The better the recording, the more accurate your transcript and speaker names will be. Most improvements happen before the meeting starts, so this page covers what to do at the meeting and what to expect from difficult recordings.
Record clear audio
Use an external microphone where you can. Room or laptop microphones pick up echo and distant voices.
Place microphones close to the speakers, ideally one per person or one per pair. Council members who sit far from the microphone are the most likely to be missed or mislabeled.
Ask people to speak one at a time. When voices overlap, ClerkMinutes has a hard time separating them and may assign the words to the wrong person.
Have speakers state their name when they begin, especially public commenters and guests. It helps you check the transcript later.
Keep background noise down. Close doors and windows, and silence phones and fans if you can.
Choose the best source for your recording
Original file or the meeting platform's own recording usually has better audio than a re-recorded or compressed copy.
Video links (YouTube, Vimeo, Zoom) work well when the source video has clear audio, but they can't be better than the original upload.
Avoid recording a screen or speakers, such as pointing a phone at a monitor. It adds echo and lowers quality.
Phone recordings and committee meetings
Phone recordings of committee or work session meetings are the hardest to transcribe, because the phone is often far from most speakers. If you have to use one:
Place it in the middle of the table, not in a pocket or bag.
Use a second device or an external microphone for people far from the phone.
Expect to check the speaker names more carefully after the transcript is ready.
Long meetings
Meetings of several hours, especially with long agendas, are harder to transcribe accurately. Speaker names and who made which motion are the most likely to slip in the later part of a long recording. For these meetings:
Spot-check the second half of the transcript, not just the beginning.
Pay particular attention to motions, seconds and votes.
Make sure your Departments and members are up to date before you upload (see below).
Add your own words and jargon
Transcripts can misspell names and terms that are specific to your town, such as street names, vendors, department names, acronyms and ordinance numbers. You can add a list of these terms so ClerkMinutes recognizes them in future transcripts.
Find Internal Jargon.
Add a word or phrase, then save. Edit or remove terms at any time.
Tips:
Add the exact spelling you want to see in the transcript.
Start with terms that are often wrong, rather than everything.
This improves word matching but doesn't guarantee a correct result every time. You may still need to fix a word occasionally.
Keep your member list up to date
Add new members and fix names and titles before you upload (see Set up your departments & members).
If the transcript still isn't right
You don't need a perfect transcript to get good minutes. Fix the speakers who matter most, such as those making motions or voting, and then generate your minutes. If something looks consistently wrong, see Review & correct speakers or Troubleshooting.