From the management’s perspective, let’s list out the advantages of non-medical transcription, which is simply anything other than medical transcription.
- Reduced learning curve — Medical transcription training requires not just good keyboard skills but also savvy medical systems’ knowledge and formats, protocols, client specifications, HIPAA rules, etc. None of that is needed in GT or LT. A sharp ear for details and deft transcription skills would do a world of good.
- Business scope — Every professional and every company, institution, and organization are potential customers! Media companies, law firms, podcasters, speakers, market researchers, filmmakers, book writers, financiers, product companies, conference hosts, college students, professors, and so on and so forth. The list goes on and on. The world is full of opportunities!
- Lesser demands — Unlike the medical transcription field where timelines and accuracy and error percentages are set in stone, there is less rigidity and more flexibility with general and legal transcription. As long as due diligence is done and the customer is explained of the full process, transcription in the GT and LT fields is a bit more relaxed, less demanding, and therefore more enjoyable for the staff and management alike.
- Knowledge & insight — General transcription is such a generic term that it basically encompasses anything and everything under the sun. One could come across topics as diverse as Keynesian economics, landscape architecture, sports science, arthropod palaeontology, quarterly results and press releases, celebrity interviews, etc., just to name a few from the vast ocean of subjects. Knowledge gained thus and the insight, even if just a glimpse, is immeasurable.
Documentation is here to stay. People keep needing this in hard forms, for example as a printed report, or in soft forms, for example as a webpage. More than 80% of all content online is in textual form. All that’s not going to vanish or change overnight.
Documentation is the backbone of the legal and litigation process all over the world. Hard copies, handwritten notes, printed reams of paper, case filings, etc. are absolutely vital for law enforcement, administration and judiciary to keep chugging along without any major hiccups or lacunae. And in spite of litigation process automation in certain aspects, legal transcription is still a critical, functional and supportive activity and a crucial link in the entire litigation process, which the back office processes of our court system is heavily dependent upon.
Though change is constant, and the only thing constant is change, transcription is not going to go away anytime soon. Of course, as with all other things in the world, as human civilization advances, traditional ways of working are going to be replaced by more efficient and effective tools and strategies. Technology is just one part of that construct.
Transcribers, just like all other workers, have to adapt and equip quickly in order to be nimble enough to sense and grab opportunities. In this fast-paced, evolving world, every challenge for you is an opportunity for someone else!
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