Recording Your First Meeting

Introduction

This guide provides detailed instructions on recording meetings with NoteWave. Whether you're recording live, uploading a file, or importing from a URL, this article covers everything you need to know.

Three Recording Methods

NoteWave offers three flexible ways to record and transcribe your meetings. Choose the method that best fits your workflow:

1. Live Recording

Record in real-time using your device's microphone. Perfect for in-person meetings or when you want to capture a conversation as it happens.

2. File Upload

Upload pre-recorded audio or video files. Supports MP3, WAV, MP4, and many other formats up to 2GB.

3. URL Import

Paste a link to an online recording. NoteWave will download and transcribe it automatically.

Live Recording

Live recording captures audio in real-time from your device's microphone. Here's how to get started:

Step-by-step guide:

Click Record in the left sidebar
Select the Live Recording tab
Allow microphone access when your browser prompts you
Fill in the meeting details:

Meeting title (required)
Meeting type/category (optional)
Select language (defaults to English)
Add participants (optional, helps with speaker identification)

Click Start Recording
Speak naturally. You'll see audio visualization as you record
Click Stop when finished
Wait for processing (typically 2-5 minutes)

Best Practices for Live Recording

For optimal transcription accuracy, use a quality microphone, minimize background noise, and ensure speakers speak clearly. Adding participant names before recording helps with speaker identification.

File Upload

Already have a recording? Upload it directly to NoteWave for transcription.

Upload process:

Go to Record and select the Upload tab
Drag and drop your file or click to browse
Supported formats: MP3, WAV, M4A, AAC, OGG, FLAC, WebM, Opus
Maximum file size: 2GB
Fill in meeting details (title, type, participants, language)
Click Upload & Transcribe
Track upload progress and wait for processing

Processing Time

Larger files take longer to upload and process. A 1-hour meeting typically processes in 3-5 minutes, but very long meetings (over 2 hours) may take up to 15 minutes.

URL Import

Have a meeting recording hosted online? Simply paste the URL and NoteWave will handle the rest.

How to import from URL:

Navigate to Record and select the Link tab
Paste the direct link to your recording
Supported: Zoom cloud recordings, direct audio/video file links
Add meeting metadata (title, type, participants, language)
Click Import & Transcribe
NoteWave will download and process the recording

Zoom Integration

For automatic Zoom cloud recording transcription, consider upgrading to Pro and connecting the Zoom integration. This eliminates manual URL importing.

Speaker Identification

NoteWave automatically identifies different speakers in your recording. To improve accuracy, you can add participant names before or after recording.

How it works:

NoteWave uses AI to detect different speakers (Speaker 1, Speaker 2, etc.)
If you add participant names, NoteWave attempts to match speakers to names
Matching works best when participants are mentioned by name during the meeting
You can manually edit speaker labels in the transcript after processing

For detailed guidance on speaker mapping, see the dedicated article in the Workflows section.

After Recording

Once your recording is processed, you'll receive a notification. You can then:

View the full transcript with speaker labels
Read the AI-generated summary
Review automatically extracted action items
Export to PDF, Word, or plain text
Share with team members using access codes
Chat with Echo AI about the meeting (Pro plan)

All recordings are saved to your Meetings library for easy access anytime.