CW Business Center cares very much about the quality of the transcripts that we return to you. We strive to make your jobs as easy as possible with the best transcripts possible because we know, at times, you have to relisten to the tapes after receiving the transcripts. Therefore, we would like to offer some suggestions that will hopefully make this exchange easier for both you and us.

When you are in a room with your interviewees, you are able to look at them, watch their facial expressions and gestures, and read their lips -- whether you are aware of this consciously or not. When you are in the room with them, you can understand what they are saying, even if you do not clearly hear/understand every single word spoken, just by the mere fact that you are looking at them. 

For us, however, what we hear is a disembodied voice on a tape. We do not have the advantage of having been in the room. We don't see their faces or gestures and cannot read their lips. 

With a tape of poor audio quality and/or poor speakers, while we can most of the time understand the "gist" of what is being said, we cannot "assume" or "presume" that something was said if we do not hear it clearly. We cannot type something we "think" was said, though we do sometimes put things in parentheses with a question mark, just to indicate that we are unsure if that was what was said.

This is why it is so important for all of you to remember to make sure that the interviewees speak up and speak clearly. If they mumble, talk under their breath, whisper asides, speak softly, don't enunciate, or speak so fast that their words are slurred, the recorder is NOT going to pick it up and we are not going to be able to hear or understand them.

So we respectfully ask that you ensure that they are miked well and speak up clearly. The type/quality of your standard cassette recorders are important as well, and we will be happy to recommend a good one. 

Also, 60-minute cassettes are preferred over 90-minute cassettes, and please don't use 120-minute cassettes or microcassettes. 

We hope this helps. If you have any questions, please let us know.

Thank you so much,
CW Business Center