A transcription service converts spoken content from meetings, interviews, or conversations into structured text. Modern AI-based transcription services use language models that automatically recognize speech and generate written transcriptions with high accuracy.

For professional users in regulated industries, quality, traceability, and data security are critical factors when choosing a transcription service.

How is quality measured in transcription?

Quality in automatic transcription is primarily measured through Word Error Rate (WER) – the percentage of words transcribed incorrectly compared to a perfect transcription.

Quality levels:

WER under 5%: World-class for professional use
WER 5-10%: Very good quality
WER over 12%: May require extensive post-processing

For the Swedish language, the best transcription services achieve WER around 4-5% on standard datasets like FLEURS, CommonVoice, and NST. This means that 95-96 words out of 100 are transcribed correctly.

What factors affect transcription quality?

Even with advanced AI, accuracy is affected by:

Audio quality: Microphone quality and recording environment
Speaker situation: Overlapping voices or background noise
Language and dialect: Specialization for specific languages provides better results
Industry terminology: Technical terms and names may require customization

Security and privacy in transcription services

For organizations handling sensitive information, security architecture is crucial:

Single-tenant vs multi-tenant

Single-tenant solutions give each customer a completely isolated environment with:

Dedicated database
Dedicated web server
Unique encryption keys
Complete data separation between customers

Encryption and key management

Professional transcription services offer:

Encryption at rest and in transit: AES-256 and TLS 1.3
Customer-specific keys: Unique keys per customer
BYOK (Bring Your Own Key): Customer owns and controls encryption keys
End-to-end encryption: Provider cannot technically decrypt data

Data centers and jurisdiction

For organizations with high data protection requirements:

Data stored only in Sweden
Operations by Swedish companies
GDPR compliance and national requirements
ISO 27001 certification

Traceability and verifiability

In regulated industries, every word must be traceable to its source:

Important features:

Direct mapping between text and audio sequence
Marking of uncertain words or sections
Audit logs for all system events
Document versioning

This distinguishes professional transcription services from general AI tools that often rephrase and use synonyms.

Human-in-the-loop – why review is required

According to the EU AI Act and best practices, AI-assisted transcriptions should always be reviewed by a human before official use. This is especially important for:

Legal documents
Public records
Medical records
Insurance cases

Transcription services for professional use are therefore designed to:

Show uncertainties clearly
Suggest corrections
Enable easy editing
Require approval before publication

Automated data cleansing and privacy protection

To comply with data minimization regulations, modern services offer:

Automatic deletion after predetermined time
Masking of personal data
Detailed access control
Role-based permissions

What does a transcription service cost?

Pricing typically varies based on:

Number of users
Amount of transcribed time per month
Security level (standard vs BYOK)
Support level
Integration needs

Many services offer monthly subscriptions or usage-based pricing.

How do you choose the right transcription service?

Checklist for professional organizations:

Quality: What WER does the service achieve in your language?
Security: Is there ISO 27001 certification?
Data protection: Where is data stored? What encryption is used?
Traceability: Can every word be linked to the source?
Compliance: Does the service meet GDPR and AI Act requirements?
Language support: Is the service optimized for Nordic languages?
Review: Is there support for human-in-the-loop?
Integration: Does the service work with your existing systems?

Transcription services for different industries

Public sector

Requirements for transparency, archiving, and legal evidence mean that government agencies' needs include special consideration for traceability and long-term storage.

Legal

Law firms and courts need exact verbatim transcriptions where every word can be verified against the audio.

Insurance

Documentation of customer calls and claims requires both accuracy and privacy protection.

Research

Interviews and focus groups need to be transcribed with high quality and with protection for participants' privacy.

The future of AI-based transcription

Development is moving toward:

Even higher accuracy through better language models
Real-time transcription with low latency
Better handling of dialects and technical terminology
Stronger integration possibilities
Enhanced support for human-in-the-loop review

Summary

When choosing a transcription service for professional use, the following are crucial:

Quality: WER under 5% for Swedish
Security: Single-tenant, BYOK, ISO 27001
Traceability: Direct text-audio connection
Compliance: GDPR, AI Act
Review: Support for human-in-the-loop

A well-chosen transcription service saves time, ensures quality, and meets legal requirements – while protecting sensitive information.

Klang – the transcription service built for regulated industries

Klang is specifically developed for organizations with high demands for quality, security, and compliance. Unlike general transcription tools, Klang is designed from the ground up for professional use in public sector, legal, insurance, and other regulated industries.

Why professional organizations choose Klang:

World-leading quality for Nordic languages

Specialized in Nordic languages and professional communication
Validated Word Error Rate under 12% even under varying conditions

Maximum security and control

ISO 27001-certified information security
Single-tenant architecture – completely isolated environment per customer
Klang Vault with BYOK – you own and control the encryption keys
All data stays in Sweden, operations managed by Swedish companies

Built for legal compliance

Complies with GDPR and EU AI Act
Every word can be traced directly to the audio source – no paraphrasing
Complete audit logs for all system events
Automatic identification of uncertainties for human-in-the-loop review

Designed for professional use

Automatic deletion and data minimization
Detailed permission control and role-based access
No customer data used for model training
Transparent documentation of system capabilities and limitations

Klang is not just a transcription tool – it's a complete solution for organizations where quality, traceability, and data security are non-negotiable.

Transcription Services for Professional Organizations – A Guide