How to record a group meeting with several devices in Sally AI

In a large room or a workshop, a single phone often cannot pick up everyone clearly. With a group recording, several devices record the same on-site meeting together. Because each device sits close to a different person, every voice is captured clearly, so Sally tells the speakers apart more reliably and the transcript comes out far more accurate than with a single phone in the middle of the room. Sally first pairs the devices into one group, then each device captures its own audio track and Sally merges the tracks into a single recording, with a transcript and summary like any other meeting.

Group recording is part of on-site recording and works directly in the Sally app on each phone. One person starts the group as the host, everyone else joins. You can even take part without your own Sally account, you only need the app.

Quick navigation

1. How a group recording works
2. Start or join a group
   • 2.1. As the host: start the group
   • 2.2. With a Sally account: join a group
   • 2.3. As a guest without an account: join a group
3. Pause the group recording
4. Where you find the recording afterwards
5. How to reach our support team

1. How a group recording works

• Several devices, one meeting: Sally first pairs the devices into one group, then every phone or tablet records its own audio track and Sally merges the tracks into a single recording afterwards
• One host, several participants: the person who starts the group is the host. Everyone else joins with a code, a QR code, or over Bluetooth as a nearby group. Up to ten devices can record together
• One pause for everyone: the host can pause all devices at once and resume them together, for example during breakout sessions
• With or without an account: signed-in participants join from the recording screen. Guests without an account join straight from the app's welcome screen
• The result lands with the host: the finished group recording appears in the host's recordings, with transcript and summary

2. Start or join a group

How you get in depends on your role and whether you have a Sally account. Pick your case below.

Allow Bluetooth and the camera

A nearby group works over Bluetooth, so Sally needs permission to use Bluetooth. Scanning a QR code needs the camera. Accept each prompt the first time, otherwise the nearby group does not appear and the QR scanner does not open.

2.1 As the host: start the group

1. Open the recording screen in the Sally app and tap the group icon in the top right corner.

Figure 1: Open the group recording view with the group icon

2. Tap Start group, then Create group. Sally sets up the group and its join code.

Figure 2: Start the group, then create it

3. Sally shows a join code and a QR code, and the group is also visible to nearby devices over Bluetooth. As people join, their devices appear in the list. Once everyone has joined, tap Start recording.

Figure 3: Share the code, then start the recording once everyone has joined

4. Everyone now records at the same time. You see the timer and all connected devices. If you need a break in between, you can pause the whole group. Tap Stop recording when the meeting is over.

Figure 4: The running group recording with all devices

5. Afterwards, you can optionally link the recording to an appointment (past or upcoming), or choose Finish without appointment.

Figure 5: Optionally link the recording to an appointment

6. The finished group recording appears under Recordings in your account. Open it for the summary and the transcript.

Figure 6: The finished group recording with summary and transcript

2.2 With a Sally account: join a group

1. Open the recording screen in the Sally app and tap the group icon in the top right corner.

Figure 7: Open the group recording view with the group icon

2. Join the group the host started. The quickest way is a nearby group: in the same room, the group appears over Bluetooth and you tap it. You then see Joined, waiting for the host to start the recording.

Figure 8: Join a nearby group, then wait for the host

3. No nearby group? Join with code by typing the host's join code, or tap Scan QR code and allow the camera to scan the host's QR code.

Figure 9: Join with the code or by scanning the QR code

4. Either way, you land on the waiting screen until the host starts the recording.

Figure 10: Joined, waiting for the host

5. As soon as the host starts, your device records its own track. Stop my recording only ends your track. If the host pauses the group, your device pauses along with it. When the host ends the meeting, recording stops for everyone still recording and your track uploads automatically.

Figure 11: Your track is recording

6. When your upload is complete, you see Done, everything uploaded and can close the app.

Figure 12: Your track has uploaded

2.3 As a guest without an account: join a group

You do not need your own Sally account to take part, only the Sally app on your phone.

1. Open the app. On the welcome screen, tap the group icon in the top right corner.
2. On Join as guest, your device provides an extra audio track for someone else's group recording. Join a nearby group, enter the join code, or scan the QR code. After the meeting your track is transferred to the host and merged into the joint recording. Nothing is stored for you in the app.

Figure 13: Join a group recording as a guest, without an account

From here it works just like joining with an account: you wait for the host, your track records, and it uploads automatically when the host finishes.

3. Pause the group recording

If your meeting alternates between the whole group and smaller breakout groups, you do not have to stop the recording. As the host, you pause every device in the group at once and resume them together. Nothing said during the pause becomes part of the recording.

1. Start the recording as described in As the host: start the group. While it is running, tap Pause group.

Figure 14: Pause the whole group

2. Your timer stops, the waveform turns orange, and below it you see "Group paused. The other devices pause automatically." Within a few seconds, all other devices pause as well. When you are ready to continue, tap Resume group.

Figure 15: Resume the group

You can pause and resume as often as you like.

Participants' devices have no pause button of their own. Their recording pauses automatically, and they see "The host paused the group. Your recording continues as soon as the host resumes." If a device joins during the pause, it starts recording as soon as the host resumes.

Figure 16: The pause on participants' devices

Pauses in the final recording

The pauses are left out of the final recording, because Sally only merges the parts the host recorded.

A device does not pause

Check that the latest version of the Sally app is installed on that device. You can update it in the App Store or on Google Play.

4. Where you find the recording afterwards

The finished group recording always lands with the host, under Recordings, with the transcript and summary.

If the host links the recording to an appointment that you were invited to and accepted, you also find the transcript and summary in your own recordings. Without a matching appointment, only the host gets the recording.

Figure 17: A group recording in your own recordings after the host linked an appointment

5. How to reach our support team

If a device does not join or a track is missing, our support team is one ticket away. Open Settings → Support tickets in Sally and start your request with New ticket, or write to support@sally.io if you cannot get into the app.