> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.maiagent.ai/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.maiagent.ai/maiagent-user-guide/en/work/meeting-records/live-transcription.md).

# Live Meeting Transcription

Live meeting records: low-latency live transcription and translation during meetings, the transcription view and controls, and what happens after recording ends.

Live mode provides low-latency voice transcription and translation, allowing you to see the real-time transcript while the meeting is in progress.

## Start Recording <a href="#start-recording" id="start-recording"></a>

After creating a meeting record, click "Start Recording" to begin live transcription. When you click it, the system first checks the microphone. If permission has not been granted, no microphone is found, the microphone is in use by another program (such as video conferencing software), or the browser is not supported (use the latest Chrome, Edge, or Safari, and the URL must be https), a corresponding message and a "Retry" button are shown. Resolve the issue and start again; no empty recording is created.

The system will:

1. Create a real-time communication room (LiveKit)
2. Start the speech recognition engine
3. Begin receiving microphone audio and transcribing in real time

## Transcription View <a href="#transcription-view" id="transcription-view"></a>

While recording, the screen displays the following in real time:

* **Recording timer**: Shows the elapsed recording time
* **Live transcript**: Speech recognition results appear on the screen in real time
* **Speaker labels**: Identify the speaker of each segment of text
* **Language tags**: Show the original language of each segment of text
* **Translation results**: If translation is enabled, the translated text is shown below the original text
* **Transcription statistics**: Number of completed segments, number of segments in progress, and total word count
* **Local backup status**: "Recording local backup" is shown below the meeting name, meaning the browser is simultaneously recording a backup audio file so that no audio is lost even if the network disconnects. See [Meeting Record Backup Audio](/maiagent-user-guide/en/work/meeting-records/backup-audio.md)

If any of the following alerts appear during recording, the recording is still running and you do not need to start over:

| Alert                                                                           | Meaning                                                                                                                                       | What to do                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Connection unstable, reconnecting…                                              | The connection to the transcription service was interrupted and the system is reconnecting; speech during reconnection may not be transcribed | Check your network. If the connection cannot be restored, the system shows a recording interruption alert instead; if local backup is enabled, you can [retranscribe](/maiagent-user-guide/en/work/meeting-records/backup-audio.md) using the backup audio afterward |
| Transcription failed: transcription failure detected at recording time HH:MM:SS | Transcription failed for one segment of speech                                                                                                | The completed transcript is kept; if the transcript has gaps afterward, you can [retranscribe](/maiagent-user-guide/en/work/meeting-records/backup-audio.md) the entire meeting using the backup audio                                                               |

### You Can Switch to Other Pages While Recording <a href="#recording-indicator" id="recording-indicator"></a>

Recording does not stop when you leave the live transcription page. After you switch to another page in the admin console (for example, to look something up in MaiGPT), a flashing red-dot recording indicator floats in the upper-right corner of the screen, showing the current recording time and the meeting name. Hover over it to see "Click to view recording," and click it to return to the live transcription page. You can drag the indicator to a position that does not block the screen, and the position is remembered.

{% hint style="warning" %}
Recording takes place only within this browser tab. When you close the tab or refresh the page, the browser asks for confirmation first; if you close it anyway, the recording ends and moves to post-processing. To step away temporarily, switch pages instead of closing the tab.
{% endhint %}

## Low-Latency Live Transcription <a href="#low-latency-live-transcription" id="low-latency-live-transcription"></a>

The core feature of live mode is low latency: transcribed text appears on the screen within seconds of being spoken, so participants can confirm the content of the record in real time.

## Low-Latency Live Translation <a href="#low-latency-live-translation" id="low-latency-live-translation"></a>

When translation is enabled, the system translates the content into the specified target languages while transcribing, also with low-latency real-time processing:

* Supports translating into up to **3 target languages** at the same time
* Translation is processed in real time by the selected LLM model
* Translation results are attached below each segment of the transcript
* Suited to international meetings and real-time communication among multilingual teams

## Recording Duration Limit <a href="#recording-duration-limit" id="recording-duration-limit"></a>

Each live recording has a **main recording file limit of 3 hours**. Before you start recording, a notice above the settings area tells you about this limit. When the recording reaches 3 hours:

| Item                                           | After reaching 3 hours                                                                                               |
| ---------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Main recording file** (original cloud audio) | Stops at the 3-hour mark and is uploaded as usual                                                                    |
| **Live transcript**                            | Continues transcribing until you click <mark style="color:blue;">Stop Recording</mark>                               |
| **Local backup audio**                         | Continues recording until you click <mark style="color:blue;">Stop Recording</mark>, so the backup audio is complete |

The system reminds you as the limit approaches:

* **About 10 minutes remaining**: A warning appears saying "The main recording will reach the 3-hour limit in about N minutes." If you have allowed browser notifications, you also receive a notification when the tab is not in the foreground
* **Limit reached**: A notice appears saying "The main recording has reached the 3-hour limit," explaining that the main recording file has stopped while the transcript and backup recording are still running. When the meeting ends, return to the page and click <mark style="color:blue;">Stop Recording</mark> as usual

Anything beyond 3 hours is not included in the main recording file. After the meeting ends, a banner appears at the top of the details page saying "The main recording has reached the 3-hour limit; the main audio file ends here," along with a shortcut to <mark style="color:blue;">Retranscribe with backup audio</mark>. Retranscribing with the backup audio gives you a transcript covering the entire meeting. For the steps, see [Retranscribe from Backup Audio](/maiagent-user-guide/en/work/meeting-records/backup-audio.md#retranscribe-from-backup).

{% hint style="info" %}
For meetings expected to run longer than 3 hours, we recommend clicking <mark style="color:blue;">Stop Recording</mark> during a break and creating a new meeting record to continue, then generating a summary for each one separately. Alternatively, record as usual and retranscribe once with the backup audio afterward (retranscription is billed by audio duration).
{% endhint %}

## Controls <a href="#playback-controls" id="playback-controls"></a>

| Action                                 | Description                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |
| -------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Microphone toggle**                  | Temporarily mute or unmute the microphone                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            |
| **Stop Recording**                     | End the meeting recording; the system starts post-processing                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         |
| **Search transcript**                  | Search for keywords in the live transcript                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           |
| **Add / remove external participants** | Non-organization members who join temporarily, such as customers and vendors, can be added or removed at any time in the "External Participants" section of the participant card on the right, without interrupting the recording. See [Meeting Access Control](/maiagent-user-guide/en/work/meeting-records/access-control.md#manage-external-participants-sidebar) |

## After Recording Ends <a href="#after-recording-ends" id="after-recording-ends"></a>

After you click "Stop Recording," the meeting status changes to "Processing," and the system works in the background:

1. **Audio conversion**: Converts the original audio to MP3 format
2. **Transcript organization**: Organizes the live transcription results into a structured transcript file
3. **Save to cloud**: Uploads the audio and transcript to S3 storage

When processing is complete, the status updates automatically to "Completed," and you can open the meeting details page to view the full content. The local backup audio is uploaded and merged in the background; when finished, the details page shows "Backup complete." See [Meeting Record Backup Audio](/maiagent-user-guide/en/work/meeting-records/backup-audio.md).

### Final Transcription Result (OpenAI gpt-live-transcribe) <a href="#final-transcription-result" id="final-transcription-result"></a>

For meetings whose speech recognition provider is [OpenAI gpt-live-transcribe](/maiagent-user-guide/en/work/meeting-records/create-meeting.md#openai-live-transcribe), after you stop recording the system separately reports the final transcription result for that meeting, and the page reloads the saved transcript, replacing the temporary text shown during recording.

Until the report is received, the page shows "The final transcription result for this meeting has not been received yet; recording completion does not mean transcription succeeded. You can refresh to check again." In that case, wait a moment and refresh the page; the final result is authoritative. Meetings using other engines do not have this report, and the transcript is whatever it contains once processing is complete.


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