For Staff Accountants ·
What you'll accomplish
By the end of this guide, you'll have Otter.ai set up to automatically transcribe and summarize your client calls — so instead of taking notes during meetings or spending 30 minutes writing them up afterward, you'll have a searchable transcript and AI-generated action item list waiting for you within minutes of hanging up.
What you'll need
Go to otter.ai and click "Sign Up Free." Use your work email. Choose the free plan to start — you can upgrade to Pro later if you find yourself hitting the 600-minute monthly limit.
What you should see: A clean dashboard with a big "Record" button in the center.
Search for "Otter.ai" in the App Store or Google Play. Install it on your phone. Sign in with the same account. This is how you'll record phone calls — keeping your laptop available for notes you do want to take.
What you should see: The same dashboard as the web version, with your account synced.
Troubleshooting: If the app asks for microphone permission, tap "Allow" — it needs this to record audio.
For phone calls: Open the Otter.ai app on your phone before the call starts. Tap the red record button. Make your call normally — Otter.ai picks up audio from your phone's microphone.
For Zoom calls: In Otter.ai settings, find "Integrations" and connect your Zoom account. Otter.ai will automatically join your Zoom meetings as a participant called "Otter Notetaker" and transcribe in real time.
For in-person meetings: Set your phone face-down on the table with Otter.ai recording. It picks up room audio clearly.
You don't need to do anything during the call. Otter.ai transcribes in real time. If you're using the web version with a Zoom integration, you can watch the transcript appear live in a browser tab.
What you should see: Words appearing in the Otter.ai app as people speak, attributed to each speaker.
After you end the recording, Otter.ai takes 1–3 minutes to finalize the transcript and generate an AI summary. Open the recording to see:
Options for exporting: