“Things will go wrong in any given situation, if you give them a chance.” – Murphy’s Law
Data can yield exceptional results, no doubt, but there’s a catch. You need to handle it well, and oddly enough, not everyone knows the drill. So, if you delegate data entry or any other data-related task to just about anyone, chances are that they would mess up, big time. Even worse, if there’s a security breach at their end and your data is leaked, it could have some serious repercussions. This of course is best avoided. Meaning, when you do look out for someone who you can trust with your data, be sure to double check. Because a lot could go wrong, if you don’t:
Scenario 1
Suppose, you run a media house, and are looking for typing and transcription services. After exploring a couple of options, you finally zero in on XYZ, a company that claims to have a proven track record. Here’s how this could turn into an ordeal:
1. Let’s say, XYZ’s transcriptionists know basic English, something that could give them a hard time comprehending the idioms, phrases or vocabulary commonly used. To add to your woes, they may even fail to understand different accents.
2. The transcriptionists do have extensive experience, but they have only dealt with NGOs, healthcare providers, and finance companies so far. They are not well-versed with the jargon specific to the media industry, and obviously can’t do justice to your transcription task.
3. They only know how to transcribe phone calls, and are yet to take up interviews, disciplinary hearings or meetings for that matter. So, will they be able to offer you user-friendly, verbatim transcripts, or defeat the very purpose of availing typing and transcription services in the first place?
4. They have limited exposure and that’s preventing them from transcribing the files from the desired formats. Now, no two formats are the same. So, even if they have had the chance to transcribe MP3 and MP4 files, doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll successfully pull off a transcription from VHS tapes as well, and vice versa.
5. They take forever to deliver the transcripts, causing you to lose out on important business dealings.
Scenario 2
You own a finance company, one that’s currently overburdened with document data entry. So, you get in touch with ABC, a leading document data entry services provider, hoping you’ll be able to shift focus on the core activities of your business.
Fair enough, especially if they have been entering data from and digitizing all kinds of paper documents for a while. Here’s why they may not be your best bet:
1. They do not make their employees sign confidentiality agreements, and one of them decides to take dig at you, leaking sensitive data.
2. They do meet the deadline, but let quality take a backseat. Even worse, there’s no quality check in place.
3. They are only familiar with manual data entry and have no clue whatsoever how to go about doing it with OCR tools.
Well, whether you need help with transcription or data entry, you should of course hope for the best, but then you also need to prepare for the worst – that’s how the saying goes, right? Consider this a heads up. Go for a service provider with relevant certifications in place, one that knows what it takes to protect your data against the possible threats, one that is willing to offer a sample, if the need be, and more importantly, one with a rather quick turnaround time. Go for SunTec India. Write to us at info@suntecindia.com and get started!
