Potok transcribes Russian speech; this site has been translated into English for convenience.
You can transcribe audio or video online without installing programs in the bot's mini app: a file up to 2 GB is uploaded straight into the browser, sign-in is by email or through Telegram, and no separate registration is needed. 60 minutes of transcription per month are free. For voice messages from Telegram there is also the bot itself, [@potok_now_bot](https://t.me/potok_now_bot).
Transcribing a recording online means installing nothing on the computer: you open a page in the browser, upload the file and get the finished text in the same place, without a separate program.
How to transcribe online without installing programs
- Open the Potok bot in the browser on a computer or phone. There is no separate registration, only sign-in by email or through Telegram.
- Drag the recording file into the browser window (files up to 2 GB are accepted) or paste a link to YouTube, VK Video or RuTube. There is no need to download the video to the computer.
- Wait for the transcription: the finished text opens right on the recording page, and you can turn on timecodes and speaker labels in its settings if there are several voices.
- If you need to transcribe a voice message from Telegram, it is easier to forward it to the bot @potok_now_bot. That is also with no installation, right in the messenger.
Recordings and access are shared between the bot and the web version: a transcription started in one place can be viewed further in the other, without saving or forwarding anything again.
How to check and fix the transcript
Typos in the finished text are more often rare names, professional terms and words that were not in ordinary speech; the service has already put everything else in decent shape, including punctuation and capital letters, and has not cut a single sentence.
It is easier to check such places by ear than from memory: the web version has a player, and a click on the word you need in the text at once rewinds the recording to that moment, so you do not have to look for the part of the conversation by hand. If the recording was not made with one voice, it is worth checking the lines separately: speaker labels turned on beforehand show where each person's part begins and ends. Why transcribing several voices is harder than ordinary dictation by one person is explained in a separate article.
| Task | Characters | Typing (200 chars/min) | Voice (900 chars/min) |
|---|---|---|---|
| chat reply | 300 | 2 min | 0.5 min |
| 1500 | 8 min | 1.7 min | |
| post or meeting minutes | 4000 | 20 min | 4.4 min |
| article | 10000 | 50 min | 11.1 min |
When this will not fit
Like any cloud tool, the service does not work without the internet: the recording is processed by servers in Russia, not by the browser or the phone itself. It accepts links only from YouTube, VK Video, RuTube and Telegram; Instagram and TikTok are not among them.
The language limits are also worth remembering: only Russian speech is recognized, and there is no translation into other languages. The service tells who is speaking only by the serial number of the line, not by name, and it works only with an existing recording: a live broadcast or a conversation in the moment cannot be transcribed this way. The difference between transcribing a finished recording and dictating text in real time is explained in a separate analysis of transcription and voice input.
Frequently asked questions
There is no separate registration: in the bot's mini app it is enough to sign in by email or through Telegram, and there is nothing to install.
60 minutes per month, and the limit resets on the 1st. For a bigger volume you need a paid subscription; the amounts are in the plans block.
Yes, a number of platforms have built-in meeting transcription: in Zoom for cloud recordings, in Microsoft Teams during the meeting, in 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; you can send a call recording as a file to the Potok Telegram bot @potok_now_bot.
With Potok you can dictate the minutes live, saying them during or right after the meeting. Transcribing an already recorded meeting audio file (a finished Zoom or Telemost recording) is a separate transcription task: you can send such a file to the Potok Telegram bot @potok_now_bot.
Voice input is real-time dictation into the active text field. Transcription is turning an already finished audio or video recording (a lecture, a call, a podcast) into text after the fact, often with diarization (splitting by speaker).
Voice input is real-time dictation: you speak and immediately get text in the active field. Transcription is turning an already finished audio or video recording (for example, a meeting recording) into text after the fact. The Potok app does the first job, live dictation; finished recordings in Russian are transcribed by its Telegram bot @potok_now_bot.
Transcribe your own recording
Forward a voice message, or send a file or a YouTube, VK Video or RuTube link to Potok's Telegram bot, and the text arrives in the same chat. 60 minutes per month for free.
Open @potok_now_bot in TelegramPrimary sources: speech2text.ru · audio-2-text.ru · turboscribe.ai · turboscribe.ai
Transcribe a recording in Telegram
Voice messages, video notes, audio and video are transcribed by Potok's Telegram bot @potok_now_bot: forward it a voice message from any chat, or send a file or a YouTube, VK Video or RuTube link. A short recording comes back as text in the chat, a long one as a file; timestamps and speaker labels can be turned on. The buttons give a short summary, tasks and deadlines, an answer to a question about the recording and export to TXT, DOCX, PDF or SRT. Large files, up to 2 GB, are easier to upload in the bot's mini app, via the Upload button next to the input field. The bot recognizes Russian speech; 60 minutes per month are free.