# Record a call

> Record in the browser, record with the desktop app, or upload a file you already have.

Source: https://app.activelens.ai/help/recording-a-call

There are three ways to capture a call yourself: record in your browser, record
with the desktop app, or upload a recording you already have. They all end in
the same place — a call in the Active Hub with a transcript, a summary and a
list of suggested actions.

## Record in your browser

Press **Record** in the Active Hub. Your browser will ask for permission to use
the microphone the first time; allow it.

While you are recording:

- The live transcript builds up on screen as people speak.
- **Pause** stops the clock and the transcript; **Stop** ends the call and
  starts processing.
- You can leave the page. A small transport bar follows you around the app so
  the recording is never lost behind a navigation.

Browser recording captures **your microphone only**. That is the right choice
for an in-person meeting, a phone call on speaker, or dictating notes to
yourself — but not for an online meeting, where the other people come through
your speakers rather than your microphone.

## Record with the desktop app

The desktop app captures your microphone **and** what comes out of your
speakers, which is what you need for Zoom, Teams, Meet and softphone calls. It
records the meeting whether or not you are the host, and nobody needs to admit
a bot to the call.

Install it from the user menu at the bottom of the sidebar — **Download desktop
app**. Sign in once and it stays signed in.

Recording works the same way: press record, watch the live transcript, press
stop. When you stop, the call is saved to the same Active Hub you see in the
browser.

## Upload a recording

If you already have an audio file, press **Upload File** in the Active Hub and
choose it. Upload is the right route for a recording made on a phone, a
dictaphone, or a conferencing tool that produced its own file.

A short call is processed in under a minute; a long one takes a few minutes.
You can close the page — it will be waiting for you when you come back.

## Very short calls are ignored

A recording has to contain a real conversation before ActiveLens keeps it. If
you press record and then stop after a few seconds, or nobody says anything,
the recording is discarded rather than saved as an empty call. This keeps the
Active Hub free of accidental taps.

## Languages

ActiveLens transcribes many languages, not only English. You can choose the
language you expect to speak in **Settings → Recording & transcription**;
leaving it on automatic works well for most people.

If you are on a call in a language you do not read comfortably, you can turn on
live translation while the call is running and read along in your own language.
The translation is for reading — the transcript itself stays in the language
that was spoken.

## Correcting a transcript

No transcript is perfect. Open the call, go to the **Transcript** tab, and you
can rename a speaker — every line from that person is relabeled at once.
Renaming speakers before you regenerate the summary is the single best way to
improve it.

## Where the audio goes

The recording is stored with the call so you can play it back from the call
page. You can scrub through it, change the playback speed, and click any line
of the transcript to jump to that moment.

Two switches in **Settings → Recording & transcription** control this:

- **Save call recording** — keep the audio after the call. Turn it off and
  ActiveLens keeps the transcript and discards the audio.
- **Improve transcript from recording** — after the call, re-read the saved
  audio to produce a more accurate transcript than the live one. It needs the
  recording, so it is only available while **Save call recording** is on.

## Related

- [Work in the Active Hub](/help/active-hub)
- [Call summaries and templates](/help/call-summaries-and-templates)
- [My call did not appear](/help/call-not-showing-up)