecoded styles, and can translate the transcript into English if the recording is in another language.

A recording sitting on a drive is hard to use. A transcript is something you can work with: a researcher can code it, a solicitor can cite it, an editor can pull quotes from it. Getting the style right for that purpose is half the job.

Verbatim or intelligent: which you need

There is no single "correct" transcript. It depends on what you are going to do with it.

Verbatim transcription records everything: every false start, repeated word, "um" and pause. It is used where the exact words matter, such as legal recordings, evidence, and certain kinds of discourse research. Intelligent, or clean, transcription removes the clutter and gives you a clear, readable account of what each speaker meant. It is what most interviews, meetings and content projects actually want.

If you are not sure, tell us what the transcript is for and we will recommend the style. We can also add speaker labels, and timecodes at intervals, at each speaker change, or at points you choose.

Where good audio meets its limit

We are honest about recordings. Clear audio with one person speaking at a time transcribes beautifully. A noisy cafe, a tinny speakerphone or three people talking over each other is genuinely harder, and no transcriber, human or machine, can invent words that were not audible. Where a section truly cannot be made out, we mark it as inaudible rather than guess. Good source audio is the single biggest thing you can do to get a good transcript.

Who uses it

Transcription for every kind of recording

Research

Interviews and focus groups for academic and market research, transcribed and timecoded ready for coding and analysis.

Legal

Recorded interviews, hearings and evidence, transcribed verbatim where the exact wording has to be preserved.

Media and podcasts

Interviews, podcasts and broadcast audio, transcribed for editing, show notes and accessibility.

Meetings

Board meetings, AGMs and conference sessions, turned into a clear written record.

Medical dictation

Dictated notes and reports transcribed accurately, with attention to medical terminology.

Foreign-language audio

Recordings in 300+ languages, transcribed in the original, translated into English, or both.

Questions people ask

Audio transcription FAQs

What is the difference between verbatim and intelligent transcription?
Verbatim transcription captures everything, including false starts, repetitions and fillers such as "um" and "you know". It is used where exactly what was said matters, for example legal recordings and some research. Intelligent or clean transcription tidies that out and gives a readable transcript of what the speaker meant. We will recommend one based on what the transcript is for.
Can you add timecodes to the transcript?
Yes. We can add timecodes at set intervals, at each change of speaker, or at points you specify. Timecodes make it easy to find a moment in the recording later, which is useful for research coding, editing and evidence work.
Do you transcribe recordings that are not in English?
Yes. We transcribe audio in more than 300 languages. We can give you a transcript in the original language, an English translation, or both side by side. For interview-based research, having the original and the translation together is often the most useful.
How accurate are your transcripts?
Our transcripts are produced by people, not software alone, and checked before delivery. Accuracy depends a lot on the recording: clear audio with one speaker at a time transcribes very well, while a noisy room with people talking over each other is harder. We will flag any sections we genuinely could not make out rather than guess.
How should I send you the audio?
Most common formats are fine, including MP3, WAV, M4A and recordings from phones and dictation apps. For anything large, we will share a secure upload link. Tell us roughly how long the recording is and how many speakers there are, and we will quote and give you a turnaround.

Got a recording to transcribe?

Tell us the length, the language and how many speakers. We will quote and confirm a turnaround.

Get a quote Call +44 (0) 20 3880 6688