Voice to Text Transcription Guide

It’s a lot of work to transcribe an audio file. In fact, an hour-long audio file would take the average person 4-8 hours to transcribe.

Need to convert voice to text, fast? There’s an easy way to do that. Rev offers the most accurate and affordable automatic transcription service there is.

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to run an audio recording from speech to text using Rev’s automated transcription services.

1. Select an audio file to convert to text

Select the audio or video file that you want to transcribe. If you need to record a new audio file, try our free voice recording app.

Make sure that your file has minimal background noise, clear speakers, and minimal crosstalk. Avoid recording in noisy cafes or conference halls and make sure that speakers are as close as possible to the mic.

For optimal output, your file should also ideally have no more than one or two speakers. Speech recognition technology can transcribe audio files with less than perfect sound quality, but the transcript output won’t be as accurate.

Rev transcribes audio and video recordings in MP3, MP4, WMV, AIF, M4A, MOV, AVI, VOB, AMR, WMA, OGG, and WAV. Download or upload your file to your desktop where it can be easily accessed.

2. Go to rev.com/automated-transcription and upload your file

Upload a saved audio/video file directly from your computer or simply paste a URL from the web. With Rev, your first automated transcription order is free up to 45 minutes in length. If you’d like a more accurate transcription, you can try our human transcription service which guarantees 99% accuracy.

Your audio/video file will upload automatically. It should only take a few seconds.

Once your file is uploaded, you can see the total cost to transcribe your file. Automatic transcription costs $0.10 cents per audio minute. So, as you can see in the example below a 12-minute long file will cost $1.20 to transcribe and take an estimated 5 minutes to deliver. Also, the order total is $0.00 because the first 45 minutes are complimentary.

From here, you can upload more files, paste more URLs, add a reference name for your own tracking purposes, or click “checkout” to complete your order.

At checkout, review the details of your order, add recipients for your transcript, and click “place order” once everything looks good.

Most files are transcribed in less than 5 minutes but we will always provide an estimate. You will receive an email when your automated transcripts are ready.

Once your transcript is complete, you’ll receive an email with a link to the transcript. You’ll also see the completed transcript in My Files.

3. Download, edit or share your transcript

Using the Rev transcription editor, you can view, edit, download, and easily share your transcript order with as many people as you please. There are also useful tools built into the editor so you can add notes, highlight important quotes, or add comments to specific sections of the text. The possibilities are endless!

Questions? We’re here to help. Please feel free to reach out to our team at support@rev.com.