Tech Tip - How To Transcribe A Microsoft Teams Call

Do you use Microsoft Teams to hold video and voice calls?   Did you know you can get Microsoft Teams to transcribe your Teams call or video call, producing a recorded video and a document of the call transcript, attributing the text to each speaker during the meeting?

Here is how to do it:

First you must make sure you Microsoft 365 tenant has been configured to allow call transcribing to take place in Microsoft Teams.

NOTE: if you are unable to transcribe your meetings, call us on 01722 411 999 and we can help enable this feature.

You can enable transcription in one of two ways, either before the call takes place or in the call itself, below is how to turn it on both ways.

• Turn on transcription before the call:
  • Create a Teams call invite within Microsoft Teams, this gives you more options than if you create the invite from your Microsoft Outlook calendar, both will show in your Teams and Outlook calendar so it doesn't affect you by choosing the Teams client to make the meeting request.
  • Give it a title, invite the attendees, set it as a Teams call and before sending the invite...
  • Click on Meeting options, click on "Recording and Transcription", move the slider to enable "Record and Transcribe Automatically".
  • Send the meeting invite.
  • Hold the call, during the call, at the top left of your screen you will notice the red record light, you may also not see real time transcription on the right hand side of the teams call, but you can see transcription is taking place due to the record light.  
• Turn on transcription during a teams call
  • Start a Teams call with your participants.
  • At the top of the teams call, click on the More menu option, the three horizontal dots on the menu bar (...) .
  • Select Record and Transcribe.
  • Click on Start Transcription.

This will start the recording and transcription of the meeting but what it also does it turn off each participants camera and microphone and notifies them that the call is being transcribe, whilst also warning them that the call will be recorded so they must agree to this before they can enable their camera and mic, this way participants cannot be recorded against their wishes.

NOTE: a meeting will only be transcribed and take place if every participant has agreed to be recorded.  It also means if a participant doesn't agree to be transcribed, they cannot participate in the meeting and will be an inactive member of the call, in other words, the can hear and see the meeting, they just can't take part, so no speech or be video is recorded from that person. 

Hold the meeting as you would normally, the meeting organiser will also be able to see the meeting transcribed in real time in the meeting chat window on the right hand side of the call window.

When you finish the meeting, the video file and a document of the transcription will be saved into the meeting chat window in Team.

Microsoft CoPilot takes it to the next level

Did you know you can supercharge your call transcription by using Microsoft CoPilot AI?
Not only can you ask CoPilot to transcribe you meeting, you can also ask it to create you a meeting summary, create action points for attendees, it will even go so far as to list out anecdotes that happened in the meeting itself, so it can even distinguish between work and personal commentary in the meeting and separate those out as well. 

Below is a CoPilot meeting summary (with some data redacted with xxxxxxxxx to remove personal details) from a Teams call to give an idea of how powerful it is:

Summary of the Meeting:

Introduction of Transcription and Copilot:

• Speaker A explained the transcription feature in Teams and the capabilities of Copilot to summarise meetings and generate bullet points. He noted that AI-generated output might not be fully accurate and to check content after it is created.
• Speaker C and Speaker B discussed the visibility of the transcript and how Speaker A, as the meeting owner, can share the content at the end.

Demonstration of Copilot Features:

• Speaker A demonstrated Copilot's capabilities in Microsoft Edge, Word, and PowerPoint, showing how it can generate content quickly and accurately. 
• Speaker C expressed interest in using Copilot for presentations and xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx meetings, noting its potential to save time and improve productivity.

Licensing and Costs:

• Speaker A discussed the licensing model for Copilot, including the ability to transfer licenses between users and the one-year commitment required. 
• Speaker B provided details on the pricing and subscription options for Copilot, including discounts for nonprofits.

Personal Anecdotes:

• Speaker C shared updates about her granddaughter and her plans to xxxxxxx xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx. 
• Speaker B and Speaker C discussed personal matters, including family updates and plans for a lunch meeting in xxxxxxxxxxx.

Action Items:

• Speaker A to send written instructions on how to use the transcription feature in Teams and Word.
• Speaker A to summarise the meeting using Copilot and send it to Speaker C.

If you would like more information or help with Microsoft Teams, Microsoft CoPilot or even both, please call us, on 01722 411 999, where we can arrange a demonstration, help with configuration and setup, licensing and supporting you moving forwards.