8 ways an audio transcription software can enhance remote work

Audio transcription software is a fascinating tool. As the name suggests, it creates written transcripts out of spoken language using AI technology.

The benefits of this type of software are innumerable. In this article, we’ll focus on how this tool can enhance remote work in particular.

Remote work has taken the world by storm, but this has by no means been a painless process. Some drawbacks include miscommunication mishaps and feelings of isolation and detachment amongst remote workers.

Audio transcription software is a powerful tool that may help buck this trend.

What is audio transcription software?

Audio transcription software is a tool that turns spoken language into written text using advanced AI speech recognition technology. This technology uses algorithms to detect speech patterns, phonetics, and language structures and transcribes the audio into text. The result is a near-complete written record of a meeting that is both searchable and shareable.

Indeed, this is hardly the first tool that uses AI to optimize and facilitate business operations. Many other industries have jumped on this trend, with customer service teams leading the charge.

For example, a call routing service sorts and distributes phone calls to different team members and departments according to set criteria.  It has become hugely popular as it facilitates easier communications, which in turn allows agents and representatives to focus on providing high-quality service.

Audio transcription software works in the same way. It takes many of the day’s menial tasks off your hands, allowing you to focus on your most important work. Indeed, this software can be hugely beneficial across the board, but it is especially helpful for remote workers, who often rely on workspace as a service to access the tools and resources they need to collaborate effectively.

In order to understand why, we need to first take a look at the challenges facing remote work.

The challenges faced by remote workers

Remote work has become increasingly common; even for those of us who still commute to an office, the option of hybrid work means that many employees work remotely at least half the time.

There are many benefits to remote work, such as flexibility, a better work–life balance, and the accessibility it offers. However, there is no doubt that this new method of working offers distinct challenges.

Distance

With the flexibility that remote work has unlocked, it’s now increasingly common to have teams that are spread across different time zones, regions, and continents.

Such diversity can be a huge asset, but it also hinders easy communication between teams due to time differences and potential cultural nuances.

Lack of interaction

In a traditional office setup, colleagues can easily strike up an informal conversation or even an impromptu meeting when small queries or obstacles arise. Importantly, ad hoc water cooler conversations gives colleagues a social boost to get them through a long day.

Remote work makes this level of informality a little harder. Of course, there’s always time for 1–1 meetings or chats, but these require a level of intentionality that isn’t necessary when you sit one desk away from your team manager.

This lack of interaction can have a strong effect on remote employees, with feelings of isolation and detachment not uncommon.

Misunderstandings and miscommunications

Remote work relies primarily on written communication. Though undoubtedly effective, the lack of non-verbal cues can sometimes hinder understanding. When you add tech issues into the mix, there’s bound to be some level of miscomprehension.

Team cohesion

With all the complexities surrounding communication, it makes sense that team cohesion can take a hit when workers are separated from one another. Miscommunication, a lack of interaction, and the inability to meet in person means that a true team connection can be hard to develop.

8 ways an audio transcription software can enhance remote work

The obstacles mentioned in the previous section may seem insurmountable. Yet, there are many different things that you can do to enhance remote work. Audio transcription software, a simple and effective tool, is one of those ways.

Below, we’ve outlined 8 of the ways in which audio transcription software can overcome the challenges associated with remote work and enhance it.

Reduces costs

Though transcribing meetings is a great option for remote work, there are many different costs associated with traditional transcription. Audio quality, length and the complexity of the topic are all variables that can cause transcription costs to shoot up.

For companies on a budget, automated technology offers a cheaper alternative that still delivers accuracy.

Saves time

Audio transcription software creates a written transcript that can be easily reviewed when trying to find necessary information, such as key points and action items. This saves a lot of time, as you don’t have to listen to the entire meeting audio again.

It also helps boost productivity in two ways. First, it frees up whoever was taking meeting notes and allow them to actively partake in the meeting. Secondly, with many of us spending time in unproductive meetings, audio transcription software means you can simply skim the meeting notes instead of attending. This greatly frees up time, letting employees get on with meaningful work.

It cannot be emphasized enough how useful it is to have a written record of a meeting. Let’s once again take the customer service industry to see why.

A customer service contact center is a central point where all customer interactions that have occurred across different channels are gathered in one place. Bear in mind that there is a difference between a contact centre vs call centre; a call center is the specific entity that handles incoming calls for businesses.

In this case, an audio transcription software allows customer service agents to have a written record of all interactions, which facilitates more efficient and productive communication with customers.

Better collaboration

As we highlighted earlier on, misunderstanding and miscommunications are bound to occur, no matter if you’re having a physical meeting together or collaborating over Zoom.

Attendees can interpret decisions differently or forget important action items that were discussed. However, with a written record, the likelihood of this happening is greatly reduced.

An accurate written record can be shared with everyone on the team; in this way all parties are on the same page, are informed, and can work towards the same goals.

The fact that the transcript is both searchable and shareable means that colleagues can comment on the transcript, integrate it with different apps, and share it on any desired platform. This flexibility allows for greater and more enhanced collaboration.

Enhances communication

As we saw above, the lack of non-verbal cues and the potential for tech issues can cause miscommunications amongst remote teams.

Meeting transcriptions go some of the way in countering this. By creating an accurate and objective record of conversations, it becomes easy for colleagues to check back when information is either forgotten or unclear. What’s more, transcriptions can also be shared with people who missed the meeting.

Overall, having an accurate transcript allows for enhanced transparency, which promotes collaboration and coordination. In turn, these allow for colleagues to be more productive.

Also keep in mind that there are other tools you can try if you wish to improve collaboration among remote teams.

For example, you may download MAC remote desktop. It can be difficult to explain things over Zoom, especially when getting into the technical nitty-gritty of complex topics. So if you find that you’re better at showing rather than telling, remote desktop technology allows you to take over a colleague’s computer temporarily and do just that.

Enhances technique

Some meeting transcription software have advanced features, like conversation intelligence and speaker analytics.

This is undoubtedly helpful for any customer-facing team such as sales and customer success. Meeting transcripts and conversation analytics can help them identify successful techniques and strategies.

For example, maybe you have a remote customer service team that uses contact centre as a service, a cloud-based platform that gives companies access to customer experience technology and outreach software. You can train your team using meeting transcripts and speaker analytics to help them give the best service possible.

Enhances customer interviews

Transcribing and analyzing customer interviews is an invaluable source of information; it can help with everything, from product development to pitching better sales and marketing.

For example, your marketing department might be conducting domain name searches to find the perfect domain name for your website. Analyzing customer interviews can let you A/B test potential names, and your team can focus on the interview without being bogged down by transcriptions. This is especially useful for remote interviews, where iffy connections or tech issues can make it harder to focus.

Improves workplace accessibility

Audio transcription software is a great tool for creating a more inclusive workplace where all parties feel able to participate and contribute.

For example, meeting transcripts can be hugely beneficial for individuals with hearing impairments or disabilities, non-native speakers, those who have difficulty processing auditory information, and anyone struggling with connectivity issues. Where remote work can cause detachment, audio transcription software works to bridge this gap.

You may even extend this accessibility to the recruitment process by using this software to make your job posting more accessible and add subtitles to recruitment videos. This helps broaden your recruitment net to capture a more diverse audience.

Maintains a central record

Using audio transcription software allows you to store a written record of all meetings in a centralized location. In other words, you can create an immediate database of all previous meetings.

This is crucial, as it means that important information will not get lost. Moreover, it can help with compliance and legal requirements in the future.

Transcription software for international teams

So there you have it. Audio transcription software is certainly a boon for remote workers, as it facilitates collaboration, enhances communication, and improves workplace accessibility.

For those of you with truly international teams, you may even want to look out for software that includes the option of language interpretation. This allows webinars or meetings to be truly global in their reach and greatly reduces both the cost of having an interpreter and the complexity of having a multilingual meeting. What’s more, everyone can actively participate in the meeting.

Audio transcription software is leading the way in facilitating the new future of work, one in which all employees feel connected and eager to contribute.