A transcriptionist has an extremely difficult job. They must transcribe every single word on a recording and do so even if the voice quality is less than perfect. Still more difficult, sometimes there is substantial background noise and other voices on the recording that make transcription difficult. To offset this, transcription headsets are designed to take into account all of the many obstacles that transcriptionists face. There are many of those obstacles.
Background noise
Headsets should be noise cancelling. This means they get rid of any extraneous noise in the transcriptionist’s immediate background. When you eclipse background noise, you make the transcription at hand easier to transcribe.
Ergonomic
Above all, headsets that must be worn for long transcriptions need to be comfortable. This means they fit snuggly but softly around the ears and don’t cause any pain if worn for a long period of time. Any headset made specifically for transcription needs to be made with the idea that the person must wear the headset for a very long amount of time.
Enhancement
Audio quality on transcriptions can sometimes be very blurry or noisy. It’s important for headsets to have audio enhancement features built into them, or be compatible with audio enhancement software, so that the transcriptionist can more easily hear the important vocals on the recording.
Without these many things, a headset shouldn’t even be used by a transcriptionist. Since they often have to listen to recordings that weren’t recorded with the idea that someone would be writing them down later on, the quality of the recordings is often extremely bad. And if it isn’t bad, it can still be difficult to transcribe a recording where several people are talking all at once. Without the functions described above, a transcription can be completely lost to bad transcribing.
Transcriptionists have a difficult job. It’s hard to listen to a recording sometimes if the audio is bad. Imagine trying to type out every word at the same time as you’re listening. That’s what a transcriptionist is up against. Thankfully, there are companies out there that know the demanding job transcriptionists have and they go out of their way to make sure that the transcriptionist gets the help that they need to do a great job. Sure, it’s a tough job. But with the right headset, it’s a job that’s easily doable if the transcriptionist is good enough.