Placing An Order

This article explains how to place an order on Rev.com. It covers uploading files, choosing a service at checkout, adding order resources such as glossary terms and speaker names, tracking your order, and fixing common upload and payment problems.

Uploading Files

From your Home page, you can browse files on your device, drag and drop files, or paste a URL to your online audio/video file.

Home page upload box titled Securely upload files and videos, with a purple Browse files button, a drag-and-drop area, a supported formats list, and other ways to upload: Select integration, Zip and Link.

When you upload a file or paste a URL on the Home page, Rev automatically sends it for AI transcription. To turn this off, go to Account Settings > File preferences > AI Transcript Settings and set Auto Transcribe with AI to No. Visit Preferences & Notifications for detailed steps.

You can also upload files by clicking on the +New button in the top left of your account.

To order from a URL, paste a link to your online audio or video file. The file must be publicly accessible: it can’t be password-protected or private.

Orders placed with a URL may take longer to process if our system has trouble accessing the file.

To upload from a cloud storage service, see Placing an Order Using Cloud Services.

Accepted file formats

For direct uploads, we accept all major audio and video file formats, including:

If your file name contains special characters such as emojis or accented characters, the file may fail to process and your order may be canceled. Rename the file before uploading.

For hardcopy media, you'll need first to convert the file to a digital format. Convert CDs and DVDs to digital format on Windows and on Mac.

Start an Order

You can place a new order for a file that you have uploaded by locating the file in your account and clicking on the ellipses menu to the right of the file name, then selecting Start an order.

You can start a new order for multiple existing files by checking the box to the left of the file names and then selecting Start an order.

Animation showing checkboxes to the left of several file names being selected, then Start an order

Checkout Interface

When you start an order, the checkout interface will open to guide you through placing your order. On the left, you can see the file/s you've selected and the total length of those files. On the right is a list of Rev's services, which you can hover over for additional information.

Checkout screen with the selected files and total length on the left, a list of Rev services on the right, and a purple Continue button.

Once you select a service, the purple Continue button will be clickable. On the next page, you can review your order summary and include add-on services. Click Continue to place your order.

Services at checkout include AI transcription, human transcription, AI captions and human captions. On the next page you can add optional add-on services. If you're not sure which service or add-on services you need, these articles may help:

Order Resources

You can easily add resources such as glossary terms, accents, speaker names, and scripts. Resources are optional and don't need to be included. Adding resources to your order can help the person working on your file identify who is speaking or capture difficult or unique terminology accurately. Some resources are available only for certain services, as noted below.

Once payment for your order has been processed, our system will prompt you to provide resource information for your order.

If you navigate away from the Order Confirmation page, you can still add additional resource information to an order in progress by clicking on the order number from your Order History.

Adding A Glossary

Click the purple Add a glossary button to enter any terminology that may be helpful to the transcriptionist who works on your file.

The most helpful kinds of glossary terms are niche or industry-specific words that may not be as familiar, as well as proper nouns. Words and names that are familiar to most people, such as Twitter or auditorium, don't need to be added.

New Glossary window with a Glossary name field, Term and Definition (optional) fields, an Add another term link, and Cancel and Apply buttons.

You have the option to add definitions or details to your terms.

If you plan to submit future orders that will contain similar terminology, you can give your glossary a name to save it to your account. Saved glossaries will appear in the right-hand column for future orders, and you can add them to a new order with a single click.

When you've added all of your terms, click the purple Apply button to attach the glossary to your order.

Please do not use the glossary section to add instructions to your order. Our team is required to follow our internal style guide and cannot honor any special requests.

Identifying Accents

Accents can be identified for human transcription orders only.

If your file contains accents, you can identify them when you submit your order. We will flag your file with the appropriate accent to ensure that only transcriptionists who are comfortable with that accent work on your order. This can help speed up turnaround time as well. Currently, you can choose from the following accents:

American - Neutral
American - Southern
Asian
Australian
British
Indian
Other

Click the purple Accents button to select the accents in your file. When you've selected all applicable accents, click the purple Apply button to apply to your order.

Accents window with a list of accent checkboxes, including Other with a field to specify the accent, and Cancel and Apply buttons.

Adding Speaker Names

Provide speaker names when you place your order so the person working on your file can label who is speaking.

Transcription orders

We always do our best to label speakers by name in your transcript.

Click the purple Add speaker names button and enter the name of each speaker in your file.
To help our team identify speakers, use the speaker Description option.
When all names and details are added, click the purple Apply button.

We strive to always include the names you provide, but sometimes we can’t. If the transcriptionist can’t tell which name goes with which person, they use speaker numbers (Speaker 1, Speaker 2). If similar voices can’t be told apart, they may use Speaker X.

Speaker labeling isn’t guaranteed, but you can edit speaker names in the Transcription Editor.

Caption and subtitle orders

When someone speaks offscreen, we use a label to identify them for the viewer. On-screen speakers are indicated with a hyphen only.

Click the Add speaker names button and enter the speakers in your file.
To help our captioners identify speakers, use the speaker Details option.
When all names and details are added, click the purple Apply button.

Adding a Script

Scripts can be added to caption orders only.

If your video is a production file that has an accompanying script, this can be an incredibly useful resource to our team. Click the purple Add a script button to include this with your order.

Accepted formats are DOCX, TXT and PDF, up to five documents per order.

Our team will ultimately caption the audio, so if the audio ever deviates from the script, the audio will take precedence.

Scripts & Resources window with a Click to upload files area, a Max 5 files note, and Cancel and Apply buttons.

Order Progress

Once your order is placed, you will see In Progress under your file status. As soon as your order is ready, your file status will change to Complete. Depending on your account settings, you will receive an email as soon as your order is complete.

Next Steps:

Using the transcription editor
Using the captions and subtitles editor
Downloading your files
To cancel an order, see Cancel An Order
For expected delivery times, see Turnaround Times

Troubleshooting

When an order fails to process, the cause is usually an incomplete upload or a payment problem.

If a file won’t finish uploading.

Try these steps:

Wait for the upload progress bar to finish before you continue.
If the file is stuck, refresh the page and try again.
Try a different browser.
Clear your browser’s cache and cookies.
Confirm the file is an accepted format.

If you can’t submit your order from the payment screen.

Check these causes:

Shared account: All users on a shared account must use the payment method the account owner added. Use that method, or ask the owner.
Incorrect billing information: Check your billing details. The ZIP code is the most common problem.
Card or bank issue: This covers a reached or reduced credit limit, a hold on the card (such as a hotel or rental), a suspicious-purchase freeze, another bank-imposed freeze, or a high transaction amount. Contact your card issuer to resolve it, or use a different payment method.

If none of these apply, contact support@rev.com.