How-to guides

Meeting minutes from a recording with a button in a Telegram bot

Mark Vesyoly · founder of Potok · ~5 min

Potok transcribes Russian speech; this site has been translated into English for convenience.

Meeting minutes from a recording in a Telegram bot are made with your own button: in the Potok bot @potok_now_bot open /settings, “My buttons” and create a “Minutes” button with a request for the text. You can create up to 5 such buttons. The bot transcribes 60 minutes per month for free, and the form of the minutes is determined by your request. One Potok (potok.now) subscription covers both the dictation app and the bot.

You have a meeting recording, but the minutes have to be put together by hand. In the Potok Telegram bot @potok_now_bot you create your own button with a ready request for this: set it up once, and then you press it under the transcript.

What meeting minutes from a recording look like, with an example

“Minutes” is not a built-in button but your own: you name it and write a request for it that the bot will apply to the text of the recording. The standard buttons under a transcript answer other tasks: “Summary” gives the main points, “Tasks and deadlines” gives a list of “who, what, by when”, and “Ask” answers your question about the recording.

Imagine a meeting took place in a call program and you saved its recording. You send the file to the bot in private messages, get the text and press “Minutes” under it. The bot takes your request and runs it on the transcript. What exactly ends up in the answer and in what form depends on how you worded the request: the form of the document is determined by it, not by the bot.

How to make a “Minutes” button in the bot

The button is created once, and then it is available under transcripts:

  1. Open the bot and send the /settings command.
  2. Choose the “My buttons” section in the settings.
  3. Create a button and name it “Minutes”.
  4. Write a request for the text for it: what you want to get from the meeting recording and in what form.
  5. Send the bot the meeting recording: a file, a voice message or a link to YouTube, VK Video, RuTube or a direct link to a file.
  6. When the transcript arrives, press “Minutes” under it.

You can have up to 5 buttons of your own, so next to the minutes there is room for, for example, “Letter to a client” and your other requests. How to transcribe a whole meeting is covered in the article on transcribing meeting minutes.

Other ways of voice input are collected in the guides on dictating text.

Platforms
Windows, macOS, Linux
Free
Free: 2500 words per week; full access for the first 14 days, no card needed
Pro
Pro 690 ₽/mo, 499 ₽/mo when paid yearly
Payment
Russian bank cards, rubles
Where speech is recognized
cloud, servers in Russia; internet required

Potok is a cloud service: speech is recognized on servers in Russia, and it does not work without the internet. Download: potok.now/download

When the “Minutes” button will not fit

The bot transcribes ready recordings and does not join a call itself: the meeting is recorded in the program itself and sent to the bot as a file. Only Russian speech is recognized, and there is no translation. The format of the minutes, including “to GOST” (the Russian state standard), the bot does not guarantee: the form of the result is determined by your request. The Potok app is dictation, and recordings are transcribed by the bot; one subscription covers both the dictation app and the bot. The bot transcribes 60 minutes per month for free. The Potok app is cloud-based: recognition needs the internet. The bot transcribes recordings on Potok servers in Russia, and recordings and transcripts are stored there too. If you dictate the minutes yourself instead of taking them from a recording, there is a separate look: dictating meeting minutes by voice.

Frequently asked questions

How many buttons of my own can I make in the bot?

Up to 5. They are created in the bot settings: the /settings command, the “My buttons” section. Under a transcript they appear next to the standard buttons, for example “Summary” and “Tasks and deadlines”.

Will the minutes come out to GOST (the Russian state standard) or in the required form?

The form of the minutes is set by your request to the button: the bot applies it to the text of the recording. What form you get in the end cannot be promised in advance, so check the result on your own recording.

Can the bot join a meeting itself and record it?

No, the bot does not join a call itself. The recording is made in the program where the meeting takes place, and the ready file, voice message or link is sent to the bot afterwards.

What is the difference between voice input and transcription?

Voice input is real-time dictation: you speak and immediately get text in the active field. Transcription turns an already finished audio or video recording (for example, a meeting recording) into text after the fact. The Potok app handles the first task, live dictation; finished recordings in Russian are transcribed by its Telegram bot @potok_now_bot.

How is transcription different from voice input?

Voice input is real-time dictation into the active text field. Transcription turns an already finished audio or video recording (a lecture, a call, a podcast) into text after the fact, often with diarization (splitting by speaker).

Can a Zoom call be transcribed automatically?

Yes, several platforms have built-in meeting transcription: Zoom for cloud recordings, Microsoft Teams during the meeting, Google Meet on Google Workspace plans. The alternative is to record the sound and process it with a separate transcription service after the call. The Potok app does not do this kind of transcription, it is for live dictation; a call recording can be sent as a file to Potok's Telegram bot @potok_now_bot.

Check it in one evening

Install Potok, dictate what you usually type and compare. 14 days of full access, no card needed. Potok is a cloud service: speech is recognized on servers in Russia, and it does not work without the internet.

Download Potok

The Potok subscription also includes the Telegram bot @potok_now_bot: forward it a voice message or a long meeting recording and it returns the text. Without a subscription the bot gives 60 minutes per month for free.

Primary sources: support.microsoft.com · support.apple.com

Mark Vesyoly — founder of Potok. Writes about Russian voice input: how to dictate in work apps, what gets in the way and how to fix it.
© Potok · Vladimir Olegovich Lipatnikov · INN 502915859701 · Public offer Comparisons · FAQ · About Free voice input · Voice input for AI chats · Data and Russian privacy law · Voice input on Mac · Bot plans · 14 days of Pro for a review