Meetings have always been a central part of business operations, decision-making, and collaboration. In traditional settings, a participant might be tasked with jotting down the minutes, but this method is often labor-intensive and subject to human error. Transcripts, offering a more detailed record, were mainly confined to particular situations like legal proceedings, making them a rare commodity in everyday business meetings. Enter the digital age, where innovation is reshaping our work habits and tools. Microsoft Teams, a powerhouse in the world of remote collaboration, has introduced its exciting Microsoft Teams Transcription feature that makes transcriptions not only possible but automated.

Whether you’re handling daily team discussions or organizing large-scale virtual conferences, the ability to autogenerate transcripts can be a game-changer, adding accuracy and efficiency to your workflow. In this guide, we’ll uncover how you can leverage this Microsoft Teams transcription feature to transform your meetings.

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Microsoft Teams Transcription: A New Era of Convenience

The Power of Microsoft Teams Transcription Service

Microsoft’s robust voice-to-text service, implemented across various platforms like Microsoft 365, Skype, and now Teams, is transforming the way we interact and record information. The ability to provide live captions during calls and convert audio into text has immense applications, ranging from accessibility to enhanced collaboration.

Microsoft Teams Transcription: Record Your Meeting Step-by-Step

Before you can generate a transcription, the meeting must be recorded in full. Here’s a simple guide to help you:

Opening Microsoft Teams: Begin by launching the Microsoft Teams application on your device.
Selecting the Team and Channel: Once inside the app, head over to the “Teams” tab. From there, select the specific team and its corresponding channel where you wish to conduct the meeting.
Starting or Joining a Meeting: Depending on your role or objective, either initiate a new meeting or join an existing one in progress.
Starting the Recording: After ensuring that all the participants are present and the meeting is in order, locate the “more options” button (typically represented by three dots or an ellipsis) at the top of the meeting interface. Click on it and from the dropdown menu, choose “Start recording.”
Ending the Meeting and Recording: As you wrap up the meeting and end the session, Microsoft Teams will automatically stop the recording. This means there’s no need for you to manually stop it. Once stopped, the recording will be processed and saved, ready for future access or sharing.

Note: If you lack the necessary permissions to start recording, consult with the channel’s admin.

A conference within office; meeting formal

Generating Transcriptions: From Meeting to Text

Once your meeting is recorded, autogenerating a transcription is a breeze. Follow these steps:

Launch Microsoft Teams:
Start by opening the Microsoft Teams application on your device.
Locate the Meeting:
Once inside the app, navigate to the specific team and channel where your desired meeting took place.
Access Microsoft Streams:
Find the recorded meeting you wish to transcribe. Next to its recording, click on the “more options” button (often represented by three dots or an ellipsis). From the dropdown, select ‘Open in Microsoft Streams.‘
Navigate to Video Details:
As Microsoft Streams opens in a new browser tab, locate the recorded meeting video. Below this video, you’ll see another “more options” button. Click on it and then select “Update video details” from the menu.
Set Language and Enable Captions:
In the video details section, you will have the option to select the language that was predominantly spoken during the meeting. After selecting the appropriate language, ensure you enable the “Autogenerate captions” option.
Apply Settings:
Once the above settings are in place, click the “Apply” button.
Wait for Transcription:
This is the final step where you need to be patient. The time it takes to create the transcription will depend on the length and complexity of your recorded meeting. Once the transcription is generated, you can access, read, or download it as per your requirements.

Downloading and Cleaning Up Transcriptions

Microsoft Streams allows you to copy and paste the transcription, complete with timestamps. However, if you wish to download all of it and clean up any irrelevant information, here’s how:

Accessing the Recorded Meeting: Begin by navigating to Microsoft Streams. Once there, locate and click on the specific meeting recording you’re interested in.
Updating Video Details: Underneath the video player, you’ll see the “more options” button (typically represented by three dots or an ellipsis). Click on this, and from the dropdown menu that appears, choose “Update video details.”
Downloading the Autogenerated Captions: Scroll down to the section labeled “captions.” Here, you should see an option that says “Download file” next to “autogenerated captions.” Click on it, and the VTT (Video Text Track) file containing the transcript will download to your device.
Cleaning the Transcript: Now, head over to the “Microsoft Stream transcript VTT file cleaner” tool online. Once on the website, look for the option to upload a VTT file and select the file you just downloaded from Microsoft Streams.
Downloading the Refined Transcript: After the tool processes and cleans your transcript, it will provide an option to download the refined version. Click to download, and you’ll have a cleaner, more readable transcript ready for your use!

Note: The VTT file cleaner tool is NOT affiliated with Microsoft.

Online meeting on laptop; individual on the foreground

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Final Remarks

The digital transformation of today’s workplace tools brings with it a wealth of convenience and efficiency. Transcription services, which were once tedious and manual, have now embraced automation, reducing the gap between the spoken word and its documented counterpart. Microsoft Teams stands as a testament to this progress, offering an automated transcription solution that, while not perfect, significantly eases the task of documenting detailed conversations.

As with any technological advancement, there’s always room for refinement. Still, it’s undeniable that tools like the automated transcription in Microsoft Teams make the post-meeting process more streamlined. Instead of spending countless hours manually transcribing, users can now focus on analyzing, implementing, and actioning the insights gained from their discussions, ensuring that every conversation drives progress and results.

How to Autogenerate a Microsoft Teams Transcription for a Meeting