Best Practices: Using Rev Live Captions for Zoom

It’s no secret — video conferencing is more important now than ever. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced companies, educational institutions, and families to connect through live video technologies at an unprecedented rate. There’s a reason that Zoom is one of those rare companies to become a verb: people across the globe are leveraging Zoom live meetings to go about their daily lives, whether it be for work, school, or a happy hour with friends. 

And with the school year fast approaching, the demand for live video events will only increase. Live captioning is a valuable tool to keep live events like classes, webinars, and conferences accessible and engaging to all audiences. Thanks to our best-in-class English speech-to-text AI, Rev Live Captions for Zoom is the best tool for adding high quality captions to your live video content. In an optimal environment, Rev’s AI can deliver live captions with more than 80% accuracy. When using live captions for your Zoom events, follow these best practices to achieve the most accurate captions possible.

1. Use a Strong Internet Connection

While this one may seem obvious, it still needs to be said. A faulty internet connection can be seriously detrimental to your Zoom meeting, impacting your captions and distracting your audience. Research shows that people have very little patience for a bad live event. According to TechRadar, a majority of people will abandon a poor-quality live event in 90 seconds or less. 

For the best performance from your auto captions (and to save you a good deal of embarrassment) make sure that you’ve tested your connection before your event. And, if possible, it’s always best to use a wired internet connection for large live events.

2. Ensure Good Audio Quality

High-quality audio is just as important for optimal caption performance as high-speed internet. Poor audio quality can affect the output of your live auto captioning solution, making incorrect words appear on the screen and confusing your attendees. To achieve the best audio quality possible, here are a couple of things to keep in mind:

• Test Your Microphone: It’s important to test your microphone before any live event. Did you recently spill something on the headphones you’ll be using? Does Zoom need to make an update to your microphone settings, causing your audio to cut in and out? Always know the answers to these questions before you start your live stream.
• Eliminate Background Noise: We recommend you try to have as little background noise as possible when holding a live event. Background noise can affect the speech recognition engine’s ability to convert the speech to text, hindering the output. Achieving total silence in the background is of course easier said than done, especially at a time when so many people are working from home. Do your best to find a room away from everybody, let those around you know you need quiet, and close the door. When in doubt, a “Quiet Please!” sign never hurt anybody.

3. One Speaker at a Time

If you’ve participated in a Zoom meeting, then you know that multiple people speaking over each other can be a common issue. Typically, the audio will cut out and one or both speakers will need to repeat themselves. 

If you’re hosting a live event with more than one speaker (as many of us are), make sure your speakers know beforehand to avoid talking over one another. Having one single speaker at a time will ensure the clarity of your live captions and improve the experience for everyone involved.

4. Speak Clearly

Your live captions will appear more accurately if your speakers speak slowly and clearly. Live events can be stressful and cause some people to speed up their speech, but annunciation and a reasonable pace will do wonders for your captions’ quality. We recommend having your speakers do a test-run beforehand to get comfortable with their speed and annunciation.

5. Make Sure Your Audience Knows How to Use the Tool

You’ve done all the tests. Your internet connection is solid. Your microphone is clear. Your speakers are cool and ready to go. But all that means nothing to an audience member whose captions aren’t turned on. That’s why we recommend making a very brief housekeeping note at the start of your Zoom meeting to make sure everybody knows how to activate the tool if they need it.

Use Rev Live Captions for Zoom to Boost Accessibility and Inclusion

As video conferencing adoption continues to rise, it will only become more important to make your events accessible and inclusive. Following these best practices will help ensure the accuracy of your live captions and the quality of your event.

Additionally, if you plan to use the recording of your event after the fact, we highly recommend upgrading to Rev’s full captioning and transcription services. Including 99% accurate captions in and transcripts of your recording can help you get the most out of your content.