Recordings
Upload the recording as MP3, M4A, WAV, MP4 or MOV, up to 5 GB. A video file works as well as audio. Only the sound is transcribed, and you can still watch the video while you review.
For the best transcript:
- Use the recording straight from your meeting system or streaming provider rather than a phone recording of the room.
- Upload the whole meeting. Trimming the start or end can cut off the roll call or the adjournment.
The agenda
The agenda gives the draft its structure. Agenda items become the sections of the minutes, and the transcript is split at the point where each item starts. Without an agenda, the draft still gets written, but you'll spend more time arranging it.
You can add it two ways.
Upload the agenda
Upload a PDF, Word file (DOCX) or a scanned image, up to 50 MB. Express Transcriber reads the items from the file.
If the file's date doesn't match the meeting, you'll see This file looks like a different meeting. Upload the right agenda, or press Use it anyway if the date on the file is just wrong.
Type the agenda
Some bodies have no agenda document, or only a short list of items. Choose typing instead and enter the items one per line:
1. Call to order
2. Public comment
3. Consent agenda
A. Minutes of September 8
B. Warrant register
4. Adjournment
- Start a line with two spaces to make it a sub-item.
- Numbers and letters (1., A., IV., 7.1) are kept exactly as you type them.
- The items show below as you type, so you can check the structure before you submit.
A typed agenda is ready right away. Nothing has to be read from a file.
Fix the agenda later
The agenda isn't final once you submit. In the Document tab, the agenda on the left has:
- Type the agenda, when the meeting has none yet,
- Type it instead, when a file couldn't be read or was read wrong,
- Edit agenda items, to correct the items at any time.
If you change the agenda after the transcript is ready, the agenda sections are found again to match. See Editing the transcript.
Who attended
On the new meeting form, Who attended lists the body's members and staff from your Speakers list. Uncheck anyone who wasn't there. Staff are checked when they were at this body's last meeting.
- Someone not listed? Add a new member, a guest presenter or an attorney. Everyone you add, except members of the public, is listed as attending, and they're saved to your Speakers list for next time.
- If a body has no members listed yet, you can paste them in, one per line.
- You don't need to list public commenters. They're picked up from the recording.
The attendance lines in the draft are written from this list, in your body's own layout, and members marked present are filled into each vote. Verify checks the list against the recording, so a mistake here gets caught.
Other attachments
You can attach up to 10 more files to a meeting, such as handwritten notes, a staff report or a sign-in sheet, in the same formats as the agenda.
Notes for the minutes
When you process a meeting yourself, you can add a short note for the draft: who chaired, an item that was continued, how a name is spelled. Keep it under 2,000 characters.