Phone call transcription: How to get them and the 5 best apps to use

Wouldn’t it be great if you could read your phone conversations on the fly? Maybe you want to read them when you’re working in a loud place like a coffee shop, or maybe you just want to make it easy to search for certain parts of a call. 

Thankfully, we’re not cavemen from the early 2000’s where you had to pause, type, play, and pause again just to transcribe calls. Today, AI can handle all of the legwork when it comes to transcribing business calls. 

In this post, you’ll learn:

• What a phone call transcription is.
• The absolute easiest way to get a phone call transcript.
• The best call transcription software that’s out there.
• How any business can benefit from phone call transcriptions.

Let’s get to it.

What is phone call transcription?

Phone call transcription - A phone call transcript automatically turns audio from a phone conversation into easily readable text.

Why it’s useful -  It makes it easier to track conversations and read on-the-go. No more jotting down notes on pieces of paper that’ll go missing after a week.

What people use them for - If you’re like me and have goldfish memory, you might appreciate being able to go back to a call and read a call transcript to remember important details. Other people like to use transcripts for training purposes when onboarding new staff, pass them along to team members to keep everyone in the same loop, or to simply keep a record of the conversation in case a dispute with a customer comes up.

How to get phone call transcript: the cheap and easy way

If you're a solo business owner whose only tool is the cell phone sitting in your pocket, then there’s an extremely easy way to get phone call transcripts. Just use your iPhone or Android’s native tools. If you have a business that needs more advanced features, keep on scrolling.

Here’s how to get a phone call transcript with your iPhone:

1. During a phone call, look for the icon in the top left corner of your screen.
2. Tap this icon, and your phone will begin recording the call after notifying both callers.
3. After the call ends, your iPhone will save the audio and provide a full transcription of the call in your notes section.

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For Android:

1. Open the phone app and start your call.
2. Start recording your call by pressing the record button.
3. Stop recording by tapping the record button or hang up.

I must admit that this way doesn’t generate the perfect transcription since it sometimes misses what’s been said and mixes up who said what, at least on iPhone. But, if you need something basic or have a business with limited funds, you can still keep track and more easily search for the details you need to find. Plus, you’ll have a complete call recording to refer back to.

Best call transcription software

There’s almost an abundance of call transcription software available on the market today. We’ll quickly go over five different apps, each with its own unique features and use cases.

 Here are the most popular contenders:

Upfirst

Price - Starts at $24.95 per month.

What you can do - Get transcriptions of every inbound call, along with detailed summaries and audio recording. Get an affordable virtual receptionist that can answer your calls and automate appointment scheduling, customer intake, give multilingual support, take messages, forward calls, and a lot more.

‍What makes it great - If you’ve ever wanted a virtual receptionist to answer the calls that you can’t, but found answering services to be too expensive, Upfirst makes it affordable for you. Not only will you get transcripts of every phone call, but you can get a dedicated virtual receptionist to handle all your calls around the clock, help callers, set appointments, qualify leads, forward calls, and much more. It’s changing the way many small business owners run their operations by saving time and money.‍

Ease of use - You’ll find that getting started with Upfirst is pretty straightforward. A lot of our users love the fact that the dashboard is simple and easy to use. Most users can get their own virtual receptionist set up in minutes.‍

Who it’s best for - Any business that wants a great answering service that isn’t expensive. 

OpenPhone

Price - Starts at $33 per month.

What makes it great - OpenPhone is great for organizations because it brings all calls, texts, and contacts into one workspace. It’s like having one call handling system for your team. Of course, you’ll have access to easily auditable transcriptions, complete with summaries generated by its AI. Other features include auto-call recording, Hubspot and Salesforce integrations, phone menus, call transferring and analytics.

Who it’s best for - Organizations that will benefit from a collaborative communication system for their team.

Otter.ai

Price - Free to start

What you can do - Connect to Google and Microsoft calendars so you can capture audio from video meetings. Its AI will record notes in real-time, offer live chat rooms for your team to collaborate on projects, and create post-meeting summaries so you and your team can follow up on sales calls super easily.‍

What makes it great - Otter.ai is a pretty awesome tool if you’re looking to transcribe your video calls. It’s free to start for 300 monthly transcription minutes at 30 minutes per conversation. Otter’s AI will join Zoom, MS Teams, and Google Meet and automatically write notes about the meeting, making it a nifty tool for startups to record notes and make actionable follow-ups.‍

Who it’s best for - Startups and creative teams who need an easy way to transcribe and share video meetings.

Dialpad

Price - Starts at $27 per month

What you can do - Dialpad’s base plan comes with unlimited calling, Google Workspace and Microsoft integrations, call analytics, SMS messaging, and of course AI-powered call and voicemail transcriptions.‍

What makes it great - Similar to OpenPhone, Dialpad is an all-in-one customer communication system with a focus on creating top of the line support and sales teams. A unified VoIP business system that enables calls, messaging, and cloud meetings, Dialpad has an AI-powered tool that takes notes on every call and creates summaries, so that anyone can go back and review transcripts.

Who it’s best for -  Dialpad is best for businesses who lean on having an excellent support and sales team.

Happyscribe

Price - Free to start (includes 10 free minutes of AI transcription)‍

What you can do - If you already have audio files from phone conversations on hand, you can manually upload them for transcription. Get them transcribed by AI with a quick 5-minute turnaround and 85% accuracy, or get a human-made transcription with 99% accuracy and 24-hour turnaround.

What makes it great - Not everyone needs a complex communication system like Dialpad or OpenPhone, and that’s okay. What makes Happyscribe great is its ease of use and ability to upload your own audio files for transcription. You get 10 minutes free of AI transcription or video subtitling, and unlimited video recordings on Google Meet, Zoom, or Teams.‍

Who it’s best for - Happyscribe will be more than enough for people who don’t need complex answering systems and already have audio files on hand. Just upload your files and get transcriptions.

Benefits of phone call transcription

Audio recordings are nice to have and to relisten through, but a complete call transcription makes it easier to search through the audio and keep tabs on important points. Here are some benefits you’ll see when you start transcribing business calls:

Easily keep track of details: You’re likely already dealing with a lot through your day-to-day workflow, so having phone call transcriptions is pretty handy for remembering details. No more relying solely on memory or scribbled notes. 

Use them to train team members: Give new hires real call examples, word-for-word, to speed up onboarding. Show them real, natural conversations with clients so they know what to expect and how to win clients over.

Use customers’ exact words for better marketing: Having call transcriptions is great because it tells you exactly what customers are saying about their pains. Use their exact language and you can create marketing that better resonates with your audience. 

Make sure your conversations with customers are actually helpful: Wondering if your conversations with customers are actually helping them? With phone call transcriptions, you can see if your tactics are actually effective and see how you can improve your support.

How can you get a transcript of a call with Upfirst

Upfirst not only gives you a transcript of every phone call, but it makes having a dedicated virtual receptionist actually affordable. Answering services, call centers, and in-house receptionists come with a pretty hefty price tag. We know from personal experience that small businesses end up forking out a lot of cash just to answer a handful of calls.

That’s why we built Upfirst, so businesses like yourself can afford to answer calls while you keep your business in drive.

Here’s a basic guide on how you can get phone call transcripts within minutes with Upfirst:

1. Sign up—it’s free to try: Create an account, connect your business phone number or get a new one, and then set up a simple greeting for your business. 
2. Customize your AI receptionist: Simply fill the AI’s knowledge base with details about your business, your services, and how you’d like your calls handled. Your virtual receptionist will be able to pull any information that you give it.
3. Go live: Click activate to launch your voice agent, and it’ll start handling calls right away. Collect the info that you need, send scheduling links, forward calls, and more. View your calls anytime in the Upfirst dashboard.‍
4. Transcribe every call: Once a call has ended, you can access the full call transcript, recording, and a detailed summary anytime in your dashboard. Start saving time and money for your business

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Change the way you do business with Upfirst’s call transcriptions

With Upfirst, answering calls and transcribing the conversation into text is easier than ever. Your customers will never have to hear a voicemail again and you’ll never miss a potential client—because our receptionist answers every call on the first ring. 

Try Upfirst for free today and get phone call transcriptions for every call and book new leads. 

Phone call transcription FAQs

Q: Is it legal to record calls and obtain transcripts?
A: Call recording laws vary by state and country, so always check local regulations. Make sure all parties consent before you hit “record.”

Q: Do I need special hardware to transcribe calls?
A: Typically, no. Most modern smartphones and VoIP systems have their own native transcription software, usually completed by AI.

Q: Can I transcribe existing call recordings?
A: Absolutely! If you have old recordings stored, just upload them to a transcription service. You’ll have a text copy ready in minutes.

Q: Are these tools bilingual or multilingual?
A: Most reputable transcription tools support multiple languages. Check each provider’s offerings to ensure your preferred language is covered.

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