Voice transcription

Voice transcription turns speech into a written transcript. You may upload a recording of a meeting, interview or voice note and receive the text, or the tool may transcribe live as people speak. MacWhisper is an example of a tool that does this on a Mac. The result is a document you can search, edit, quote and share, instead of an audio file that someone has to listen to.

Text is quicker to scan than audio, and it can be searched months later. Transcripts help with meeting notes, customer interviews, podcasts and any record you may need to refer back to. It matters when you handle a lot of recorded conversation. Accuracy varies with audio quality, accents and specialist vocabulary, so a transcript should be checked before you rely on it for something important, such as a contract discussion.

• Test it with a real recording from your own business, including background noise and different speakers.
• Check whether it separates speakers and adds timestamps.
• Ask which languages are supported and which export formats you get, such as plain text or subtitles.
• Find out whether there is a limit on file length or monthly minutes.