How the desktop approach works

Meetingly runs beside your meeting application. It captures the microphone, system audio, or both, according to your selection. With the default local transcription engine, a speech model on your computer turns that sound into text. The Answers panel uses the conversation and your instructions to help with a question. You can also keep automatic answers off and ask manually.

This separates three decisions: how audio becomes text, where an AI answer is generated, and whether meeting history is synced. Local transcription by itself does not make a hosted AI request local. The local and cloud guide explains those boundaries.

Set up your first meeting

  1. Install the app for your operating system. Use the Windows, Mac or Linux downloads. On a Mac, choose the package for Apple Silicon or Intel and put the app in Applications.
  2. Choose how answers will run. Connect a Meetingly account for the hosted plan, or open the tray menu and choose “Use your own API key…” for an OpenAI-compatible provider or a local model.
  3. Let the speech model finish downloading. The default local engine needs its model on first use. Download it before the call; do not depend on a slow connection in the middle of a meeting.
  4. Check the audio source and language. Microphone captures your side. System audio captures sound played by the computer. Both captures the conversation from both sides. Select the language people will actually speak.
  5. Start with a short test. Press Listen, speak a sentence, and play a short sample through the same output device you will use in the call. Check that the Transcript panel shows the expected words.

Give the assistant useful context

A focused instruction is more useful than a long biography. For a project review, include the project goal, known constraints and the decisions the meeting needs to reach. For a customer conversation, include the product facts you can substantiate. Leave credentials, unnecessary personal details and confidential information outside the prompt.

Meeting goal: agree on the next release scope.
Known constraints: two engineers; a three-week delivery window.
Help me identify risks and ask concise follow-up questions.
If a detail is missing, say that it is unknown.

Keep automatic answers off while learning the app. Ask one question, compare the answer with the transcript, then try the question-triggered mode. An AI answer can misunderstand speech or invent a detail; verify factual claims before using them in a decision.

Check screen sharing separately

No meeting bot joins the participant list. That does not guarantee that an overlay is hidden from every capture method. Meetingly uses operating-system content protection on Windows and macOS. Capture software and OS versions can behave differently; Linux does not provide the same protection. Test from another participant’s view using your actual meeting software.

Recording and assistance rules still apply. Tell participants and obtain any permission your meeting requires. For practice interviews, agree on the exercise and how the assistant will be used before starting.

Finish with a useful record

Finish the listening session when the meeting ends. Review the saved transcript and generated report. Check the decisions, owners and dates against what was actually said. A report request uses the configured answer provider and the relevant plan allowance. Use the meeting notes template to turn that draft into a reliable follow-up.

If the transcript is empty, start with the selected source, permissions and the model’s download state. If the transcript works but an answer fails, check account access or your own provider key. These are different parts of the setup.