# Interview transcription for research, journalism and hiring Upload the recording and get an interview transcript with a timestamp on every line. Interview transcription on Kotosay works in 90+ languages, and the editor lets you fix names and terms before you quote a single word. - Timestamps on every line - Editor for names and terms - DOCX for analysis tools ## How to transcribe an interview 1. **Upload the recording**: Audio or video from your phone, recorder or a Zoom call. 2. **Check the transcript**: Fix names and terms in the editor. The timestamps stay in place. 3. **Export for your work**: DOCX for your analysis tool, PDF for a report, SRT for a video quote. ## Who transcribes interviews ### Researchers Qualitative interviews and focus groups for a thesis or a study. ### Journalists Quotes you check against your own recording before they go to print. ### Recruiters Candidate interviews as text the hiring team can read later. ### Podcasters Guest conversations turned into show notes and episode pages. ## Interview length per plan | | No account | Free account | Unlimited | |---|---|---|---| | Price | Free | Free | $9.99 a month, or $119 paid once a year | | Files | Your first file | 3 a day | 3 at once | | Transcribed per file | First 5 minutes | First 5 minutes | Up to 10 hours | | Read, edit and copy | Yes | Yes | Yes | | TXT, DOCX, PDF, SRT and VTT | No | No | Yes | | Translation | No | No | Yes | An hour-long interview runs past the free 5 minutes, so the full text needs Single file or Unlimited. Cancel Unlimited in one click when the project ends. ## Is it safe for confidential interviews? Interviews are transcribed on secure servers, and we delete the audio automatically 24 hours later. Transcripts stay until you delete them, one file or the whole account. Check that your ethics approval allows a third-party transcription service. ## Also useful - [audio transcription for voice memos and calls](https://kotosay.com/audio-to-text) - [Zoom transcription from a recording](https://kotosay.com/meeting-transcription) - [video translator for transcripts](https://kotosay.com/translate-audio-video) - [Rev alternative for AI transcripts](https://kotosay.com/rev-alternative) ## Pricing ### Free: $0 To try Kotosay on your own recordings. - 3 files per day - First 5 minutes of each file - One file at a time - Read and copy in the browser - Free converters in your browser ### Unlimited: $9.99 a month, $119 a year, pay once a year For long files, exports and translation. - Unlimited minutes - Files up to 10 hours - 3 files at once - Translation - TXT, DOCX, PDF, SRT, VTT - Use on 3 devices - [Pricing](https://kotosay.com/pricing) ## Interview transcription done properly ### Before you record The easiest way to transcribe interview recordings well starts before you press record. Ask for consent and record it at the start, so the agreement is part of the file. Put the phone or recorder close to both of you, or give each person a microphone. A quiet room helps more than any setting later. ### Phone and video call interviews For a remote interview, record the call on your computer instead of holding a second phone next to the speaker. A Zoom, Teams or Meet recording catches both voices clearly, and the MP4 or M4A uploads directly. For a phone interview, a call recording feature on your phone gives a cleaner file than speakerphone in a quiet room. Laws on recording calls differ by country and state, so ask before you record. ### How to tell the interviewer's questions and the guest's answers apart The transcript comes as lines, each with its timestamp. To make it read as questions and answers, type a short mark such as Q and A, or initials, at the start of each turn in the editor. The timestamps stay in place while you edit. Interruptions are where most errors happen, so ask guests to let you finish a question before they answer. ### What is the format of an interview transcript? A good interview transcript has a timestamp at the start of each turn, a short mark for who is talking and the words as spoken. Kotosay gives you the timestamps, and you add the marks in the editor. Researchers often add a header with the date, the place and a participant code. Decide early whether you need verbatim or clean text. If your method needs every um, pause and false start, add them by hand while you listen back to your recording. For a news story or a report, clean text is usually what you want. ### Quotes with timestamps Before you quote someone, use the timestamp to find the sentence in your recording and listen to it once. That catches a misheard name or a dropped word, and it is the habit that keeps a quote fair to the person who said it. During the interview, jot down the counter on your recorder when the guest says something you may want to quote. Afterwards those times take you straight to the right lines in the transcript. ### How do I transcribe interviews for qualitative research? - Transcribe interviews one file per participant and name each file with a code. - Replace names and places with codes after export, and keep the key in a separate file. - Export DOCX with Unlimited. NVivo, ATLAS.ti and MAXQDA all import Word documents. - Check that your ethics approval allows recordings to go to a transcription service. Tip: Keep the original audio until your analysis is done. The timestamps in the transcript show where to find each passage in your recording. ### Candidate interviews for a hiring panel For hiring, interview transcription gives every reviewer the same answers to read. Tell candidates at the start that the call is recorded and transcribed, and why. Add Q and A marks in the editor, then share a PDF with Unlimited. Delete the transcript from your account when your company's retention period for applications ends. You can remove one file or the whole account at any time. ### Interview transcription for long sessions A free account transcribes the first 5 minutes of each file, 3 files a day. For one interview, Single file opens the whole recording for $4.99, paid once. A project with many interviews fits Unlimited better. It takes files up to 10 hours, runs 3 at once and costs $9.99 a month, or $119 paid once a year. As interview transcription software it is one plan for one person, and you cancel in one click when the project ends. ## Interview transcription questions ### How do I transcribe an interview? Upload the recording on this page from your phone, recorder or computer. Kotosay detects the language and writes the transcript with a timestamp on each line. Fix names in the editor, then copy the text or, with Unlimited, export DOCX, PDF, SRT or VTT for your report, your coding tool or a video quote. ### How do you transcribe an interview properly? Start with a clean recording: consent at the start, the microphone close to both of you and a quiet room. After transcribing, check names and figures against your recording, mark the questions and answers in the editor and decide between verbatim and clean text. Then anonymize if your project needs it and keep the original audio. ### What is the format of an interview transcript? Each turn starts with a timestamp and a short mark for who is talking, followed by the words as spoken. Researchers often add a header with the date, the place and a participant code. Kotosay gives you the timestamps on every plan, and you type the marks in the editor. ### How do I tell the interviewer and the guest apart in the transcript? Type a short mark such as Q and A, or initials, at the start of each turn in the editor. Every line already carries its timestamp, so you can find the passage in your recording when a turn is unclear. The marks stay in the text when you export DOCX or PDF with Unlimited. ### How do I transcribe interviews for qualitative research? Transcribe each interview as its own file, named with a participant code. Check the text against your recording, replace names with codes after export and keep the key separately. Export DOCX with Unlimited and import it into NVivo, ATLAS.ti or MAXQDA for coding. ### Is it safe for confidential interviews? The audio of each interview is deleted automatically 24 hours after transcription. Transcripts stay until you delete them or your account. Before you upload, check that your ethics approval or your source agreement allows a third-party transcription service for the recordings. ### Is the transcript verbatim? You get the words as spoken, ready to read. If your method needs fillers, pauses and false starts, add them by hand while you listen back, using the timestamps to find each spot. For articles and most reports, the clean text works as it is. ### Can I transcribe a focus group? Yes. Upload the recording like any other file and every line comes back with its timestamp. Focus groups have more crosstalk than one-to-one interviews, which lowers the accuracy, so place the recorder in the middle of the table and read the busiest passages against your recording before you quote them. ### Can I import the transcript into NVivo or MAXQDA? Yes. Export the transcript as DOCX with Unlimited, then import it into NVivo, ATLAS.ti or MAXQDA, which all read Word documents. Name each file with a participant code before you import, so your project stays tidy from the start and every quote traces back to one person. ### Can I transcribe interviews in two languages? Yes. Transcription works in 90+ languages, and you can pick the main language from the list when you upload. If the guest switches languages, check those passages in the editor. With Unlimited you can also run the file through the translate page, and every translated line keeps its timestamp. ### Can I cancel after my project? Yes, in one click from your account, and the plan runs until the end of the period you paid for. Many researchers use Unlimited for the months of fieldwork, then cancel. Your renewal date is in your account at any time, so nothing renews unnoticed. - [Kotosay](https://kotosay.com/interview-transcription)