Collecting conversations
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Collecting is getting spoken - or written - input into your project. dembrane gives you several ways, and you can mix them within one project. The question that decides which fits is simple: who is holding the device?
Before you start, make sure the portal is set up (at least a title, description, finish message, and key terms). On Free you have one hour of recording; unlimited is on paid tiers. Uploading existing text doesn’t use recording time.
| Method | Who records | Best when |
|---|---|---|
| Portal: QR or direct link | The people themselves, on their own phones | Many people at once; self-service; in person or remote |
| Record yourself (browser) | You, on a laptop | You’re holding the conversation or interviewing |
| Upload text | No one - you already have it | Migrating data, or audio captured elsewhere |
| dembrane Go (iOS, beta) | You, on your phone | Mobile, walking, or flaky-laptop situations |
The portal: QR or direct link#
The portal is a no-account web page people open to record for you - the default and most scalable way to collect. There are two ways to get people there:
- QR code - auto-created and shown at the top of the project page. Open the host guide for a QR plus instruction page you can edit and download as a PDF to print. To scan, a participant opens their phone camera, points it at the code, and taps the link.
- Direct link - copy and share the portal link by app, email, or browser, for people who aren’t in the room.
In the portal, participants can name their session (if you’ve enabled it), do a mic check, press start (a timer runs), and pause anytime.
You can open and close the portal for participation, and see how many conversations are ongoing. Conversations show up in the dashboard as soon as they start; the transcript lands about 30 seconds to a minute later (audio is sent in 30-second pieces, and the higher-quality transcription takes a little extra processing). The full participant-side flow is in the participant portal.
Watch the room: the Monitor page#
dembrane next only. During a live session, open Monitor in the project sidebar. It shows every participant from the moment they scan the QR, moving through Scanned → Setting up → Recording - so you spot the person stuck at the mic check while they’re still in the room. Each live recording shows its state, duration, a level meter so you can see audio is actually arriving, and a live transcript snippet; if someone’s audio stops coming in you get an Audio stopped? warning, and a locked phone shows as Screen locked. Transcription progress and errors show per conversation, with a rough catch up estimate when a backlog builds. The project home shows the same thing in brief under Live & recent. For a detailed walkthrough of all stages, indicators, and warnings, see the live monitor feature guide.
Tip
Put the Monitor on your laptop while the room records. The two warnings worth acting on in the moment: Audio stopped? (walk over, ask them to check their connection) and Screen locked (ask them to wake their phone - recording pauses while it’s locked).
Ready Check Go (tell participants this before they record)#
A quick checklist that saves a lot of lost recordings:
- Be on good wifi or 5G.
- When prompted, allow microphone access.
- Keep the screen on - a black screen means no recording.
- A well-charged phone is less likely to sleep.
- Turn on Do Not Disturb - better privacy, fewer interruptions.
Tip
Print the QR large and test it from the back of the room. One line of spoken instructions ("scan this, allow the microphone, and just talk") loses far fewer people at the start.
Record yourself (in the browser)#
You can record a conversation yourself, right in the dashboard, from a laptop - good for one-to-one interviews, a panel you’re moderating, or a meeting you’re already in. Start a recording from within the project; dembrane captures in chunks, shows a level meter, and lets you pause, resume, and stop. See recording.
Upload text#
If you already have conversation text - from another tool, a transcription service, or notes
- bring it straight in without recording. Use the project’s upload option to bulk-import transcripts; they become conversations you can read, tag, chat over, and report on like any other. Because nothing is recorded, this doesn’t touch your recording hours.
Note
dembrane is focused on moments of dialogue. Today the text-input route is the one way to add extra written material; a more elegant document solution is coming soon.
dembrane Go (the mobile app)#
dembrane Go is the native iOS recorder, built for capturing away from a desk: local-first recording in 30-second chunks that survives a crash or the app being killed, background recording, a Live Activity in the Dynamic Island, and a microphone selector. Sign in with your dembrane account, pick the project, and record - conversations sync to the same project and transcribe like browser recordings.
dembrane Go is in beta - it isn’t on the App Store yet. Email [email protected] to join the TestFlight beta.
Important
dembrane Go is a recording companion. Analysis, reports, the library, and project creation stay on the web. Record on mobile; make sense of it in the dashboard. See what syncs and what’s web-only.
Choosing, in one breath#
- Lots of people, their own phones: portal QR or link.
- You’re doing the talking on a laptop: record yourself.
- You already have the text: upload.
- You’re out and about: dembrane Go.
After you’ve collected#
Recordings transcribe automatically and get a summary. From there, read and organise them, Ask questions across them, pull out themes with the library, or assemble a report.
Related#
- The participant portal - the participant-side experience.
- Setting up the portal - configure that experience.
- Recording - how capture works.
- Using dembrane Go on mobile - the iOS recorder.
- Transcripts & conversations - what to do with what you’ve gathered.
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