Otter.ai is a solid service that can magically turn your conversations into transcriptions—ones that typically require little editing after the fact. Especially if your call quality was decent and your subject doesn’t mumble, like I do.
Now, if you install a simple Chrome extension, you’ll be able to use otter.ai to automatically transcribe your Google Meet calls in real time. It’s incredibly useful if your job relies on Google Meet to connect with colleagues.
The extension works for both free and paid otter.ai users. You’ll only be able to transcribe 600 minutes each month with a maximum of 40 minutes per recording. If your meeting is going to be a long one, you might want to not use the extension and instead record it yourself as two separate files, then transcribe those individually and combine.
Also, know that the extension won’t automatically start recording any Google Meet video chats you’re in—great for privacy, but a thing to keep in mind if you were hoping to have transcriptions of every meeting you ever take. You’ll first need to click on the extension’s icon and make sure you’ve logged into your otter.ai account. Once you do, you’ll see this tiny window:
Click on the “Record” button to get started, which will transform the window into a live transcription of what otter.ai hears. Additionally, you’ll even be able to enable a closed captioning mode that sits as an overlay at the bottom of your Google Meet window. (However, since Google Meet has its own closed captioning feature, it’s up to you to decide which you prefer.)
You can end the transcription session by clicking the “pause recording” button, followed by the “stop recording” button that appears. Your transcription will then automatically get saved to your otter.ai account—no editing or deleting in the extension. The meeting’s audio will get saved to your otter.ai account as well.
That last fact is crucial; if your job is incredibly security-conscious or wouldn’t be happy about the contents of certain meetings existing anywhere outside of its internal network, you might not want to use the otter.ai extension. Don’t break non-disclosure agreements, confidentiality policies, or anything else that could get you fired. You might think you’re innocently transcribing a meeting to boost your productivity, but your company’s IT/security teams might see things differently.