For HR Generalists ·
What you'll accomplish
You'll set up Otter.ai to automatically transcribe your HR meetings — interviews, investigations, disciplinary conversations — so you have an accurate, searchable record without taking manual notes during the meeting.
What you'll need
Go to otter.ai and click Get Started Free. Sign up with your work email. Complete the brief onboarding.
What you should see: Your Otter.ai dashboard with your conversation history (empty to start) Troubleshooting: If prompted to install the browser extension, do so — it enables Zoom and Google Meet auto-joining
Click your profile icon → Account Settings → Calendar → Connect Google Calendar or Connect Outlook Calendar. Enable "Auto-join meetings."
What you should see: Your upcoming meetings listed in Otter, with the option to auto-join and transcribe
For in-person meetings or phone calls: Open the Otter.ai app on your phone. Press the large Record button. Place your phone on the table between you and the other person. When done, press Stop.
What you should see: Otter transcribes the conversation in real-time, with speaker labels (you'll need to label speakers after the meeting)
After the meeting, open the conversation in Otter. Review the transcript for accuracy — AI transcription is 85–95% accurate but makes errors on proper nouns, jargon, and names.
What you should see: An edited, speaker-labeled transcript you can search and reference
Click the three-dot menu → Export → choose Text, PDF, or DOCX. Save to your HR case files or HRIS.
What you should see: A formatted transcript document saved to your files
Starting an investigation recording: Say clearly: "This is [your name], HR Generalist. Today is [date]. I'm meeting with [name] to discuss [topic]. [Name], do you consent to this conversation being recorded for HR documentation purposes?"
Identifying speakers: At the start of any recording, have each participant say their name clearly — this helps Otter label speakers accurately.