Meeting Detection & Auto-Recording
Set up meeting detection and auto-recording in the Kalima desktop app, detect browser meetings with the Kalima extension, choose recording modes, and start calls with fewer clicks.
The Kalima desktop app can notice when you join a video or voice call and offer to record it, with the right language and capture mode already set up. Depending on how you configure it, capturing a meeting becomes a single click, or something that happens completely hands-free.
Meeting detection is a desktop-app feature. It is not available in the browser. If you haven't installed Kalima yet, see Installing the Desktop App.
How it works
While the desktop app is running (including quietly in your system tray), it watches for calls on your computer. When it recognizes one, it rates how confident it is that you're really in a meeting, then reacts based on your settings.
- Detects the Microsoft Teams app on its own: no extra software needed.
- Detects browser meetings with the Kalima extension: Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Webex, Jitsi Meet, and Whereby in Chrome, Edge, or Brave. See Browser meetings and the Kalima extension.
- Meeting Assist prompt: a panel pops up so you can start recording in one click.
- Hands-free option: start clearly detected calls automatically, even in the background.
- Auto-stop: stops on its own when the call ends, so you avoid recording dead air.
For any other app, start the recording yourself in the Studio.
Confidence levels
Kalima rates each detected call as high, medium, or low confidence:
- High confidence: Kalima is sure you're in a meeting. With Start automatically, recording begins without a prompt.
- Medium confidence: likely a meeting. With Ask me first, the Meeting Assist panel appears so you can confirm.
- Low confidence: Kalima stays quiet and does nothing.
Detection runs locally on your computer and is best-effort, so it may occasionally miss or misjudge a call. You stay in control: nothing is recorded unless you accept the prompt or have chosen to start automatically.
The Meeting Assist panel
When Kalima detects a medium- or high-confidence call and Default behavior is set to Ask me first, a wide, low panel (about 680 by 274 pixels) opens at the bottom centre of your screen, just above the taskbar. Drag it by its header to put it somewhere else: Kalima remembers the spot for the next meeting. The panel names the app it detected and asks Record this meeting?
Meetings started this way capture both your microphone and the meeting's audio, so everyone on the call is transcribed, not just you. To learn more about how the call's audio is captured, see Capturing Audio & Screen.
Your intent and language choices are remembered for next time, so recurring meetings are set up the way you like with no extra fiddling.
Recording modes
The Meeting Assist panel lets you pick how a recording is handled. Each mode is also available in the regular Studio recording controls.
| Mode | What it does | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Transcribe | Transcription only, no translation | Same-language meetings |
| Translate (one-way) | Transcribes and translates into one chosen language | Following a foreign-language meeting in your language |
| Two-way | Bilingual back-and-forth between two languages | Translated conversations between two speakers |
Translation and two-way modes draw on your normal plan usage. See Live Translation for the full picture.
Going hands-free
If you'd rather not click anything, Kalima can start and stop on its own. These options live in Settings › Meetings.
With Start automatically, Kalima records only high-confidence calls and no longer shows the Meeting Assist panel, so a call it is less sure about is not recorded. Switch back to Ask me first if you'd rather confirm each meeting. Auto-stop applies only to recordings that were started through meeting detection, and it waits for a couple of consecutive checks before stopping so a brief drop in the call doesn't cut your recording short.
While a detected meeting records, the recording widget keeps the time, moments, and the stop button on top of your meeting app.
Settings reference
All of these live under Settings › Meetings.
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Enable meeting detection | Master switch for detecting calls on your computer | On |
| Detection status | Check now runs a local check and shows whether a meeting is detected | |
| Browser extension | Shows whether the Kalima extension is connected, with a link to get it | |
| Default behavior | Ask me first (show the Meeting Assist panel) or Start automatically (record high-confidence calls without a prompt) | Ask me first |
| Include microphone by default | Include your mic when a detected meeting starts recording | On |
| Record in background | Start meeting recordings without bringing the main window forward (requires Start automatically) | Off |
| Auto-stop when call ends | Stop recording automatically when the detected call ends | On |
| Supported apps | One switch per app, to include or exclude it from detection | On |
Local diagnostics, a local-only detection log for troubleshooting, sits under Settings › Privacy.
Which apps Kalima detects
| App | How Kalima detects it |
|---|---|
| Microsoft Teams (desktop app) | On its own, from your computer |
| Google Meet, Jitsi Meet, Whereby | In the browser, with the Kalima extension |
| Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Webex in the browser | In the browser, with the Kalima extension |
Nothing on your computer itself can tell which browser tab a call is in, so browser meetings need the extension. Without it, every browser app shows Needs the extension under Supported apps and their switches stay off.
Apart from Microsoft Teams, Kalima detects every app in the browser only. That is why those apps carry in the browser under Supported apps, such as Google Meet in the browser or Zoom in the browser. Kalima does not detect the Zoom and Webex desktop apps. Microsoft Teams in the browser follows the same switch as the Teams app.
Browser meetings and the Kalima extension
The Kalima extension tells the desktop app the moment you join a call in a browser tab, so Meeting Assist (or an automatic start) works for browser meetings just like for the Teams app.
The extension only reports that a call has started or ended in a tab. It records nothing itself and sends nothing to a server: it talks only to the Kalima desktop app on the same computer. The recording itself is made by the desktop app, the same way as for any other meeting.
If the extension says The desktop app is not open, start Kalima. The extension connects again on its own within a few seconds.
Turning off detection for an app
You can stop Kalima from prompting on calls in apps you never want recorded. In Settings › Meetings › Supported apps, turn off the switch next to that app. Detection still covers the other apps.
Use cases
- Recurring stand-ups: Let Kalima prompt (or start automatically) every daily stand-up and client call so you never miss the opening minutes.
- Multilingual meetings: Pick Translate or Two-way right from the assist panel for a foreign-language call.
- Back-to-back days: Combine an automatic start, recording in the background, and auto-stop for fully hands-free, start-to-finish capture.
Frequently asked questions
Only if you choose to. With Ask me first, Kalima shows the Meeting Assist panel that you can accept or dismiss. Recording starts on its own only if you set Default behavior to Start automatically (or tick Record future meetings without asking in the panel), and even then only for clearly detected meetings. Recording and translation use your normal plan usage either way.
Check that Enable meeting detection is on and Default behavior is set to Ask me first in Settings › Meetings, that the call's app is switched on under Supported apps, and that Kalima is running: it stays in the system tray when you close the window. For calls in the browser, install the Kalima extension and check that Extension connected shows in the same place. Check now tells you whether Kalima sees a meeting right now.
Google Meet runs in a browser tab, so it needs the Kalima extension in Chrome, Edge, or Brave. Install it, then check that Settings › Meetings shows Extension connected and that Google Meet in the browser is switched on under Supported apps.
Automatic starts fire only on high-confidence detections. Set Default behavior to Start automatically in Settings › Meetings. If you'd rather catch every likely meeting, use Ask me first and click Start recording in the panel.
Detected meetings capture your computer's meeting audio mixed with your microphone, so both sides of the call are transcribed. See Capturing Audio & Screen for details on how this works per operating system.
Yes. Turn on Record in background (available with Start automatically) so meeting recordings start without bringing the main window forward. The recording widget stays on top so you can still stop the recording or capture moments, and you can bring Kalima back any time from the system tray.