RE: seeking auto transcribing for a small meeting

[Beth Agnew <Beth -dot- Agnew -at- senecac -dot- on -dot- ca>]

We always look to technology for solutions such as this, but really, a
low-tech solution is probably much more cost-effective. The convenience,
accuracy, reasonable cost and time savings for having a fast transcription
typist convert run of the mill voice recordings into text can't be beat by
electronic devices.

I have a Panasonic RR US305 that can do the recording you speak of. I use it
for my classes, and it came with voice transcription software -- which I had
to train -- for converting the recordings to text. Since I'm the only one
speaking, it works fairly well. Especially now that I've gone through the
laborious training process. When I've recorded meetings, the accuracy
suffers because people drop the volume of their voices too often.

Unless you expect to have a library full of such documents when you're done,
consider hiring an off-duty court reporter, or a transcription typist. A
good temp can be had at a very reasonable price. You could even outsource it
offshore for lower rates on the transcription typing. 
--Beth

Beth Agnew
Professor, Technical Communication
Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology
416-491-5050 x3133

-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+beth -dot- agnew=senecac -dot- on -dot- ca -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+beth -dot- agnew=senecac -dot- on -dot- ca -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On
Behalf Of Lisa Priester
Sent: Thursday, August 02, 2007 6:50 PM
To: 'TECHWR-L'
Subject: seeking auto transcribing for a small meeting

Hi list! 

I am working on establishing a repository of IT documentation. Some needed
documentation has not been written, and the people who have the subject
matter expertise to do so would rather be nibbled to death by baby ducks
than sit down and write or draw. 

So I've been asked to find out whether anyone knows of some digital recorder
and transcription software that would work in a small meeting setting, in
which I and a manager would interview the SME to capture the needed info. I
know of software such as DragonNaturallySpeaking and ViaVoice, but those
seemed to be design for use by one person with a headset plugged into
his/her desktop. 

Is anyone familiar with a setup that would allow two or three people to be
recorded and their words automatically transcribed? (I'll probably bring a
sketch book and scan any sketches, to capture graphical info) Here are the
business requirements:

-Record two or three people speaking in a small office
-Transcribe text with at least 880% accuracy. Nice to have: each speaker is
identified (as in a script) 
-Does not require that each speaker "train" the software
-costs less than $1000, including the hardware and software

Does such a solution exist? 

Regards, 

Lisa Priester
IT Documentation Specialist
Cast & Crew Entertainment Services, LLC

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