How to record a meeting directly in the browser

Some conversations never appear as a calendar appointment that Sally could be invited to. A call over Teams, a web session at a customer's site, a quick alignment nobody sent an invite for. For those you record straight in the browser, and Sally never shows up as a participant in the meeting.

Sally captures two audio sources at once: your microphone for your own voice, and the computer audio for everyone else. Both go into one recording. Once it is uploaded, Sally transcribes it and writes the summary just like for any other meeting.

You inform the participants

Sally says so in the panel itself: "You are responsible for informing everyone you record about the recording." Unlike the bot, which sits visibly in the meeting, nobody can see that you are recording.

Quick navigation

1. What this method is for
2. Open recording in the browser
3. The recording sources
   • 3.1. Computer audio
   • 3.2. Microphone
   • 3.3. Further devices
4. Start the recording
   • 4.1. While the recording runs
   • 4.2. Stop the recording
   • 4.3. When the sharing permission is missing
   • 4.4. Unfinished recordings
5. When no audio dialog appears
6. Common questions

1. What this method is for

Recording in the browser fits whenever there is no appointment Sally could be invited to. That covers phone calls, spontaneous conversations, and any platform where a bot should not or may not follow along.

What sets it apart from the other methods is visibility. With manual attendance Sally joins as a participant and everyone sees her in the list. In the browser the recording runs on your side, with no extra participant. In return, telling the others rests entirely with you.

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2. Open recording in the browser

To get there:

1. In the sidebar under Record, pick Record In Browser.

Figure 1: The entry is at the top of the sidebar under Record

The panel explains itself in one sentence: "Record a meeting or call directly in the browser. Sally transcribes the recording automatically after upload."

Figure 2: What the panel looks like after the click

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3. The recording sources

Recording sources is where you see what will be captured. Sally lists every input device it finds and mixes the active ones into a single recording, exactly as the heading says: "Recording sources (mixed into one recording)". Two sources are on from the start, and that combination fits most meetings: the computer audio for the others, your microphone for yourself.

Figure 3: Every source has its own switch. Computer audio and the default microphone are on

The switch on the right of each row decides whether that source is recorded. The only time you can do without the computer audio is when nothing comes out of your machine at all, a conversation in the room for instance, which your microphone picks up on its own. Switch it off in any other case and the other participants are missing from the recording.

3.1. Computer audio

This is the sound coming out of your machine, which means the voices of the other participants. Sally describes the source as "Other participants (tab or system audio)". Without it, the recording will only contain you.

3.2. Microphone

This is your own voice. Default microphone is on from the start and follows whatever your system has set. Sally names the current device right below it, "Follows the system · Poly BT700" for instance. Swap your headset and the recording goes along with it, without you changing anything here. The device names appear once the browser has been granted the microphone permission.

3.3. Further devices

Below the default microphone, Sally lists every other input device on your computer, switched off. Turn one on and it is recorded as well. That pays off when there is a second microphone in the room, a conference microphone next to your headset for instance. Every active source lands in the same recording.

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4. Start the recording

1. Once your audio sources are set up, click Start recording.

Figure 4: This button starts the recording

2. The browser now asks what to share: a single tab, a window, or the entire screen. The exact labels depend on the browser. The screenshot shows Chrome.

Figure 5: The browser asks what to share. The system audio switch has to be on

System audio has to be allowed

This is the most important thing in this dialog. Without sharing the system audio, the sound from your computer is not recorded at all. In Chrome the switch is called Share with system audio. If you do not switch it on, Sally only records your microphone, the other side is missing entirely, and you notice it only when the transcript contains nothing but your own sentences.

Our recommendation: share the entire screen

We recommend sharing the entire screen. With a single tab or window, only the audio of that one source comes through. If the conversation runs in another application, or if you pick the wrong source by mistake, the audio is missing from the recording.

3. The first time round, the browser also asks for microphone permission. Sally announces it: "At the start the browser asks once for microphone permission." Pick your microphone in the dropdown and click Allow while visiting the site. The permission then stays and the browser will not ask again before the next recording. Allow this time covers this one recording only. Behind the prompt, Sally is already getting ready and the panel shows Preparing recording ….

Figure 6: The microphone prompt appears the first time round, while Sally prepares the recording behind it

4.1. While the recording runs

As soon as every source is ready, the panel switches to Recording in progress and counts the time. The level meter below shows both sources in different colors, purple for your microphone and red for the computer audio. Underneath, each source appears again with a level of its own.

That tells you right at the start whether both sides are actually coming through. If the level for the computer audio stays flat while the others are talking, the system audio was not shared. It is worth restarting the recording straight away rather than ending up with half a transcript.

The pause button holds the recording, the red button ends it. While it is paused the panel reads Paused, and Resume recording carries on with the same recording.

Figure 7: The running state from the status message down to the buttons. In the level meter, purple is your microphone and red the computer audio

4.2. Stop the recording

Once you stop, the panel reads Recording finished and shows the total length. Under Preview you can listen to the recording right there, before you upload it.

Only Upload sends the recording to Sally, where it gets transcribed and receives its summary. Continue recording picks the same recording back up if the conversation carries on after all. Record again starts over. Discard recording deletes it, and Sally asks once more before it does.

Figure 8: Four ways to go once you stop, with the preview to listen first

You will find the uploaded recording under Recordings afterwards, like any other recording.

4.3. When the sharing permission is missing

If the sharing is canceled or blocked by the browser, Sally shows a note that the recording could not be started. Try again gives you a second attempt.

Figure 9: Without the sharing permission the recording does not start

The other messages appear in the same place. "The selected recording device was not found" points to a microphone that is no longer connected. "The recording device could not be accessed" means another application is using it right now. "No recording source is active" comes up when every source in the list is switched off. If the system sound is missing entirely, Sally says that no system audio was recorded and suggests a different tab or a virtual audio device.

Do you have meetings on your computer often?

For everyday use on a computer there is the Meeting Recorder, the Sally app for Windows and macOS. It notices conversations on its own and asks whether it should take notes. That removes both the tab you keep open and the browser prompt before every recording.

4.4. Unfinished recordings

Sally also keeps the running recording locally in the browser. If the tab reloads or you close it by accident, the recording is not lost. The panel then shows the list Unfinished recordings on this device, newest first. Continue carries on with the same recording, Upload sends it to Sally right away, Discard deletes it.

The backup only exists in this browser on this computer. On another device, or in another browser, you will not find it.

Discarding removes the local copy as well

Sally asks once more before discarding. The local backup copy goes with it, so the recording cannot be restored afterwards.

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5. When no audio dialog appears

Not every browser can pass on the system sound. If yours does not ask about audio at the start, a virtual audio device helps by offering the system sound as a microphone input. Sally names the tools for it under No audio dialog appears?.

Figure 10: The note recommends BlackHole for macOS and VB-Cable for Windows

For macOS that is BlackHole, for Windows it is VB-Cable. Once installed, the virtual device appears in the recording sources like any other input device.

Switch it on and Sally captures the computer audio through it. The sharing dialog from step 4 is then no longer needed.

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6. Common questions

• 6.1. Can anyone see that I am recording
• 6.2. The entry is greyed out
• 6.3. Difference to the Meeting Recorder
• 6.4. Where you find the recording

6.1. Can anyone see that I am recording

No. No bot joins, and nothing changes in the participant list of the meeting. That is exactly why informing the others rests with you, and why Sally points it out in the panel.

6.2. The entry is greyed out

Then an owner or admin has switched this method off for the organization. Hover over the entry and you get the note Disabled by the administrator. Which methods are open is controlled under recording sources.

6.3. Difference to the Meeting Recorder

Both capture the microphone along with the computer audio. In the browser you need no installation, but you do need a tab to keep open and a browser permission before every recording. The Meeting Recorder runs as an app in the background, notices conversations on its own, and is installed once, on Windows or on macOS.

6.4. Where you find the recording

Under Recordings, together with all your other recordings. The transcript and the summary are created automatically as soon as the recording is uploaded.