Transcribe sales calls you've already recorded, then ask what was said
Claras lets you transcribe sales calls from recordings you already have. Upload the audio or video file and you get a timestamped transcript, a summary with chapters, and a chat that answers questions from what was said on the call.
Why recorded calls go unused
Your call tool saved the recording, so in theory nothing is lost. In practice, the notes you typed during a 40-minute discovery call are the parts you remembered to type. The pricing question in minute 31, the other vendor the buyer mentioned in passing, the exact words of an objection: they're all in the recording, and finding them means scrubbing through audio.
The same happens when a manager wants to review a rep's calls, or a colleague takes over an account and needs to know what was promised. Listening back at full length is the only way in, so it rarely happens.
What Claras does with a call recording
Sales call transcription in Claras starts from a file you already have. Upload the recording and you get every spoken line with its timestamp, a summary with chapters, and Ask AI, which answers questions like "What did they say about budget?" from the transcript. Search the transcript for a word like "contract" and click the line to hear that moment.
What it doesn't do
Claras doesn't join calls, record them or transcribe while you talk. There's no bot in your meeting, no dialer, and no connection to Zoom, Teams, Meet or a CRM. Call recording and transcription are two separate steps here: your call tool records, and Claras transcribes the file afterwards. Nothing is logged anywhere for you: you copy or download what you need. If you want a tool that sits in every call and files notes automatically, Claras is the wrong choice. It fits when you already have recordings and want to read and question them.
From recording to transcript
You need a free account and the call saved as a file. Video can be MP4, MOV, WebM or MKV. Audio can be MP3, M4A, WAV, FLAC, AAC, OGG or Opus.
- Download the recording from your call or meeting tool and give it a clear name.
- Sign in, open the Video or Audio tab and drop the file in.
- Pick your summary language, press Analyze with AI and keep the tab open.
- Read the summary, then search the transcript and ask questions about the call.
A worked example: a 40-minute discovery call
Say you recorded a 40-minute discovery call, with the buyer's agreement, and saved it as an MP4. You want their problems, objections and next steps written down before you send the follow-up email. This is what happens.
Before it starts
Claras reads the length of the file from its headers and checks your transcription hours. The free plan includes 1 hour every 30 days, so this call fits, and a second one that long wouldn't. If a file is longer than the hours you have left, Claras tells you before it starts instead of stopping halfway.
While it transcribes
Your browser reads only the audio and skips the video, so a large file is never uploaded in full. The audio is cut into slices of a few minutes, each overlapping the next by a few seconds so a sentence at a cut isn't lost. The slices are transcribed four at a time and the button shows the progress as a percentage. Because the call is longer than 30 minutes, Claras offers to email you when it's done. If the tab closes, choose the same file again and it carries on from where it stopped.
Reading the call
Start with the summary: a short opening, 4 to 8 key takeaways and a section for each part of the call. The chapters give you a titled outline, and clicking one plays the recording from that moment, straight from your own disk. Then ask Ask AI the questions you'd normally answer from memory:
- "What problems did they say they have with their current process?"
- "What did they ask about pricing?"
- "Which other tools or vendors did they mention?"
- "What did we agree as next steps, and by when?"
Answers come from the transcript, usually with the time it was said, so you can find the line and read it in full before you rely on it.
The catch: no speaker names
The transcript doesn't label who is speaking, so your lines and the buyer's run together. "What objections came up?" usually works, because the wording makes it clear. "Who said the budget was approved?" only works if a name was said aloud. When it matters, go to that time and listen.
After the call
Copy the summary into your CRM notes by hand, or download the transcript as a text file to keep with the deal. To draft the follow-up email, use Send to AI: it copies the transcript and opens Claude or ChatGPT, where you can ask for a draft and then edit it in your own words.
What you get from each call
- The transcript. Every spoken line with its timestamp. Search it, click a line to play from there, copy it with or without timestamps, or download it as a text file or .srt subtitles.
- A summary. A short opening, 4 to 8 key takeaways and a section for each stretch of the call, written from the whole transcript.
- Chapters. Titled chapters with a short description each, so a long call reads like an outline.
- Ask AI. Answers from the transcript, plus three suggested questions for each call.
- History. The transcript and summary are saved, so you can reopen a call before the next meeting without running it again. The file itself isn't kept, and History lists your 50 most recent analyses.
- No public link. An uploaded recording gets no share link, unlike a YouTube summary.
Sales call transcript analysis, in your format
In Settings you can write custom summary instructions, up to 500 characters. They're applied to each 20-minute part of the summary, so ask for something that works part by part. For calls, try "List the customer's problems, objections, pricing questions and agreed next steps in each part." They apply to every summary you run after that, including videos that aren't calls, so change them back when you switch tasks. For a deeper look, Send to AI hands the transcript to Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Gemini Notebook or Perplexity, where you can use your own prompt.
Tips for call recording transcription
Get consent, and keep it on the recording
The rules on recording calls differ between countries, and in the US between states: some need one person on the call to agree, others need everyone. This isn't legal advice, so check what applies to you and your company's policy. A simple habit helps everywhere: say at the start that you're recording and why, and keep the answer on the recording. Only upload calls you have the right to use.
Name files so you can find them
The file name becomes the title in your History, and History search matches titles, not what was said. "2026-11-03 Acme discovery" is easy to find later. "zoom_0.mp4" isn't.
Say the important things out loud
With no speaker labels, a recap like "So you'll send the security questionnaire by Friday, and I'll set up the demo" is far more useful in a transcript than "Sounds good".
Ask in the buyer's words
Ask AI picks the parts of the transcript that share the most words with your question. If the buyer said "too expensive", asking about "price objections" may miss it. Words of one or two letters are ignored. If an answer looks thin, search the transcript and reuse the wording you find.
Trim the waiting
Hours are counted by the length of the audio. If a recording starts with five minutes of waiting for people to join, cutting it saves those minutes.
One language per call
The spoken language is worked out from the first slice. A call that switches language halfway may come out poorly after the switch.
Limits to know about
Files only
- No joining or recording calls, and no live transcription.
- No Zoom, Teams, Meet, dialer or CRM connection. Download the recording, then upload it.
- The Chrome extension works on YouTube only. Uploads go through the web app.
One call at a time
You upload and analyze one file at a time. Bulk Summaries works on YouTube playlists and search pages, not your own files, and Ask AI answers about one call. To compare several calls, download each transcript and bring them together in another AI tool.
What the transcript can miss
- No speaker names, as above.
- Crosstalk, a poor phone line and quiet speakers are often missed or misheard.
- Names, prices and numbers can come out wrong. Check anything you'll put in a proposal against the recording.
- The summary is the AI's reading of the transcript. It can misstate a point or drop a condition.
Plan limits
Uploaded calls use transcription hours: 1 on the free plan, 10 on Pro and 100 on Unlimited, over a rolling 30 days, with up to 6 hours per file. Each call also counts as one video, and the free plan has 3 a month. There's no team plan or shared workspace: each person has their own account and History. The pricing page has the details.
Your recordings and customer data
The file isn't stored. Its audio is sent in slices to an outside AI transcription service set up not to keep it or use it for training. The transcript and summary are saved to your History. There's no way to delete an item from History, in the web app or the extension, so think about what you upload, and check what your customer agreements allow.
Related
Compare plans to see the transcription hours on each.
Questions about transcribing sales calls
Can Claras join or record my sales calls?
No. Claras doesn't join meetings, record calls or transcribe live. Record the call in your usual tool, with the other people's agreement, then upload the file.
How do I get a call from my meeting tool into Claras?
Download the recording from your call or meeting tool as a video or audio file, then upload it in the Video or Audio tab. Claras only reads the audio, so either kind of file works. There's no direct connection to any meeting tool.
Does the transcript show who said what?
No. You get timestamped lines without speaker names, so your lines and the buyer's run together. Listen at that time when you need to know who said something, and say names and next steps out loud on calls.
Does it connect to my CRM?
No. Claras has no CRM integration. Copy the summary or transcript into your CRM yourself, or download them as text files.
How accurate is AI sales call transcription?
It depends on the audio. One person speaking at a time on a clear line works best. Crosstalk, poor phone lines and quiet speakers cause mistakes, and names, prices and numbers can come out wrong. Check anything you'll rely on against the recording.
Do I need permission to record a sales call?
Often, yes. The rules differ between countries and, in the US, between states, and some places need everyone on the call to agree. We can't give legal advice, so check the rules that apply to you. Telling people at the start that you're recording is a good habit everywhere.
How long can a call recording be?
Up to 6 hours per file, as long as you have that many transcription hours left. The free plan includes 1 hour every 30 days, Pro 10 hours and Unlimited 100 hours.
Is there a team plan?
No. Each person uses their own account, and History isn't shared. The pricing page shows the plans there are.
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