How to get a transcript for Microsoft Teams

This repository demonstrates how to retrieve transcripts from a Microsoft Teams meeting using Recall.ai. To do this, you’ll need to send a bot to the meeting.

Clone the repository and follow the steps below.

Watch the video below to see the setup in action.

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How it works

1. Send meeting bot into Microsoft Teams meeting
2. Real-time transcription begins
3. When the meeting ends, Recall.ai returns recording.done and async transcription can begin
4. Async transcription begins, Recall.ai returns transcription.done when transcript URL is ready

Tech stack

• Recall.ai's Meeting Bot API
• Ngrok

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Features

• Real-time transcription
• Async transcription

Async transcription is generated and accessible once the meeting ends, while real-time transcription is generated during the meeting.

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Setup

1. Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/recallai/teams-transcript.git
cd teams-transcript

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2. Create a Recall.ai account

• Get your Recall.ai API key

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3. Add environment variables

Rename the .example.env file to .env and replace the following

RECALL_API_KEY=your_recall_api_key
RECALL_REGION=your_api_base_when_you_signup
PUBLIC_BASE_URL=ngrok_link // you'll configure this in step 5

RECALL_API_BASE is the base URL for your Recall region and is determined when you sign up for Recall.ai

where_you_signed_up -> url -> RECALL_REGION

US West 2 -> https://www.us-west-2.recall.ai -> us-west-2

US East 1 -> https://www.us-east-1.recall.ai -> us-east-1

EU -> https://www.eu-central-1.recall.ai -> eu-central-1

Asia -> https://www.ap-northeast-1.recall.ai -> ap-northeast-1

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4. Install dependencies

In your terminal, run:

npm install

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5. Start an ngrok Tunnel

Recall.ai requires a public webhook endpoint, so we expose the backend with ngrok.

First make sure you add the authtoken on ngrok:

ngrok config add-authtoken <token>

Open a new terminal in your root directory, run:

ngrok http 3000

You will receive a URL similar to:

https://abc123.ngrok-free.app // this is YOUR_NGROK_URL

Remember to add it to .env

PUBLIC_BASE_URL=ngrok_link

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6. Set up webhooks for async transcription

Login to Recall.ai and it will take you to your dashboard, then configure the webhook URL under the Webhooks section.

Add the following endpoint:

https://YOUR_NGROK_URL/webhooks/recall

Example:

https://abc123.ngrok-free.app/webhooks/recall

Add events such as:

• recording.done
• transcript.done

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Bonus: If you only want async transcription

Configure bot.json file

• Replace YOUR_TEAMS_MEETING_LINK with the Microsoft Teams meeting link you want to send your meeting bot to.
• Replace YOUR_REGION_HERE with your region (RECALL_REGION)
• Replace YOUR_API_KEY_HERE with your API key from Recall.ai (RECALL_API_KEY)

Run the cURL command in the terminal, a bot will appear in your Teams meeting that will start async transcription once the meeting ends.

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7. Start real-time and async transcription

Configure curl.json file

• Replace YOUR_TEAMS_MEETING_LINK with the Microsoft Teams meeting link you want to send your meeting bot to.
• Replace YOUR_NGROK_LINK with your ngrok link (PUBLIC_BASE_URL)
• Replace YOUR_REGION_HERE with your region (RECALL_REGION)
• Replace YOUR_API_KEY_HERE with your API key from Recall.ai (RECALL_API_KEY)

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8. Start your terminal

In your terminal, run:

node backend.js

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9. Run curl command to send bot to meeting and retrieve live transcription

Open a new terminal, copy everything in curl.json, and run the curl command in the terminal.

Let the bot into the meeting. Both real-time and async transcription are now available to you.