Transcription Outsourcing enlists freelancers to transcribe audio from court hearings, police calls, medical and business interviews.

Expected pay: 0.85 – $5.00 per audio minute; or 7-10 cents per (65 character) line for medical transcription

Husl$core: $$$$

Commissions & fees: NA

Where: U.S. only. Does not accept applicants from California, New Jersey and Massachusetts

Requirements: 18 or older, criminal background check, excellent English language and grammar skills, experience and transcription software preferred

Review:

Transcription Outsourcing enlists freelancers to transcribe documents for court systems, police departments, universities and businesses. The site requires near-perfect accuracy. And, for that, Transcription Outsourcing is willing to pay some of the best wages in the industry. Transcriptionists generally are paid by the audio minute. So, the faster and more accurately you type, the more you earn.

Starting pay is 85 cents per audio minute, says site CEO Ben Walker. But audio minutes are not the same as work minutes. Each audio minute can take from 2 to 6 minutes in real time. So transcriptionists earn anywhere from $8.50 to $30 per hour. Walker says most of the transcriptionists on his site are at the high end of that range, earning $20 to $30 per hour. 

There are two reasons why Transcription Outsourcing’s workers are quicker than the norm, Walker says. They’re experienced. And they have regular clients. Having regular clients helps transcriptionists save time looking up names or interpreting speech patterns. It also makes it easier for them to use time-saving tools such as text-expander software to accurately replicate regularly-used names, places and phrases.

Workers are paid by direct deposit twice a month. Transcriptionists also earn more for rush jobs.

Recommendations

Transcriptionists rave about this site. The higher-than-average pay, regular clients and availability of work, makes Transcription Outsourcing our top pick in the category. 

However, transcriptionists from California, New Jersey and Massachusetts are not accepted here because of these states’ restrictive freelancer laws. If you’re a U.S.-based transcriptionist looking for work, you may also want to check out GMR, Rev and SpeakWrite.

What their users say (from Glassdoor)

Working with Transcription Outsourcing has been great. We work on our own schedules and get paid twice per month via direct deposit or pay pal. The leadership team allows us to offer input and give feedback on our projects as we go. And we are not stifled one bit. They also pay more than almost every other transcription company I have worked for. And that includes all the big companies you’ve heard of.

They value their independent contractors and will work with them to keep them. The audio is usually pretty good. Loads of work. There are only a few people managing everything and yet they always respond pretty quickly to emails/calls.

(From Indeed)

Management is friendly and personable. Decent amount of work at a fair rate. Pay is always timely. Nothing bad to say about the company. Would recommend working here as a transcriptionist.

The only con is that sometimes they don’t have enough work to give you. And you don’t get benefits as a contractor. Other than that, I just have wonderful things to say about this company.