A bot for a summary of an audio recording: what it can do

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

A summary and a task list from an audio recording are made by the Potok Telegram bot @potok_now_bot: send a recording, get a transcript, and then the Summary button gives a short retelling and the Tasks and deadlines button shows who must do what and by when. Transcription is free for 60 minutes per month, and you do not need to download the file in advance.

A summary is not the full text of the transcript but a shortened retelling of the recording: the main points and, if there are several speakers, the tasks for each. The Potok bot @potok_now_bot builds it from a ready transcript with one button, with no manual note-taking.

What the bot for a summary of an audio recording can do

From a received recording, the bot makes not only the whole text but also several ready formats:

Summary: a short retelling of the recording, the main points and, if there are several speakers, the tasks for each of them;
Tasks and deadlines: a separate list of who must do what and by when, pulled from the content of the conversation;
Ask: an answer to your own question about the recording, without reading the whole text;
Other format: switching between text and a file;
up to five buttons of your own with your own query to the text, which the user sets up, for example "Minutes" or "Letter to the client";
export to TXT, DOCX, Markdown, PDF, and to the subtitle formats SRT and VTT;
the same is also available in the bot's mini app, a web version with dragging of a file up to 2 GB and search across your recordings.

All formats support the same sources: voice messages, audio, video, files and links to YouTube, VK Video, RuTube. Exactly how forwarding an ordinary audio file to the bot works is in a separate guide to transcribing audio through a Telegram bot. All versions, the transcript, the summary and the tasks, stay in the My recordings section and can be opened again at any time.

Who a summary and a task list from a recording suit

A summary and tasks from a recording will be useful if:

after a meeting you need not the full text but a short list of decisions and owners;
it is easier to take notes on a lecture or webinar by the main points than to rewatch it whole;
for an interview or a podcast you need a quick overview of the content before deciding what to use in an article;
voice notes to yourself have piled up, and it is already hard to remember what is important in them;
you need to quickly give a colleague the gist of a long conversation without forwarding the original recording whole.

When the bot will not fit

The bot will not fit if the recording is not in Russian: it recognizes only Russian speech, and there is no translation. The summary and tasks are built after the recording has been sent, and not in real time during a conversation. The bot will not accept a link to Instagram or TikTok: of the external sources it understands only YouTube, VK Video and RuTube. A broader overview of transcription services is in the article comparison of audio-to-text transcription services. And nothing will work without the internet: the bot is cloud-based, recognition runs on servers in Russia, and it does not work without the internet.

Frequently asked questions

Can the bot make a summary of an audio recording for free?

Yes, the Summary button is available within the Potok bot's free limit of 60 minutes of transcription per month, and there is no separate charge for the summary and tasks.

How is Summary different from a full transcript?

A full transcript is the whole text of the recording. Summary is a short retelling of the main points and, if there are several speakers, the tasks for each of them.

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 meeting minutes be transcribed through voice input?

With Potok you can dictate the minutes live, speaking them during or right after the meeting. Transcribing an already recorded audio file of a meeting (a finished Zoom or Telemost recording) is a separate transcription task: such a file can be sent to Potok's Telegram bot @potok_now_bot.

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

You dictate in the app, and recordings and voice messages are transcribed by @potok_now_bot in Telegram. 60 minutes per month are free; the Potok subscription removes the limit in the bot and in the app.

Primary sources: yandex.ru · vc.ru · speech2text.ru · audio-2-text.ru