FAQs

The industry standard for transcriptions is 4 times the length of the recording. As an example, for a 1-hour meeting, the transcription would take around 4 hours. This can vary depending on sound quality and the flow of the meeting but gives you a good idea of the timings involved.

NB: Please note, we only do transcriptions from recordings and not at live meetings.

Minutes are a summary of discussions and outcomes of a meeting. They will make reference to specific agenda topics and contributions from meeting attendees. They will list resolutions, decisions and outcomes. They will also list the agreed upon actions.

Minutes are mostly used for Board, committee and executive meetings.

Transcriptions are a record of every word that was said at the meeting.

Transcriptions are mostly used where detailed records of discussions are required for meetings such as investigations, disciplinaries or grievance meetings.

Virtually
The vast majority of the meetings we minute are from virtual attendance. We join the meeting via Zoom/Teams or your organisations preferred format. For some of these, all attendees will be joining virtually, and some will be hybrid where some people join virtually and some are in person.

Onsite
We do attend meetings in person where it is feasible to do so. Travel time to attend the meeting is charged at the standard rate plus travel expenses as occurred. We have minute takers around the country but you would need to decide whether you would be willing to accept the travel time and expenses for someone to attend. We can help you look at alternative ways to get the minutes produced if it were not possible for someone to attend in person.

By Recording
Meetings can be recorded via Zoom/Teams or with just audio and we can take the minutes from those recordings. This is useful if the meeting is out of office hours or short notice. If a minute taker is not available at the time of the meeting, the minutes can be taken from the recording afterward.

NB: All attendees at the meeting MUST be made aware the meeting is being recorded to allow them to refuse permission for the recording.

We would ask that all meeting attendees introduce themselves at the start of a meeting (until we get to know you all a bit better!). This also allows for sound checking if working virtually. Generally, you will not hear from us during the meeting – we are there to take notes, not add anything to the discussion. The only time we will comment would be just to clarify a certain point or specific action but we keep this to a minimum. We can always check specifics such as names with you after the meeting has finished.

As a new client, you would be introduced by email to the minute taker and would then make final arrangements for attending the meeting and sending meeting documentation directly with them.

The minute taker will send back the first draft of the minutes within 5 working days for your comment/amendments. Once all amendments are agreed, a final version of the minutes will be provided.

The first draft of the minutes will be sent to you in 5 working days.

Meeting agendas and papers can be sent by email. We would suggest these are password protected. Otherwise, we can advise on other systems to use to maintain confidentiality.

Minute takers are preferably allocated due to experience or knowledge of a particular industry or who would be a good ‘fit’ for your organisation. However, we are professional minute takers. We are accustomed to taking minutes at meetings where we may not be familiar with the subjects discussed and we know when and how to seek specific details from you to make sure the minutes are a true and accurate record. You might be surprised by how many similarities there are in the content of meetings between organisations!

We are predominantly based in Devon but have Associates across the UK. If you are looking from someone to attend a meeting in person, let us know your location when you contact us and we can see who would be nearest to you.