Set up the Alcova iPhone app

The Alcova iPhone app brings your meetings with you. Record a meeting that happens away from your desk, read a client's briefing on the way in, and add phone calls with clients to Alcova. Everything you record goes on the same meeting you see in Alcova on the web, and Operator writes the notes in the same way.

What advisers use it for

• Home visits and meetings out of the office. Put your iPhone on the table and let it record, so you can listen to your clients rather than write. See Record a meeting on your iPhone.
• Getting ready in the car park. Open the meeting and read Client Context before you go in. See Read the briefing before you go in.
• A client rings while you are out. Record the call on your iPhone and add it to the client's meeting. See Record a phone call.
• A recording you made another way. Add a voice memo or another audio file to a meeting. See Add a recording you already have.

Install the app

1. On your iPhone, open Alcova - AI meeting notes in the App Store, or search the App Store for "Alcova".
2. Download the app. It is free.

Sign in

1. Open Alcova and tap Sign In.
2. Enter your work email address and tap Continue. Use the address you sign in to Alcova with on the web.
3. Prove it is you:
   • If your account has a password, enter it and tap Sign in. To get a code by email instead, tap Use a code instead.
   • If your account has no password, Alcova emails you a six-digit code. Enter the code. If it does not arrive, tap Resend code.
4. If your account asks for a second check, enter the code from your authenticator app, or the code Alcova sent to your phone or email.

Alcova says You're in and opens your meetings. The first time, it shows Synchronising your meetings… while it loads them. You stay signed in on this iPhone until you sign out.

Turn on notifications

The app only sends notifications after you turn them on. With notifications on, Alcova tells you when a meeting changes or a briefing is ready.

1. On Meetings, tap your initials at the top right. Settings opens.

2. Tap Notifications.

3. Under Push Notifications, tap Enable, then allow notifications when your iPhone asks.

   If the button says Open Settings, notifications are blocked for Alcova. Tap Open Settings and turn notifications on in your iPhone's settings.

To show your upcoming meetings on the Lock Screen, turn on Upcoming meetings on Lock Screen under Alerts. When a meeting shows on the Lock Screen, you can start recording it from there. See Use the Lock Screen.

Find your way around Meetings

Meetings opens on today. Your organisation's name is at the top left. At the top right, + adds a meeting and your initials open Settings.

• Move between days. Tap a day in the strip of days, or swipe the list left or right. Tap Earlier or Later at either end of the strip to see more days. To come back to today, tap Today.
• Today's meetings. Upcoming meetings come first, then the meetings that have finished. While you record, a banner at the top shows the meeting with End. Recordings you are adding to Alcova show under Uploads until they finish.
• Each meeting. A meeting shows its title, time and organiser, and its status on the right. After Operator writes the notes, the first lines of the notes show too. See iPhone meeting statuses.
• Join an online meeting. Join appears on an online meeting with a meeting link in the 15 minutes before it starts. Tap it to open the call.
• Refresh. Pull down on the list.

Tap a meeting to open it.

Change your settings

Tap your initials at the top right of Meetings to open Settings.

Switch organisation

If you belong to more than one organisation, the app shows one organisation's meetings at a time.

1. In Settings, under Profile, tap your organisation.
2. Tap the organisation you want.

Alcova clears the meetings stored on this iPhone and loads the meetings for the organisation you chose.

Report a problem

1. In Settings, tap Report a Bug.
2. Under What went wrong?, describe the problem. Include the steps that cause it, if you can.
3. Tap Send.

Alcova adds your app version and iPhone model to the report for you.

Allow or stop AI processing

Alcova uses AI providers to turn your recordings into transcripts, notes and briefings. Before it records, writes a briefing or adds a recording for the first time, Alcova asks you to allow this.

The sheet names each provider and what it receives. The providers use your data only to produce transcripts, notes and briefings, and do not use it to train their models. The sheet also reminds you that you must get everyone's permission before you record.

• To agree, tap the button at the bottom of the sheet. It says Start recording, Generate briefing or Allow and upload, depending on what you were doing.
• To stop without agreeing, tap Cancel.

You agree once for the whole app.

To stop AI processing:

1. In Settings, under Recording, turn off Allow AI processing of recordings.

When you turn it off:

• If a recording is running, Alcova stops it and does not keep the audio.
• Recordings that are still uploading wait on your iPhone until you turn AI processing on again.
• The next time you record, generate a briefing or add a recording, Alcova asks you again.

To turn it on again, turn on Allow AI processing of recordings, then tap Allow AI processing. The switch shows the date you agreed.

If something goes wrong

• The sign-in code did not arrive. Tap Resend code. Check your junk email folder, and check you entered your work email address.
• The app asks you to sign in at operator.alcova.ai. Your account needs a step the app cannot do, such as a new password. Sign in to Alcova on the web, then try the app again.
• We couldn't synchronise your meetings. Tap Try Again.
• Update Alcova. Your version of the app is no longer supported. Tap Update in App Store.
• A meeting is missing. Pull down on Meetings to refresh.

Related

• Record a meeting on your iPhone
• Record a phone call
• iPhone meeting statuses
• Find your meetings