Troubleshooting transcripts & summaries

dembrane turns spoken words into text and clear, high-level summaries. Usually, this happens within a minute of the recording ending. If a transcript came out rough, a summary missed the point, or you are wondering why a conversation is empty, these are the steps to fix them.

1. The transcript contains errors or is hard to read#

Transcription quality is highly dependent on audio clarity and vocabulary context. If proper nouns, names, or industry-specific terms are being misspelled or misheard:

Step 1: check and update your project’s key terms#

The single most effective tool for better transcription is your Key Terms list in the project or portal settings.

• Navigate to your project settings or the portal editor.
• Add the proper nouns, participant names, project abbreviations, and industry terms (e.g., specific software names, local places, or technical jargon) that people are likely to mention.
• Tip: If you’re running a session about a specific topic, pre-populate these terms before people start speaking.

Step 2: retranscribe the conversation#

Once your Key Terms list is updated, you can reprocess the audio to generate a better transcript:

• Open the conversation in your dashboard.
• Click the Retranscribe button (the refresh action icon next to the transcript title).
• Confirm the settings in the modal and start the retranscription.
• This creates a new, corrected conversation with the improved transcription while leaving your original recording intact.

2. The summary is inaccurate, outdated, or generic#

Summaries are generated by language models that analyse the transcribed text. If a summary isn’t helpful, it is usually because the underlying transcript was inaccurate or the language model needed more guidance on what to prioritise.

Step 1: make sure the transcript is right#

If the transcription was rough, follow the steps above to retranscribe it with proper Key Terms first. A summary can only be as accurate as the text it is summarising.

Step 2: define your project’s goal and methodology#

The language model uses your project’s Goal and Methodology to guide what it should look for and emphasise in its summaries.

• Check your project’s overview or settings to make sure your Goal is clear.
• Adjust the Goal if you want the summary to focus on specific themes or questions.

Step 3: regenerate the summary#

If you’ve corrected the transcript or adjusted your project goals, you can get a fresh summary:

• Open the conversation in your dashboard.
• Next to the Summary heading, click the Regenerate button (the refresh/retry icon).
• Confirm the regeneration. The language model will discard the old summary and write a fresh one based on the current transcript and project context.

3. The transcript or summary is empty#

If a conversation shows up in your dashboard but has no text or summary, don’t panic. Check these common states:

• Give it a minute: A conversation shows up immediately when recording finishes, but transcription and summary generation take between 30 seconds and a minute to complete. Refresh the page after a short wait.
• Check the “Empty” badge: If the conversation is flagged with an “Empty” badge, it means no speech was detected in the audio file (e.g., if a participant accidentally submitted a silent recording or had microphone issues).
• Processing is stuck: If several minutes have passed and the conversation is still loading or has no transcript, a processing chunk may have failed. You can safely try to Retranscribe the conversation to restart the pipeline, or email [email protected] if the problem persists.

Related#

• Transcripts & conversations
• Collecting conversations
• Setting up the portal