How Can I Get a Copy of My Meeting Transcript from Microsoft Teams?

Transcribing a meeting recording is not easy for AI software to handle.

Even when the audio quality is great, and there’s minimal background noise, the automatic transcription software needs to handle different voice quality, common conversational tones, interruptions, and other factors occurring during the call or meeting

If you want to transcribe a meeting live, it’s now possible with Microsoft Teams software. Want to know how? Let’s see.

Steps to Get Meeting Transcripts from Microsoft Teams

To get live transcription for all your virtual meetings, you must enable the transcription setting in MS Teams. You must also record the live meeting to enable the live transcription to work on it.

1. To Record a Live Meeting

• Open Microsoft Teams and in the Meeting Controls, click on More Options and start recording.

2. To Alter the Transcript Language

• The transcript language should be the same as the language spoken in the meeting. To change the language setting, choose Transcript Settings at the upper right side of the transcript window.
• From there, choose Change Spoken Language and choose the appropriate language. You'll be asked to choose the language the participants of the meeting are using. Then click Confirm to enable the transcript to be displayed in this language.

3. Show/hide live transcription

• Go to the Meeting Controls, choose More Actions, and select Hide Transcript/ Show Transcript as per your requirements.

4. Stop Live Transcription

If you are the meeting organizer or a presenter, you can stop and resume transcription during the meeting. To do so, go to the meeting controls and choose More actions.

Select Stop Recording if a recording is ongoing or Stop Transcription if it isn’t, and the transcription will stop automatically when all participants leave the meeting.

5. Downloading the Transcript

• After the meeting finishes, the transcript is available in the meeting event on the Calendar and can be downloaded by the participants. To do so, choose Calendar on the left in Teams.
• Open the meeting event, choose the transcript, and select Download above the transcript. You can save the transcribed file in the .docx or .vtt format.
• Once you download the audio or the video you can file, and save it to your device by making changes as per your requirement.

If you attend calls with Microsoft Teams, you can now go back to the transcribed document to read through the important points and create a more compact transcript or "Minutes of the Meeting."

What If You Do Not Want to Record the Meeting?

If you choose not to record the meeting and still want to get a transcribed meeting document, it’s now possible with Microsoft Teams.

Start the live transcription as soon as the meeting commences. The transcribed text will simultaneously appear with the meeting in real-time with a time stamp.

You can also hide the speakers’ names if you want privacy.

• To hide the speaker’s name and transcribe the meeting, you can select More Options next to the speaker's picture just before the meeting starts.
• Next, choose Settings and select Captions And Transcripts.
• Finally, uncheck the Automatically Identify Me in Meeting Captions and Transcripts.

See Also: How to Effectively Transcribe Zoom Recordings

Limitations of Microsoft Teams Transcripts

The live transcript is a great thing to have happened in the field of technology, now that most people are choosing to work virtually from their respective homes.

However, there are certain limitations of live transcriptions.

• Live transcription is only available for the desktop version of Microsoft Teams. When you are working virtually, and through any other device like a mobile or a tab, you will not be able to leverage the benefits of live transcription during the call or meeting.
• Also, live transcription is not available for all versions of Microsoft Office. For instance, if you have the license for the latest Microsoft 365 version, you will benefit from live transcription. Some of the Microsoft licenses that offer this facility include Office 365 versions E1, A1, A3, A5, E3, E5, F1, F3, Business Basic, Business Standards, and the Business Premium SKUs.
• Live transcription is not available in the DoD and the GCC high environments either.
•  Microsoft Teams transcripts also share the limitations of other AI-generated transcripts, i.e., not being able to completely comprehend fast speakers, foreign accents, technical jargon, complicated pronouns, slangs, local names, brand names, complex proper nouns, unknown terms, etc. Also, there is no scope for transcript customization.
• There’s also a lack of human touch. AI cannot always discern badly pronounced statements and erroneous pronunciations. They cannot adequately understand audio that may have technical issues, and automated transcripts from such audio files may be completely unusable.

Live transcriptions have their advantages too. They can make your employees more productive and include people with special abilities.

How Accurate Is Microsoft Teams Transcription?

Usually, any live transcription in Microsoft Teams can be 80% accurate.

However, if you choose GMR Transcription for your transcription services, we can guarantee you better accuracy.

We have experienced US-based transcriptionists who understand different kinds of dialects and voice tones. We guarantee 99% accuracy on good-quality audio!

Technology is getting better every day, but it still struggles to compete with human transcriptionists. If you simply need a transcript for personal use, an automated transcript is a good choice.

However, if you are a legal professional, a student, a researcher, a lawyer, a journalist, or any other professional seeking a transcript for professional reasons, then automated transcripts can be counterproductive.

That’s because AI still cannot generate 100% accurate transcripts.

See Also: Why Should You Get Your Zoom Conference Calls Transcribed?

Contact GMR Transcription Services, Inc. today if you want high-quality transcripts for all your virtual meetings and recordings that can be customized per your preferred format. Simply get in touch with us, and we will take care of your research and business transcriptions.