What is Live Captions?

Live Captions is an AI-driven live captioning service that delivers real-time captions and interactive transcripts for meetings, conferences, and events. This service is designed to provide an accessible and budget-friendly solution for making audio and video content available to individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing.

What Makes Live Captions Unique?

The Live Captions service utilizes automatic speech recognition (ASR) technology to convert audio or video feeds from meetings, events, or conferences into text transcripts in real-time. This text is formatted and displayed on-screen as live captions or an interactive transcript that updates continuously as the audio plays.

Key Features

• Real-time Processing: Captions are generated instantly, with minimal delay from the live audio, allowing for seamless streaming alongside video or meeting feeds.
• Multi-lingual Support: The service can transcribe in nearly 140 languages and dialects.
• Customizable Captions: Users can modify the appearance, size, colors, and layout of the captions to suit their preferences.
• Interactive Transcript: The text transcript can be made interactive, enabling users to search, bookmark, and navigate through the text easily.
• Integrations: Live Captions offers integrations to incorporate captions and transcripts into existing platforms and services via APIs and embeddable widgets.

Pros & Cons Table

Who is Using Live Captions?

Live Captions caters to several key audiences:

• Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Users: The service provides real-time access to audio and video content through captions and transcripts, making it accessible for those who depend on text alternatives.
• Organizations and Event Organizers: Any organization hosting meetings, events, lectures, or creating media content can utilize Live Captions to enhance accessibility and comply with regulations.
• Platforms and Services: Software platforms, such as video conferencing tools and learning management systems, can integrate Live Captions to broaden their accessibility.
• Content Creators: Individual creators, educators, and media producers can use Live Captions to add text captions to their videos, podcasts, and other media.

Support Options

Live Captions offers various support channels:

• Knowledge Base: A searchable support site with how-to articles, documentation, and troubleshooting guides.
• Email Support: Available 7 days a week.
• Chat Support: Live chat assistance during business hours.
• Phone Support: Direct phone support is available for Business plan users.

Pricing

Live Captions offers several pricing tiers:

• Free Plan: 60 minutes of free captions per month, ideal for testing the service.
• Starter: $16 per month for up to 4 hours of captions.
• Plus: $39 per month for up to 10 hours of captions.
• Business: $79 per month for up to 20 hours of captions.
• Custom Enterprise Plans: Available for large volume captioning needs.

Please note that pricing information may not be up to date. For the most accurate and current pricing details, refer to the official Live Captions website.

A 7-day free trial is available on paid plans, and volume discounts are offered for annual subscriptions.

Integrations and API

Live Captions integrates with numerous popular platforms and provides API access:

• Embeddable widgets for websites and applications
• Plugins for platforms like WordPress and Shopify
• Video player integrations
• LMS integrations for educational institutions
• Web conferencing integrations
• Phone system integrations

The platform also offers a developer API for full programmatic access to Live Captions transcription for custom integrations.

FAQ

• How accurate are the captions? Captions are generated using advanced speech recognition technology and are over 95% accurate in most cases, though accuracy may vary based on audio quality and speaker accents.
• How is my privacy protected? All audio and transcripts are encrypted, and the service complies with HIPAA regulations for data privacy and security.
• Can I use Live Captions for live phone calls? Yes, Live Captions can be integrated with your phone system to provide real-time captions for calls.
• Do I have to schedule captions in advance? Captions can be generated instantly without pre-scheduling for live events and meetings, though scheduling is recommended for availability.
• What audio formats does Live Captions support? The service supports MP3, WAV, MP4, WebM, and most other standard audio formats, accommodating both video and audio-only files.

Useful Links and Resources

• Live Captions Website
• Pricing Page
• Schedule Live Captions
• Integrations
• Live Captions Blog