In this article, you'll learn how to have the CRM write out your phone calls and sum them up for you. It's handy when you need to remember what a customer asked for, check a price someone quoted, or catch up on a call you weren't on, all without listening to the whole recording.
You don't add transcription from Features. You switch it on for each phone number, and it works on the calls that number records.
To open a number's settings on the web:
- Go to Settings, then Phone numbers.
- Find the number and click Edit.
To open a number's settings on the phone app:
- Go to Settings, then Phone numbers.
- Under the number, tap Call settings.
Turning on transcription
A transcript is made from the call recording, so recording has to be on too.
On the web
- In the number's settings, stay on the Basic tab.
- Tick Record calls.
- If you want callers to hear that the call is recorded, tick Play a recording notice to callers and type your wording in the box that appears.
- Tick Transcribe recorded calls.
- Click Save.
If Transcribe recorded calls is ticked while Record calls isn't, you'll see "Transcription needs call recording on." Turn recording on as well, or there's nothing to transcribe.
On the phone app
- In the number's call settings, stay on the Basic tab.
- Turn on Record calls.
- To play a notice before the call connects, turn on Recording notice and type your wording.
- Turn on Transcribe calls.
- Tap Save at the top right.
Each number has its own setting, so repeat this for every number you want transcribed.
Reading a call's summary
Once a recorded call has been transcribed, it shows in the conversation with that customer. Right under the playback controls is a short summary of what the call was about, so you can scroll a thread and see what happened on each call at a glance.
Reading the full transcript
On the web
- Open the conversation from Conversations.
- Under the call, click View transcript.
- The summary sits at the top, then the call written out line by line. Each line is marked Customer or Office, so you can tell who said what.
- Click Hide transcript to fold it away.
On the phone app
- In a thread from Conversations, tap the transcript button beside the playback controls to open or close it.
- On a client's conversation, tap View transcript, and Hide transcript to close it.
Voicemails
Voicemails left on a number that transcribes get a summary and a transcript too, shown the same way. Voicemail emails include what the caller said. You choose who gets voicemail notifications on the Voicemail alerts card in Settings › Phone numbers.
Good to know
- A transcript isn't instant. Give it a minute or two after the call ends.
- Only recorded calls (answered calls on a number that records) and voicemails get a transcript. A missed call with no voicemail has nothing to transcribe.
- There's no button to transcribe an older call. Calls are transcribed from the moment you turn the setting on.
- Voicemails from callers the spam filter flags are always transcribed, even on numbers that don't transcribe, so the words can show whether the call was real. These are labelled Suspected spam.
- The Scheduler reads these transcripts to fill in job details from a call. If you open it right after a call, it waits for the transcript first, which is one more reason to leave transcription on.
Related articles
- How to turn on call recording
- Listening to call recordings
- Getting voicemail alerts by text and email
- Turning a call or text into a job with the Scheduler
- Forwarding a call recording or voicemail