The Story on Outsourcing Transcription Services Overseas
Nowadays, the pressure to outsource is considerable. The market competition is driving prices down, leaving some companies with no other option, but to outsource for cheaper transcription rates.
Many people have their ethical and political views on outsourcing overseas, but I am not going to discuss in today’s article whether it is the “right” or “wrong” thing to do. I want to share with you the reason why transcription services for closed captioning and subtitling should stay with native English speakers, whether they live in the United States or elsewhere.
I get sales calls all the time from transcription agencies overseas attempting to convince me of the value of their service. In the beginning the low rates lured me in to giving them a test run. From the times I was willing to give it a shot, transcripts from overseas transcribers (Philippines, India, and the like) are nowhere near the caliber of our native-speaker transcribers. A layman may not understand the intricacies of a good transcription, therefore not understanding the big deal of “quality.” Let me tell you in terms of numbers. Our editors with an outsourced transcript spend on average four times as long with a script from a non-native speaker than with a transcript from a native speaker. In my experience, a non-native speaker doesn’t have the ear for the nuances of the English language as well as the culture and context of the dialogue. I can tell you that I am fluent in Spanish as a second language, and therefore there are things that just aren’t as easy for me to pick up that are a piece of cake to a native speaker.
Cost wise, it doesn’t make sense for our company to achieve the quality we are looking for to use the non-native speakers you get from outsourced transcription companies. I have had companies promise me that their transcribers can match mine, but it never happens. If I can get a transcript for half the cost, that is just as good, I would have no problem outsourcing, but the problem is, that just hasn’t happened. Until then, I have learned cost almost always equals quality whether it is for transcription or translation services. People that are good with experience know it, and charge for it.
What has your experience been with outsourcing?
2 Comments, Comment or Ping
Translation services
We outsource all the time however we have a pool of selected and tested people who do quality work within the deadlines we require.
Feb 27th, 2009
Joanna
Thank you for your comment.
Is this for translation or transcription services? We outsource overseas for translation services using native speakers of the target language–this is definitely an advantage for translation work.
Mar 2nd, 2009