Tutorial: How to set up for remote live captioning

Say hello to Bill, a stenographer on our team. He writes what he hears in real-time, around 300 words per minute, and is very fond of his headphones. He likes to be known as our #1 Stenographer.

He’s also very particular. Bill has a list of likes and dislikes pinned to his noticeboard. We took a peek at his list and decided to share.

It’s great that Bill is so particular about his work. This ensures his clients get a great service.

He always asks for preparation material before an event, this means we need an agenda, PowerPoint slides being used, handouts, minutes from previous meetings, a list of presenter’s names, a list of acronyms, and any other contextual material to help the event go more smoothly for the stenographer and the client. Bill will look at all this material and add any new words to his dictionary.

Bill loves it when his clients reassure him that they are not using wifi. This means he will have a much clearer audio signal. You would be amazed how many people forget there is a microphone on the table, and rustle their papers, their sweet wrappers, click their pens, and whisper to one another. Bill hears EVERYTHING. If it’s a teleconference call, this is preferable as the microphone is very close to the speaker’s mouth so the audio is much clearer.

Management of the call is an important factor. If people mumble, or talk over one another, Bill can let the client know by writing in the caption stream, or in the interactive chat box. It is up to the client to read Bill’s message and to ask people to speak audibly or one at a time. Bill loves it when clients take charge of their meetings and make sure he can hear everyone clearly.

Last minute bookings aren’t a hot favourite, they make Bill spill his coffee – which is not a good thing, near his expensive stenographer kit. We all like to plan ahead as much as we can, so Bill doesn’t get grey hairs in his lovely beard.

We all love our office and it’s very comfortable; Bill has to have one of the best chairs in the office. We don’t mind, it means he is happy. With a box of doughnuts, of course!

Shh, shh… just relax and let the beard consume you…

If you’d like to find out more about setting up for live captioning, contact us at bookings@121captions.com