The Life of a File

A File is Uploaded and Sliced into Chunks

New files may be uploaded at any time of day or night. TranscribeMe is a global company, and most of our clients upload their own files, so you can't predict when a new file might hit.

Once the file has been uploaded to the TranscribeMe server, it goes through a slicing process. The audio file is sliced into "chunks" to be distributed to individual transcribers. The average chunk length is 2-8 minutes, although this can vary based on the particular file and project.

Each Chunk is Transcribed

These chunks are then sent to the Jobs queue and assigned to Transcribers that are actively checking for work. When you log in and click on Jobs/Transcription, the next chunk out of the Jobs queue is automatically assigned to you and appears on your screen. Chunks from a particular file will not always appear in order.

When you have submitted your chunk, it will appear in your Work History with a dollar amount showing in red. This same dollar amount, your earnings for the chunk, will be added to your Pending balance under your Balance Summary at the top left of your Work History page. At this point, if you click the View button next to the job you submitted, you will see your text on the left-hand side and a blank space on the right. You can go ahead and continue transcribing chunks while you wait for that one to pass through the next phase.

File is Sent to QA

Once every chunk from that file has been transcribed and submitted by various Transcribers, the file is then stitched back together and sent to the QA queue as a session, where it awaits a QA to select the file to work on. Remember that, just as some jobs may keep coming back to you in the transcription pool because no one wants to work on them, it may also take time for a QA to commit to working on the full session.

QA Edits and Your Change Percentage

When a QA picks up the session containing your chunk, your View button will show a copy of your text on the right-hand side where there used to be a blank space. This is where the QA's changes will appear. The dollar amount displayed will remain red, indicating that the QA/Reviewer has not yet finished with the session. At the bottom of the View window, you will notice a message in green saying 0.00% changed, good job! This happens as soon as the QA picks up the session, before they start reviewing the chunks.

Note: Your change percentage is not final until the QA submits the file and your pay turns orange. As long as your pay still displays in red, the file may receive further edits and the overall percent may change.

File Completed

The total change percent of the job/chunk is not finalized until the QA/Reviewer submits the file as completed. Once this has been done, the pay status will change to orange and will be added to the Available for Withdrawal amount.

A job I submitted a while ago is still pending. Why?

Note that the time taken for a QA to pick up a file varies widely and depends on various factors such as the length of the file, difficulty of audio, thickness of accents, and/or topic (research-intensive, emotional, or offensive topics, for example, may take longer to be picked up). Sometimes, the file will be placed On Hold, for whatever reason. There is no need to alert anyone to such files, as our admin team does track overdue files. Rest assured that your pending pay total will eventually move to your Available total as the file is processed. Provided your work is not rejected by a QA, you will always be paid for any file you complete, even if the client cancels the file.