Property typing has changed considerably over the years and we suspect the next few years will bring even more changes.
Speech-to-text is improving, AI is becoming part of everyday working life and surveyors have more ways than ever to produce their reports.
So where does that leave a property typing company like BackupTyping?
We think there’s still plenty to do. The work is simply changing.
For years the usual process was straightforward. A surveyor dictated a report, sent us the recording and we typed it into their template.
That still happens every day and we’re very happy to continue doing it.
But increasingly surveyors are using speech-to-text or AI-assisted tools to prepare their first drafts. Some of those drafts are surprisingly good. Others need rather more attention. We’ve looked at this in Speech-to-Text in Surveying Right Now and Where It Still Falls Short.
Either way, getting the words onto the page is becoming easier. The question is what happens afterwards.
A first draft is rarely a finished report. It might need headings, tables, photographs, page numbering, corrections or formatting to match the firm’s existing templates.
Some reports need very little attention while others need considerable work before they’re ready to issue and that work still takes time.
We already have clients who use speech-to-text to produce their drafts before sending them to us for property report formatting and document production.
They use the technology that works for them and we take care of the part they would rather not spend their afternoon doing. Our article Using AI for Survey Reports? Here’s Where Human Support Still Saves Time explains that approach in more detail.
We expect traditional audio transcription to remain part of our work, particularly for detailed reports and clients who prefer dictating.
But professional document production is becoming increasingly important. Whether we’re working from an audio recording, an AI-generated draft, a scanned document or a collection of notes, the objective is the same: produce a clear, accurate and properly formatted document.
We have spent more than 25 years working with property professionals. That experience doesn’t disappear because the technology changes.
We’re not interested in telling surveyors which technology they should use. If dictation works for you, keep dictating. If AI helps you prepare reports more efficiently, use it.
And if you’re spending too much time correcting formatting, moving sections around or trying to get a document ready to send, that’s where we can help.
Our property typing services are evolving alongside the people who use them.
Find out how BackupTyping can help with transcription, document formatting and report production, call 020 7096 1663 or message us at hello@backuptyping.co.uk.
