How to use the Smart summary AI feature? (Beta)

This help article explains how the Smart Summary feature works during the Beta phase (March/April 2025), with regular updates and improvements.

 

In this article:

What is Smart Summary? 

Smart Summary automatically takes notes (transcription) and summarises them, reducing manual work so you can focus on the conversation.

 

It includes automatic language detection (see here for supported languages) and displays both the transcription and summary in the correct language.


Who is the Smart Summary Beta for?


The open beta is available for all Vectera customers with a Business plan. You can test the functionality in meetings and provide feedback to support@vectera.com.

 

There are various limitations and features still in development during the beta, so check regularly for updates!

 

How does Smart Summary work?


Start transcription


In your meeting room, start transcription by opening Personal Notes and clicking ‘Start Transcription’. If you see a microphone in a red circle, transcription is active.

 

If there’s no active microphone, you cannot start a transcription. Activate your microphone first, then click Start Transcription.

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Transcription for other participants


Notification of transcription


When you start a transcription, all other participants receive a notification. If they disagree, they can leave the meeting.


Transcription for other hosts


Team members with Host Rights can also start a transcription. If you have already started one, they will see it in Personal Notes. After you stop the transcription, they can view the summary and transcription.

Invited non-team members with host rights will not see the Smart Summary section.


Transcription for guests


Guests or team members without host rights cannot see Personal Notes and cannot start or view a transcription. You can send them the summary later.


Stop transcription and summarise

Click ‘Stop Transcription’ to end transcription and automatically create a summary. This may take some time, especially for long meetings.

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You will see the summary and the transcription below. Click ‘Show more’ for the full summary.

 

If the Personal Notes panel is too small, you can enlarge it using the icon at the top left.

 

Share and delete


After summarising, there are several ways to share the summary with guests or team members, or you can delete it if no longer needed.

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Sharing the transcription

  • Click the copy icon to copy the summary for pasting and saving or sending elsewhere.

     

  • Click the three dots and select Share via email to paste the summary into an email.

     

  • Click the three dots and select Send to AdminPulse to send the summary to your AdminPulse interactions. Make sure that the meeting room is connected to an AdminPulse Relation.
     
  • Click the three dots and select Export to whiteboard to create a new whiteboard containing the summary. You can download this whiteboard to save it locally as a PDF.


Deleting transcription and summary


To delete the summary, click the red bin icon next to 'Smart Summary' and confirm in the pop-up. You can then start a new transcription.

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Tips for effective transcription

For clear transcription and summary, we recommend to:

  • Ensure the microphone is on (even for offline conversations!)
  • Speak standard English at a normal pace; dialects can confuse transcription.
  • Avoid talking over one another.
  • Speak clearly into the microphone. If there’s background noise, enable noise suppression in settings.
  • Speak for over a minute before stopping the transcription for accurate language detection.

 

What are the Beta limitations?


During the beta, there are various limitations and features under development. Here’s a summary:

  • Usage limits: Each team member can create up to 5 hours of transcriptions per month. For a team of 4, that’s a total of 20 hours.
  • Purchasing extra hours: Not possible during beta, but available at official release.
  • Sharing transcriptions: This will be updated; we are still investigating.

Upcoming updates include:

  • Editing the summary: Adjusting the summary.
  • Creating a new summary: Making a new summary if one already exists.
  • Purchasing extra hours
  • Make share options visible when rejoining the meeting room
  • Show the correct Summary and transcription state for all hosts at all time

 

Feedback, questions or issues?


For feedback, questions, or issues while testing Smart Summary, contact the Vectera team at support@vectera.com. 

 

The Vectera team looks forward to your feedback. Our goal is to continually improve your online meeting experience! Ready to get started? Log in to your account or start your free trial of Vectera!

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