This document was written to provide you with a sense of how your completed transcript will appear.  It has been divided into two sections; Style and Content.

Style:

1) Template

1. Please see the Template attachment on our Resources page at www.thelai.com/resources. This is our standard template within which we complete our transcripts.  This is just a suggested format, we can use any template, or plain document, that you want. 
2. We use a 1½ inch hanging indent with the speaker labels flush left.
3. The speaker labels are of your choosing.  Most clients with two speaker interviews use Interviewer/Interviewee for their labels.
4. The header has two lines.  The first line is the file name, the second line has your speaker labels separated with a forward slash.
5. The transcript will end with [End of Audio] as it appears here.

2) File Name

1. The file name you provided when you upload into our online system will be the file name that is used to save your completed transcript.
2. It will also be the file name used in the first line of the header in your document.

Content:

1) Verbatim/Non-Strict Verbatim

1. Verbatim - This means that every sound that is audible on your recording will be transcribed, including “ums”, “uh huhs”, “okays”, “you knows”, etc.
2. Non-Strict Verbatim - This means that the transcriptionists will clean up particular parts of your recording .  They can eliminate the meaningless interjections mentioned above, false starts, etc.  However, they will still capture the spirit of the recordings, nothing material will be eliminated.
3. Non-Strict Verbatim - This is our default method.

2) Inaudibles

1. Landmark's accuracy rate is in excess of 99 percent. However, inaudibles do occur.
2. Inaudibles are words, phrases or sentences that are impossible for the transcriptionist to transcribe. This is often  due to the quality of the audio, heavy accents or background noise.
3. For more information on how to minimize inaudibles please see our recording tips document.
4. When there is an inaudible, it will be formatted as follows:

   [inaudible 00:00]

The word will be put in brackets and time stamped, so that you can reference it in the audio quickly to see if you are able to discern what is said.

3) Spelling

1. For words that the transcriptionist can hear but cannot spell, we will first research that word and if still unsuccessful, we will format that word as follows:
   

   Word 00:00

The word will be put in a red font and time stamped, again, so you can reference it quickly. This situation occurs rarely, but when it does it is often with proper nouns.

4) Paragraph/Sentence Structure

1. Our default position on paragraph and sentence structure is to look for place to break content up into logical paragraphs and to prevent run-on sentences. 
2. We do realize, however, that when people speak, rather than write, they don’t always speak grammatically correct.
3. Therefore, when deciding on the level of verbatim you want, also consider sentence and paragraph structure.

5) Tracking

1. For recordings with more than two speakers, there is often a need to track the different participants. This means that there would be a specific speaker label for each speaker; not just a general one like “Male Voice”.
2. Given the extra time it takes to track each individual, there are extra charges associated with tracking. Please see our Rates page at www.thelai.com/transcription-rates for specific charges for tracking and other formatting options.

If you have any other questions regarding formatting, services or pricing, please feel free to contact us at your convenience, or see our website at www.thelai.com.