How to transcribe Discord calls with Vyach

1. Choose a transcription method

You can transcribe a Discord call with a bot in the voice channel or a desktop tool that captures call audio. If you already have a recording, you can use a transcription tool that accepts audio files. The right choice depends on what you want to keep:

• For team meetings: use a Discord meeting bot such as Vyach to transcribe the conversation and post a summary in your server. You can then ask the bot questions about saved meetings.
• For your own notes across apps: a desktop notetaker may suit you if it supports system audio and your microphone. Test both before the call so you do not end up with only your own voice.
• For a podcast or edited recording: prioritize an audio recorder with the export formats you need. You can transcribe the file afterwards.

The steps below cover Vyach. If you are choosing between a Discord bot and a desktop notetaker, see our Fireflies and Granola comparisons for the differences in setup and sharing.

2. Set up Discord call transcription with Vyach

Start with a short test call to check the bot’s permissions and where the summary appears.

1. Add Vyach to your server. Use Add to Discord and approve the requested permissions. The bot needs access to the voice channel and the channel where it will publish summaries.
2. Run /settings setup. Vyach looks for the configured summaries channel and creates a forum if it cannot find one. To select an existing text channel or forum, use /settings channels.
3. Join a voice channel, then run /meeting start. You can add a title and a tag. Use a specific title such as “Backend release planning” so the result is recognizable later.
4. Check participant consent. Vyach asks participants for permission to record their voices. A person who has not agreed is not recorded. A saved choice applies to future meetings on that server.
5. Finish with /meeting end. Vyach stops recording, finishes any pending transcription, and generates the summary. It posts the summary in your chosen forum or text channel once processing is complete.

The Discord post contains the summary. Vyach uses the transcript to generate those notes and answer questions about saved meetings.

The getting started guide has the full setup, including settings and permissions. Recording and question allowances depend on your server plan.

3. Check recording consent and channel access

Before the call, tell participants that Vyach will record their voices and post a summary. Let them know which channel will receive it and who can read it.

In Vyach, someone can check or change their recording choice with /privacy consent. Declining does not disconnect or mute them. If the bot cannot send its consent message, the person is not recorded until they opt in through the command.

Check both the destination channel permissions and who can ask questions about stored meetings in the server’s access settings. Permission to read the summary channel and permission to ask the bot are separate. The consent guide and Privacy Policy explain Vyach’s controls and data handling.

4. Make the conversation easier to transcribe

Check your microphone and reduce background noise before recording. If two people are joining from the same room, make sure their speakers are not feeding the call back into each other’s microphones.

• Use headphones if speaker audio is leaking into your microphone.
• Avoid talking over each other when confirming names, numbers, or deadlines.
• Say specialist terms clearly. If a project name is unusual, put its spelling in the meeting’s text channel too, so people can check it when reviewing the summary.
• Restate a decision before moving on: “We chose option B. Sam owns the migration plan. We will review it Friday.”

Check names, amounts, and dates in the finished notes. Speech recognition can get these wrong even when the rest reads well.

5. Review the summary and ask follow-up questions

Read the summary after the call. Check that decisions match what was agreed and that tasks name the right people. If something is wrong, post a correction in the summary thread so the team can see it.

Use consistent tags for recurring conversations, such as #backend or #community. Later, mention Vyach in a channel and ask a focused question:

Answers include meeting references so you can check the source. Vyach can only use meeting data your server still retains, and each plan has a monthly question allowance.

If you want a consistent format for the notes, copy our meeting notes and action items template. You can fill it in yourself or use it to review an AI summary.

If something is missing, check these first

• The bot cannot join: check its access to the voice channel and that you joined a channel before starting.
• One person’s speech is missing: check their saved recording consent and whether they joined after the relevant discussion.
• No summary appeared: check the bot’s processing message. If it reports an error, start there. Otherwise, check the summaries channel in /settings show and make sure the bot can post there.
• A later answer lacks context: check the meeting tag, retained history, and your question allowance.