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University Technology Services

Zoom: Live Captions now Available for the McMaster Community

Posted on February 3, 2021

Live Transcription has arrived for Zoom and is now available for the McMaster community.

This new feature generates an AI-powered live transcription and is enabled by the meeting host or co-host for all meeting participants. Once enabled, participants have the option of hiding the live transcription or displaying the transcription in a chat-like format.

Note: Users must update their Zoom client app to version 5.0.2 or higher. See below for steps on updating your Zoom client.

Activate Live Transcription Service

Zoom live captions need to be turned on in your McMaster Zoom account in order to work. To activate this feature:

Login to your zoom account settings on the McMaster Zoom portal by selecting the ‘sign -in’ option near the bottom of the menu options.
After login, navigate to ‘Settings’.
Select the sub-menu ‘In Meeting (Advanced)’
Navigate down the page to the ‘Closed Captioning’ section and ensure the following options are active:
- Ensure ‘Closed Captioning’ is enabled: Allow host to type closed captions or assign a participant/third party device to add closed captions
- Ensure ‘live transcription service’ is enabled: to show transcript on the side panel in-meeting’.

Enabling Automatic Live Transcription within a Zoom Meeting (for Hosts)

After completing the steps to Enable Live Transcription, you can turn on live transcriptions when in a Zoom meeting.

When in the Zoom meeting as the host, select the Live Transcript button in your host control bar.
Under Live Transcript, select Enable Auto-Transcription.
- Above the CC / Live Transcript button, participants in the meeting receive the note “Live transcript is available.”

Managing Subtitles and/or Live Transcript (for Hosts and Participants)

When live transcription occurs, subtitles appear at the bottom of the screen as the speaker talks. Subtitles update in real-time to provide accurate context.

Turning on subtitles or viewing the live transcript

In your meeting control bar, select Live Transcript.
Show Subtitle will display subtitles on the screen.
View Full Transcript will display subtitles in real time in the transcript window. The speaker’s name and a time-stamp will be displayed.
Subtitle Settings:
- You can view subtitles and the full transcript at the same time.
- To turn off these features, select Live Transcript in the menu and choose “Hide Subtitle”, “Close Full Transcript”, or both.

Editing the Font Size of Subtitles

In your meeting control bar, select Live Transcript.
Select Subtitle Settings…
Drag the slider to adjust the text size.

Tips for Meetings with Automatic Live Transcription Enabled

Use an External Microphone

Consider using an external microphone/headset when participating in Zoom meetings. This generally results in better audio quality, so when automatic transcription turns your words into text, that text will more accurately match what is being said verbally.

If you have a mobile phone headset that works with your computer (or whatever device you are using to connect to Zoom), try using that headset when connecting to Zoom.

Speak Slowly

This makes it easier for others to follow the automatic transcript or subtitles.

Take Turns to Make It Clear Who is Speaking

Zoom’s active speaker tracking is used to mark who said what. If one person is talking and then another person starts talking right after them, it can take a second or two before Zoom updates the transcript with who is speaking at that time. Pause briefly before taking your turn.

How to update your Zoom client:

If you already have the Zoom desktop client installed, you can check for updates:

Sign in to Zoom desktop client.
Click your profile picture then click Check for Updates.

If there is a newer version, Zoom will download and install it.

Remember to use clear and concise language, a good quality microphone, and ensure one person speaks at a time.

For additional information about this new feature, please check out the Zoom support documentation.

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