![]() Time bar and playback controls, including variable speed options.Leave the application open while the file is processing.Īfter the transcription is done, the Transcribe pane on the right side will show a time-stamped transcript version.Navigate to your audio file and click Open.In the Transcribe Pane, click the blue Upload audio button.From the Dictate menu, select Transcribe.Click the Word icon from the left pane.The amount of time Microsoft takes to transcribe your audio file is based on the file size. This method requires a source file in one of the accepted audio file formats and Microsoft 365. For the Techmeme file, I downloaded the podcast from PocketCasts Plus. Other podcast providers or media players don’t allow the same options. The embedded web players have a dedicated download button. Some podcasters make it easy to download the file. Word for web allows the following audio file format types to be transcribed: Find the Audio Sourceįor the audio transcription to work, you’ll need a source file. You can also use that program to convert one audio file type to another format. If you’ve got a noisy audio file, you might try Audacity to clean up the audio source file. The same goes for webinars or videos, which include soundtracks. If you’re recording lectures, keep in mind noise from classmates or your distance from the speaker. The more noise you have on the source audio file, the worse the transcription. The environment and background noise impact the results. The service may also convert a software release reference such as 9.4.0 to 9 dot 4 dot 0. If you’re transcribing files with technical terms or jargon, you might see some misinterpretations. Also, remember that you can’t take advantage of a Word exclude dictionary since we’re using Word for the web. While I don’t know these systems’ mechanics, I’m guessing the algorithms rely on dictionaries or lexicons. While I was dealing with 2 speakers at the max, I can see where a group discussion would add complexity.Īnother item to consider is subject matter. The number of speakers in the file plays a role. The flip side is sometimes paid services make the segments too long, which causes a “wall of text.” This is in contrast to Sonix.AI and Trint, which can do much longer segments. The net effect is that when you add content to Microsoft Word, you get some punctuation issues. It also appears the Word transcribe service breaks the audio into 20-30 second chunks unless it can determine a notable break or a change in speakers. I also used Sonix.AI and Trint, which are paid services, on the same Techmeme podcast file. The last file was a podcast with multiple speakers. ![]() The second was an MP4 file produced with Techsmith’s Camtasia in my home office. The first was the Techmeme Ride Home podcast, which is produced in a studio. ![]() To test the transcribe function, I chose 3 files. If this were easy, closed captions on YouTube videos would be flawless. The bottom line is don’t expect perfection. Now, consider how much more difficult the task is without these verbal clues. If you’ve ever played around with dictation programs, you know that sometimes you have to tell the software about punctuation. ![]() Transcribing can be tough for many reasons. Regardless of which system or service you use for audio transcription, you’ll need to do some work. Similarly, if I were transcribing something critical, I might use a transcriptionist or oTranscribe and do it myself. ![]() I would spend the extra time fixing issues. If I were the podcast producer and wanted to repurpose the website’s audio transcript, I would have stricter criteria. Because this is for my personal use, I’m not too concerned with word mistakes, timecodes, styles, and other matters. How do you want to use the audio transcript? In my case, I needed a simple podcast transcript. Pin You’ll need Premium for Transcribe Transcript Purpose You’ll see the menu item and notice that you need to upgrade to Microsoft 365. This is the new name for Office 365. While the online version is free, the Transcribe feature is a premium feature. The command structure is similar to the desktop version, but it’s not as feature-rich. It’s like Google Docs, except it’s from Microsoft, and your documents are saved in Microsoft OneDrive. If you’re not familiar with Word for the web, it’s the online word processor from Microsoft that works in your web browser. It was previously called “Word Web App.” ![]()
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