An interview is a question and answer type of conversation between two or more people conducted to elicit information which would usually be made public. Interviews are conducted in every sphere of life, business, academics, law, medicine, journalism, etc. just to name a few.

Conversion of such interview audios and/or videos into text format is known as interview transcription.

Interviews are recorded as either audio or video. Almost all interviews are converted into an editable and searchable text format. This eases later retrieval of information. Here comes in the need for transcription service providers who specialize in the field of interview transcription.

Interview transcription converts the audio/video into an accurate, editable, and searchable text format. There has been a rise in demand for interview transcription services. This demand for interview transcription services has been seen across all verticals such as those conducted by radio, television and print media journalists, authors, researchers, job interviewers, students for dissertations, businesses, police, lawyers and other law enforcement services, private investigators, insurance companies, market research companies, etc. etc. etc.

Interviews may be conducted face-to-face, over the telephone, over the Internet, etc. Obviously, the recorded format of each of these would be different. Searching for information within such recorded formats is usually time consuming. Having a transcript makes it easier to do it. It is also a formal record of the same and in law enforcement plays a pivotal role.

It also helps people with hearing impairment get access to the same information as on an audio or video recording.

Interview transcription has its own set of problems. The quality of the audio recording as well as the number of people involved impacts the quality of the transcript. The more the number of people, the tougher it is to identify the speakers. If the audio quality is poor with lots of background noise, low audio, static, heavy accents and even highly technical words, these do affect the quality of the transcript.

The purpose for which interview transcription is being done determines the style of transcription. Some call for exact verbatim, meaning, that every um and ah and other irrelevant words and phrases etc. also are transcribed. The other style of interview transcription is the intelligent verbatim where all the important conversation is typed out leaving the extraneous words and phrases and the ums and the ahs etc. Transcribers may even be expected to correct grammar and at times requested to edit language. The style of the interview transcription will be specified by the person requesting the transcription service.

Interview transcription service providers ensure that the quality of the delivered transcript is such that the person or company requesting the service do not have to spend more time on correcting the transcript freeing them to concentrate on more important issues. The quality of the interview transcript needs to be very high as it is the source of how the information is understood and decisions made upon it.