Record and transcribe a Zoom meeting

Zoom is an essential tool for online meetings, whether for customer meetings, workshops, training or webinars. There are more and more frequent Recordings and transcriptions from meetings to efficiently understand or professionally document content. But how does that work exactly? What does the GDPR say about this? And when does it make sense to use specialized AI transcription tools? We answer all important questions for you here

What is a zoom transcription?

Zoom provides a basic transcription function, which, however, depends on the selected license and language restrictions. A transcription converts spoken words from a meeting into legible text. This allows you to document content and search specifically for conversation passages.

Benefits of zoom recording:

Transcriptions from Zoom Meetings offer numerous advantages: They ensure long-term documentation of conversations, enable important information to be found quickly and offer easy access to employees or customers who did not participate.

• ‍traceability: Discussions and decisions are documented over the long term.
• ‍Find it quickly: You can search for important information directly in the transcript without looking through the entire video.
• ‍accessibility: Employees or customers who did not attend the meeting can view content retrospectively.

With a zoom recording, you ensure that everyone involved is always up to date — efficiently and organized.

Data protection: How to record in compliance with GDPR

The GDPR requires that personal data only with consent may be processed. This also applies to meeting recordings and transcriptions. Here are the most important points:

• Get consent: Inform all participants and document their consent.
• Secure storage: Use GDPR-compliant cloud solutions such as Zoom.
• Set access rights: Limit access to authorized people.
• Note the storage period: Delete data when you no longer need it.

External tools such as sally guaranteeing data security and offer additional security features.

Recording a Zoom Meeting: Step-By-Step Guide

Only the host or co-hosts have permission to start a recording, unless the host has approved this with participants.

1. Start meeting: Open Zoom and start your meeting, or join an existing meeting.
2. Start recording: Click Record and select the local or cloud recording. Depending on the Zoom version, you can choose to record the meeting locally on your computer or in the cloud (if activated). Select the option you want.

3. Inform participants: Point out that the meeting is being recorded.
4. Stop recording: Stop recording after the meeting is over.

You can then find the saved recordings in your Zoom account at ”recordings”.

Enable live transcription in Zoom

Zoom also allows a Live transcription, which shows subtitles in real time. This feature is particularly useful for more inclusive meetings or in noisy environments. Here's how to activate it:

1. During the meeting: Click on the icon ”CC” and choose ”Enable live transcription”.
2. First of all: Activate automatic transcription in settings under ”In-meeting (extended)”.

Note: The live transcription gives the best results in English. For other languages, results are limited.

Zoom transcription vs. specialized AI transcription tools

The Zoom meeting is transcribed by Zoom or external software. Zoom's transcription feature provides basic support. However, if you have higher requirements for accuracy, multilingualism, or additional features, specialized tools such as sally:

• Accuracy: More precise recognition of language and technical terms.
• Advanced Features: Automatic to-do lists, meeting summaries, and integration with tools such as CRM systems.
• Data protection: GDPR-compliant processing of sensitive data.

Conclusion: Optimize your Zoom meetings with accurate transcriptions

The combination of zoom recordings and transcriptions offers numerous benefits for your team and customers. While Zoom offers excellent features for virtual meetings, Sally goes one step further: She is your smart assistant who enables precise transcriptions in multiple languages and supports your meeting management efficiently—all in compliance with GDPR.

👉 tip: Try Sally for free and discover how it helps you organize meetings more efficiently, manage your notes seamlessly, and make the most of your time. Get the most out of your virtual meetings with Sally!

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