Record a meeting on your iPhone

Record a meeting that happens in person, such as a home visit, a review at a client's business or a catch-up over coffee. Your iPhone records the conversation, and Operator writes the meeting notes from it, just as it does for an online meeting. The notes appear on the meeting in the iPhone app and in Alcova on the web.

For online meetings, Operator can join the call and take notes for you. See Have Operator take notes.

Before you start

Set up the app and sign in. See Set up the Alcova iPhone app.
Get permission from everyone in the meeting before you record. You are responsible for this. The rules on recording differ from place to place, and in many places every person must agree first.

Open the meeting

If the meeting is in your calendar, it is on Meetings. Tap it to open it.

If the meeting is not in your calendar, for example when a client drops in to the office, add it:

On Meetings, tap +.
In New meeting, tap Start now.

Alcova adds a meeting called In-person meeting and opens it. It does not start recording yet. If you close the meeting without recording or adding anything, Alcova removes it again.

Add your clients as attendees, so the meeting links to their household. See Check who is coming. To rename the meeting, edit it in Alcova on the web. See Edit or cancel a meeting.

Read the briefing before you go in

Client Context is Operator's briefing for the meeting: who your clients are, what has happened since you last met and what to raise. Read it in the minutes before the meeting, for example in the car park before a home visit.

If the briefing is ready, it shows under Client Context.
If there is no briefing yet, tap Generate Briefing. The section shows Generating briefing… while Operator writes it. Generate Briefing only appears when the meeting has attendees.

The first time you generate a briefing, Alcova asks you to allow AI processing. See Allow or stop AI processing.

The same briefing is on the meeting's page in Alcova on the web. See Read the client context before a meeting.

Check who is coming

Operator uses the attendees to prepare the briefing and to name the speakers in the transcript. Check them before you record, especially for a meeting you added with +.

Tap Attendees. The list groups people by household and organisation.
Tap Add / Remove.
To add someone, enter their name or email address in Search by name or email, then tap the person. To add someone Alcova does not know yet, enter their email address.
To remove someone, tap the minus button beside their name. They move to Recently removed. To keep them after all, tap Undo.
Tap Save.

You can also reach this list from the meeting actions button (…) beside Record now: tap it, then tap Add/Remove Attendees.

Write your own notes

Use Private Notes for anything you want to remember, such as a question to follow up or something the client mentioned in passing. Type before or during the meeting. Alcova saves as you type.

Only you can see your private notes. They are the same notes as My Notes on the meeting's page in Alcova on the web. See Write your own notes.

After Operator writes the meeting notes, the iPhone app shows your private notes but you cannot change them there. To change them, use Alcova on the web.

Start recording

Put your iPhone where it can hear everyone, for example flat on the table between you and your clients.
Check that everyone agrees to be recorded. Above the button, Alcova reminds you: Make sure everyone in the meeting agrees to be recorded.
Tap Record now.
The first time you record, Alcova shows Before you record. Read it, then tap Start recording. See Allow or stop AI processing.
If your iPhone asks whether Alcova can use the microphone, allow it.

The bottom of the meeting shows the microphone in use, the time recorded so far and the sound level. On Meetings, the meeting shows Taking Notes.

While you record

Lock your iPhone or use another app. Alcova keeps recording.
Take a break. If the client takes a phone call or steps out, tap the pause button. Tap Resume to carry on. Both parts stay in the same recording.
Keep writing. You can still type in Private Notes.

Use the Lock Screen

When a meeting shows on your Lock Screen, you can control the recording without unlocking your iPhone.

Before the meeting, tap Start Operator to open the meeting and start recording. If you have not yet allowed AI processing, Alcova only opens the meeting, and you start recording there.
While you record, tap Pause, Resume or End.

Upcoming meetings only show on the Lock Screen when Upcoming meetings on Lock Screen is turned on. See Turn on notifications.

End the recording

Tap End.

If you end from Meetings, Alcova asks you to confirm. Tap End Recording.

You do not need to wait on the screen. The meeting's status shows each step:

Uploading notes: Alcova sends the audio. The meeting shows how far it has got, such as Uploading notes 40%....
Finalising: Alcova finishes off the recording.
Transcribing: Alcova turns the audio into a transcript.
Writing notes: Operator writes the meeting notes.
Notes saved: the notes are ready.

Alcova keeps the audio on your iPhone until the upload finishes. For every status, see iPhone meeting statuses.

Read the notes

When the meeting shows Notes saved, open it.

Summary shows the notes Operator wrote.
Private Notes shows your own notes.
Recordings lists the recording and whether its transcript is ready.

The same meeting, with its transcript and notes, is in Alcova on the web. Use it to finish the job back at your desk:

If a recording stops unexpectedly

If Alcova closes or your iPhone restarts during a recording, Alcova keeps what it recorded. The meeting shows Interrupted. Open it and choose:

Resume: carry on recording into the same recording.
Finish Audio: stop there, and have Operator write notes from what was recorded.

Add a recording you already have

Use this when you recorded a meeting another way, for example with Voice Memos when you did not have Alcova open, or when someone sends you an audio file.

Open the meeting, tap the meeting actions button (…), then tap Add recording.

If the meeting is not in Alcova, tap + on Meetings, then tap Add recording.
In Add a recording, tap Choose a file.
Choose the audio file. The file must be saved in Files or iCloud Drive.
The first time, Alcova shows Before you upload. Tap Allow and upload.
If you started from +, choose the meeting the recording belongs to, or create one. See Add the recording to Alcova.

Alcova shows Done, and the upload carries on in the background. Alcova then transcribes the recording and Operator writes the notes.

To add a phone call you recorded on your iPhone, see Record a phone call. Call recordings cannot be chosen from Files.

If something goes wrong

Microphone access is required to record meetings.: open your iPhone's Settings app, go to Apps, then Alcova, and turn on Microphone.
We couldn't upload the saved audio.: the audio is still on your iPhone. When you are back online, open the meeting and tap Retry upload.
Failed: Alcova could not finish processing the meeting. The meeting says We couldn't finish processing this meeting. Report it from Settings with Report a Bug.
The recording stopped when you changed a setting. Turning off Allow AI processing of recordings stops a running recording and does not keep its audio. See Allow or stop AI processing.