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At a glance
By Adam Turner
Initially, AI-powered transcription services simply transcribed uploaded audio recordings. As their speed and accuracy improved — including the ability to identify individual speakers, comprehend technical jargon and handle strong accents — they also incorporated additional AI-powered tools.
Today these tools can generate meeting summaries with action items, and feature AI assistants that can answer queries, expand on key talking points and even write content based on the conversation.
By being limited to what is discussed in a given meeting, the written content from transcription tools can be more reliable than general-purpose generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, which draw on information from across the internet.
Along with the ability to upload recordings, most AI-powered transcription services can record in-person meetings via mobile apps. They can also join Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet calls.
For accountants, finance leaders and advisers, these tools can reduce the time spent taking meeting notes while producing cleaner, more accurate and potentially more insightful records. They can also incorporate into existing workflows, allowing for follow-ups on action items and business leads.
When using such tools, professionals must ensure they comply with company policies around issues such as consent, data privacy, storage and confidentiality — particularly when meetings often discuss sensitive financial and business matters. Best practice is to gain consent and inform all participants how the recording will be stored and used.
Some AI transcription tools use recorded data to train their AI models, which has implications when it comes to handling confidential client information. Assessing these tools for business use should include a close reading of user agreements and privacy policies.
Here are five AI transcription tools to consider.
Sonix AI
Along with generating meeting summaries, Sonix supports sentiment analysis, topic detection and action items. It features cross-transcript search, as well as in-browser transcript editing, sharing and annotation. Sonix can transcribe uploaded audio and video, integrate with many online meeting platforms and transcribe in-person meetings with support for 53 languages.
Otter.AI
Otter produces summaries and key takeaways, automatically extracting and assigning action items. Participants can interact with Otter during meetings, plus it integrates with CRM and collaboration tools. Otter can transcribe uploaded audio and video as well as in-person meetings, although language support is limited to English, French, Spanish and Japanese.
Fireflies AI
Fireflies provides topic, sentiment and talk-time analysis, as well as summary generation and detailed notes. It supports voice-activated in-meeting “Hey Fireflies” commands, as well as task tracking via CRM and project management integrations. Fireflies transcribes uploaded audio and video as well as in-person meetings, with support more than 100 languages and dialects.
Rev
Rev offers both AI-powered and human-verified transcription services, making it attractive for fields where accuracy is a high priority. AI transcriptions include low-confidence word highlighting to flag potential errors for review. Rev features enterprise-grade security, encrypting all files for storage and in transit, and supports more than 57 languages.
MeetGeek
MeetGeek offers topic detection, sentiment analysis, engagement levels and action items, as well as customisable summary generation. Users can interact with the AI during calls, and it integrates with CRM and project management tools. MeetGeek’s mobile app enables offline meeting transcription (record locally, then process), and transcribes in-person meetings with support for more than 50 languages.
