Otter.ai
Overview
Otter.ai is an artificial intelligence platform designed to enhance meeting productivity by providing real-time transcription services. It captures voice conversations from various sources, including virtual meetings on platforms like Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams, as well as in-person discussions via its mobile app or direct audio uploads. The tool automatically converts spoken words into searchable, editable text, allowing users to focus on the conversation rather than on manual note-taking.
Beyond basic transcription, Otter.ai offers a suite of intelligent features such as speaker identification, custom vocabulary to improve accuracy for specific terminologies, and the ability to add comments, highlights, and images directly to the transcript. A key value proposition is its AI-driven capabilities like 'Otter AI Chat' which allows users to ask questions about meeting content, generate summaries ('Automated Outline', 'Takeaways'), and identify action items. The 'OtterPilot' feature can automatically join scheduled meetings, record audio, and share the transcript, further streamlining the workflow.
Otter.ai significantly boosts productivity by saving time on post-meeting tasks, ensuring important details are not missed, and making information easily accessible for review and collaboration. It facilitates better team alignment by providing a shared, accurate record of discussions, making it a valuable tool for professionals, students, and teams across various industries.
Key Features
- Real-time transcription with speaker identification
- OtterPilot: AI meeting assistant to automatically join, record, and transcribe meetings
- Otter AI Chat: Ask questions, generate summaries, action items, and other content from meeting transcripts
- Automated Outline and Takeaways for quick meeting summaries
- Integrations with Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Google Calendar, Microsoft Outlook Calendar
- Collaborative features: add comments, highlights, and assign action items within transcripts
- Custom vocabulary to improve transcription accuracy for specific terms
- Mobile apps (iOS and Android) for on-the-go recording and access
- Import and transcribe pre-recorded audio and video files
- Searchable transcript library
Supported Platforms
- Web Browser
- iOS App
- Android App
- Chrome Browser Extension
- API Access (Enterprise Plan)
Integrations
- Zoom
- Google Meet
- Microsoft Teams
- Google Calendar
- Microsoft Outlook Calendar
- Dropbox
- Slack (for notifications and sharing links)
- Salesforce (via OtterPilot for Sales - Business Plan)
- HubSpot (via OtterPilot for Sales - Business Plan)
- Zapier (for broader workflow automation)
Use Cases
- Automated note-taking for virtual team meetings and conference calls
- Transcribing interviews for journalists, researchers, or HR professionals
- Documenting lectures and classes for students and educators
- Creating accurate records of client consultations and sales calls
- Improving accessibility by providing transcripts for audio/video content
Target Audience
- Business Professionals
- Project Managers
- Sales Teams
- Marketing Professionals
- Students and Educators
- Journalists and Researchers
- Content Creators
- Consultants
How Otter.ai Compares to Other AI Tools
Notes: Comparison based on publicly available information as of November 2024.
Pricing Tiers
- Record and transcribe in real time
- Otter AI Chat (ask questions, get answers, and generate content based on this meeting and across all your meetings in Otter)
- Takeaways and Automated Summary
- 300 monthly transcription minutes; 30 minutes per conversation
- Sync with Google or Microsoft calendar to automatically capture meeting notes (Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams)
- Import and transcribe 3 audio or video files (lifetime limit)
- Everything in Basic, plus:
- 1,200 monthly transcription minutes; 90 minutes per conversation
- Import and transcribe 10 audio or video files per month
- Otter AI Chat with extended capabilities (includes meetings shared with you where you were not an attendee)
- Batch export audio and text (up to 5 at a time)
- More playback speeds and skip silence
- Custom vocabulary: 100 names, 100 other terms
- Everything in Pro, plus:
- 6,000 monthly transcription minutes; 4 hours per conversation
- Import and transcribe unlimited audio or video files
- Otter AI Chat with full capabilities (includes channel meetings)
- OtterPilot for Sales to sync notes to Salesforce and HubSpot (beta)
- Team vocabulary: 800 shared names, 800 shared other terms
- Admin features: usage analytics, centralized billing, 2FA enforcement
- Priority email support
- Everything in Business, plus:
- Organization-wide deployment
- Advanced security and compliance controls
- Single Sign-On (SSO)
- Dedicated success manager and onboarding support
- API access for custom integrations
Awards & Recognition
- PCMag Editors' Choice (multiple years for transcription services)
- Google Play 'Best of 2018' award - Hidden Gem
- Consistently ranked as a leading tool in transcription and meeting productivity categories on platforms like G2 and Capterra.
Popularity Rank
Leader in G2 Grid for Voice Recognition (e.g., Winter 2024) and consistently high ratings on Capterra for transcription and meeting management software.
Roadmap & Upcoming Features
February 2018 (Public Launch of Otter voice meeting notes app; company founded as AISense in 2016)
Ongoing updates. Major features like Otter AI Chat and enhancements to OtterPilot rolled out progressively throughout 2023 and 2024.
Upcoming Features:
- Information on specific long-term roadmap items is not always publicly disclosed. Focus is typically on continuous AI model improvements, deeper integrations, and enhancing OtterPilot capabilities.
User Reviews
Pros
Excellent real-time transcription accuracy, seamless OtterPilot functionality, useful AI-generated summaries and action items, good integrations with meeting platforms.
Cons
Accuracy can decrease with poor audio or strong non-native accents, free plan is very limited in minutes, occasionally the AI summary needs minor edits for context.
Pros
User-friendly interface, reliable transcriptions, powerful search functionality, good mobile app for recording on the go.
Cons
Subscription cost can add up for larger teams or very heavy users, sometimes struggles to differentiate speakers clearly in crowded conversations.
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