HOW-TO GUIDE

Recording & Transcribing

Microsoft Teams Meetings

Using AI to Turn Meeting Transcripts into Action Items

1. Overview

Microsoft Teams allows you to record meetings and generate live transcriptions that capture everything said during the call. This guide walks you through how to enable these features and then use the downloaded transcript with Claude AI to quickly generate meeting summaries, action items, and key takeaways.

This workflow helps you spend less time on manual note-taking and more time on the work that matters.

What This Guide Covers

• How to start a recording during a Teams meeting
• How to enable live transcription
• Where to find and download your meeting transcript
• How to upload the transcript to Claude AI for summaries and action items
• Sample prompts you can copy and paste into Claude
• Tips for better transcription accuracy

2. Before You Begin: What You Need

Requirements

3. How to Record a Teams Meeting

Follow these steps to start recording once you have joined a Teams meeting.

Step 1: Join the Meeting

Open your Teams desktop app and join the scheduled meeting from your Teams Calendar or from the meeting link.

Step 2: Open the More Actions Menu

At the top of the meeting window, click the three-dot menu (•••) labeled "More actions" in the meeting toolbar.

Step 3: Select "Record and Transcribe"

From the dropdown menu, hover over or click on Record and transcribe. A submenu will appear.

Step 4: Click "Start Recording"

Click Start recording. A dialog box will appear asking you to confirm and select the spoken language.

Step 5: Confirm the Spoken Language

Make sure the correct language is selected (e.g., English - United States). This ensures the transcription is accurate. Click Confirm.

Step 6: Recording Begins

All meeting participants will see a notification banner that recording and transcription have started. A red recording indicator will appear in the meeting toolbar.

Stopping the Recording

To stop recording, click the three-dot menu (•••) again, select Record and transcribe, then click Stop recording. The recording and transcript will be saved automatically.

After the meeting ends, the recording will also stop automatically if you forget to stop it manually.

4. How to Enable Live Transcription (Without Recording)

If you only need the transcript and do not want to record the meeting video, you can start transcription by itself.

Step 1: Join the Meeting

Open your Teams desktop app and join the meeting.

Step 2: Open the More Actions Menu

Click the three-dot menu (•••) in the meeting toolbar.

Step 3: Select "Record and Transcribe"

Hover over or click Record and transcribe.

Step 4: Click "Start Transcription"

Click Start transcription (not Start recording). You will be prompted to confirm the spoken language.

Step 5: Confirm Language and Begin

Select the correct spoken language and click Confirm. A live transcript panel will open on the right side of the meeting window, showing text in real time.

5. How to Find and Download Your Transcript

After the meeting ends, Teams saves the transcript and makes it available in several places. Here is how to access and download it.

Option A: From the Meeting Chat

• 1. Open Chat in the Teams sidebar.
• 2. Find the meeting chat (it will be listed with the meeting name).
• 3. Click the Recap tab at the top of the chat.
• 4. Click the dropdown arrow next to Download.
• 5. Select your preferred format: .docx (Word) or .vtt (captions file).

Option B: From Your Teams Calendar

• 1. Open Calendar in the Teams sidebar.
• 2. Click on the meeting event.
• 3. Select the Recap tab or look for Recording & Transcripts.
• 4. Click Download and choose your format.

Which Format Should I Choose?

6. Using Claude AI for Meeting Summaries

Once you have downloaded your meeting transcript, you can upload it to Claude to get an AI-generated summary, action items, and key context. Here is how.

Step 1: Open Claude

Go to claude.ai in your web browser and sign in with your Quilt Software account.

Step 2: Start a New Conversation

Click the "New chat" button (or the compose icon) to start a fresh conversation.

Step 3: Upload the Transcript File

Click the attachment/paperclip icon in the message input area. Select the .docx transcript file you downloaded from Teams. The file will appear as an attachment in your message.

Step 4: Write Your Prompt

In the message box, type what you want Claude to do with the transcript. See Section 7 below for ready-to-use prompts you can copy and paste.

Step 5: Send and Review

Press Enter or click Send. Claude will read the transcript and provide you with a structured summary, action items, decisions, and any other information you requested.

Step 6: Follow Up

You can ask Claude follow-up questions about the same transcript, such as asking for more detail on a specific topic or reformatting the output for an email.

7. Sample Claude Prompts for Meetings

Below are ready-to-use prompts. Copy any of these into Claude along with your uploaded transcript.

General Meeting Summary

Quick Action Items Only

Email Summary for Absent Colleagues

Project Status Update

8. Tips for Better Transcription Quality

The quality of the AI summary depends on the quality of the transcript. Here are some practical tips to improve your transcription results.

Built-in laptop microphones pick up more background noise. A headset produces much cleaner audio for transcription.

When multiple people speak at once, Teams struggles to separate and attribute dialogue correctly.

Before starting transcription, confirm the language matches what participants will be speaking. Mismatched language settings significantly reduce accuracy.

Background noise from unmuted microphones can interfere with transcription accuracy for other speakers.

The desktop app provides the best recording and transcription experience. The web and mobile apps have more limitations.

If referencing project names, acronyms, or less common terms, say them clearly. This helps the transcript capture them correctly.

9. Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Can I record a meeting if I’m not the organizer?

A: Yes, if your meeting role is Organizer, Co-organizer, or Presenter, and your organization’s policy allows it, you can start a recording. Attendees with a lower role cannot start recording.

Q: Will participants know they are being recorded?

A: Yes. All participants receive an automatic notification when recording or transcription starts. There is no way to record without notifying attendees.

Q: Where is the recording saved?

A: For standard (non-channel) meetings, the recording is saved to the meeting organizer’s OneDrive for Business in a Recordings folder. For channel meetings, it is saved to the channel’s SharePoint site.

Q: Can I use transcription on my phone?

A: You can view a live transcript on mobile during the meeting, but starting transcription or downloading the transcript afterward is best done from the desktop app.

Q: What if the “Start transcription” option is grayed out?

A: This usually means the transcription policy is not enabled for your account, or you do not have the required meeting role. Contact the IT Help Desk for assistance.

Q: Is it safe to upload meeting transcripts to Claude?

A: Claude sessions at Quilt Software use our organization’s licensed account. However, always use good judgment and avoid uploading transcripts that contain highly sensitive or confidential information (such as PII, financial account numbers, or legal matters) without manager approval.

Q: Can I transcribe a meeting that was not transcribed live?

A: No. Transcription must be enabled during the meeting. If it was not turned on, no transcript will be available afterward. You can, however, upload the meeting recording to a transcription service separately.

10. Need Help?

If you have questions or run into issues with recording, transcription, or using Claude, the IT team is here to help.