Audio Transcription Services

The United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service is seeking audio transcription services for a research project related to the Wildfire Crisis Strategy. The solicitation requires contractors to transcribe interviews with forest managers, market participants, and community members across 5-8 National Forests, producing clean, verbatim transcripts with over 99% accuracy within two weeks of receiving audio files. Contractors must demonstrate technical capability, including key personnel qualifications and transcription accuracy, and provide a past performance overview of similar projects completed in the last three years. The government will evaluate offers based on technical capability, past performance, and price, with the intent to award to the most advantageous offer. Responses are due by 5:00 PM EST on May 6th, 2025, and must be submitted via email to Jocelyn.Hayes@usda.gov in Microsoft Word, Excel, or Adobe PDF format.

The contract is a 100% small business set-aside with a NAICS code of 561410 and a small business size standard of $19.0 Million. The government seeks to procure 5,800 minutes of transcription services, with an anticipated start of performance on May 19, 2025. The place of performance is Research Triangle Park, NC 27709. Transcripts must be delivered weekly via a secure server, with strict data security protocols in place, as the project data is classified as Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI). Performance will be monitored through weekly checks, with potential financial penalties for accuracy variances and possible contract termination for repeated performance issues or data breaches. While AI and automatic speech recognition tools may be used, human supervision is mandatory to ensure the high accuracy and quality of the transcripts.