Frequently asked questions

Swiss Transcript is a Swiss audio and video transcription platform that automatically generates structured minutes. It converts your recordings (meetings, interviews, consultations, dictations) into faithful text, then produces ready-to-use minutes from professional templates.

The platform is designed for professionals and organisations that handle sensitive data and demand real confidentiality. Everything is hosted in Switzerland, no data travels abroad, and your recordings are never used to train artificial intelligence models.

All professionals who regularly conduct interviews, sessions or meetings and need a faithful written record: researchers, students, lawyers, psychologists, psychotherapists, coaches, mediators, consultants, HR directors, fiduciaries, architects, communication agencies, municipal secretaries, clerks and municipalities, doctors and carers (medical dictation), social workers, employment advisers, disability insurance offices, guardians, police services, occupational physicians, associations, foundations, NGOs.

More broadly, any freelancer or organisation for whom the confidentiality of conversations matters.

English, French, standard German, Swiss German (all major dialects: Zurich, Bern, Basel, Lucerne, St. Gallen, Aargau) and Italian: the four national languages are covered. For Swiss German, you choose the language of the output text: written dialect (Schwiizerdütsch) or directly standard German, ready for the minutes.

Swiss German is one of our strengths: we specialise in recognising it and regularly compare open-source models to keep the best performer.

Over 95 % in French, standard German and English on good-quality recordings. For Swiss German, we guarantee around 95 % depending on the dialect.

Quality always depends on the recording: distance to the microphone, background noise, number of speakers, overlapping voices.

Yes, Swiss German transcription is one of our core skills. We recognise Zurich (Züridütsch), Bern (Berndeutsch), Basel (Baseldeutsch), Lucerne, St. Gallen, Aargau and most other Alemannic dialects. Some dialects remain harder to transcribe: we don't promise miracles, test with your own recordings.

To optimise recognition of a specific dialect or dialectal professional vocabulary, we can co-build a custom prompt with you that includes a tailored lexicon. Contact us to discuss it.

In free conversation around a table, quality is optimal up to 6 speakers. With a suitable setup (moderated speaking turns, one microphone per person or several microphones in the room), this rises to 15 people and more : a municipal council meeting with 32 speakers was transcribed successfully, each councillor having a microphone.

For large assemblies, let's talk beforehand: we advise you on the recording setup to plan.

Yes, provided speaking turns are structured and only one person speaks at a time (a chair giving the floor, a roving microphone, etc.). For co-ownership assemblies, association general meetings or municipal councils following an agenda, transcription works very well.

Beyond 15 participants, a suitable recording setup (one microphone per speaker) is needed; that is how a meeting with 32 speakers was transcribed. We offer a dedicated minutes template for these formats: contact us.

The tool is designed primarily for in-person conversations: office interviews, consultations, home visits, physical meetings. It is also compatible with hybrid sessions with 1 to 3 remote participants.

Yes, demo videos are available directly on the demo page, in French, German and English. They are self-contained enough to understand how the platform works, with no sales appointment required.

And with the 60 free minutes at sign-up, you can process a full one-hour interview and generate structured minutes to concretely assess the quality on your own use case.

You record your session directly from the platform or upload an existing audio or video file. The platform automatically transcribes your recording, identifies speakers and timestamps the exchanges.

You then automatically generate up to 3 structured documents from ready-made professional templates, or export the raw transcript. Your data stays in your secure personal space.

Yes. You get 60 free minutes of transcription at sign-up, no credit card, no commitment. That is enough to process a full one-hour interview and generate structured minutes.

We offer three usage modes depending on how often you use the service:

• Prepaid per minute: CHF 0.17 per minute.
• Tiered hour packs: 5 h pack at CHF 35, 10 h pack at CHF 60, 20 h pack at CHF 100.
• Monthly subscriptions: Starter (5 h for CHF 20), Essential (10 h for CHF 35), Pro (20 h for CHF 65), Business (50 h for CHF 150), Expert (100 h for CHF 250).

Annual subscriptions get a 20 % discount. Beyond 100 hours per month, we prepare a tailored commercial offer. Contact us.

No. All our monthly subscriptions are commitment-free and can be cancelled at any time from your user account. The annual subscription offers a 20 % discount in exchange for a 12-month commitment. Subscription minutes are to be used within the month: any left at the end of the month do not carry over to the next. Only prepaid credits never expire.

On cancellation, your subscription remains active until the end of the current billing period, during which you can use all the minutes in your plan. Unused minutes beyond that are not carried over, but you can switch at any time to prepaid (no expiry) to keep occasional use.

No. Prepaid credits (per minute, per hour or in packs) have no expiry date. Use them at your own pace.

None. The platform is a web service used directly from your browser, no app to install, no hardware to buy, no setup fees. You pay only for what you use.

Yes, exclusively in Swiss francs. No exchange-rate uncertainty or bank conversion fees for Swiss customers.

Yes. Our Enterprise account is designed for teams and organisations: invited staff share the same pool of hours while each having a strictly private space. No per-user cost, centralised billing.

The Enterprise account lets an organisation pool a transcription volume among several users. The pool of hours (prepaid or subscription) is shared by all invited staff, each with their own login and private space. No access to other members' transcripts. Billing is centralised; the organisation can appoint one or more administrator profiles. Already have individual accounts? As soon as two or more people want to share an account and a pooled credit, we convert your user accounts into an Enterprise account, free of charge.

Contact us to discuss your project.

Audio: MP3, M4A, WAV, AAC, WMA, FLAC.
Video: MP4, MOV, AVI, MKV, WMV.
Maximum size per file: 16 GB.

Word (.docx), PDF, RTF, plus SRT and VTT for video subtitles.

Yes, you can upload an existing audio or video file from any source: dictaphone, smartphone, dedicated recorder, video camera. You can also record directly on the platform via your browser, with nothing to install.

Transcribing one hour of audio typically takes a few minutes. You receive a notification in your user account as soon as your transcript is ready.

Yes. Recording works offline if you open the recording feature in your browser before entering an area without coverage. Once reconnected, you start the transcription manually. Useful for home visits, field interviews or poorly covered areas.

No. Swiss Transcript is a responsive web platform used directly from your browser, on computer (Windows, Mac, Linux) or on the go from smartphone and tablet. No installation required.

Yes, like any AI, errors are possible, particularly with rare proper names, highly technical vocabulary or poor-quality audio. We recommend human validation of the result for any sensitive content or official use.

Yes, Swiss Transcript automatically identifies the different speakers with a timestamp for each speaking turn. Accuracy is optimal up to 6 speakers in free conversation, and up to 15 and more with a suitable recording setup. With enriched transcription, you declare speaker names once and they are reused in every session.

A few good practices: use a quality microphone or get closer to it, limit background noise, avoid overlapping voices by letting everyone speak in turn, and plan one microphone per speaker beyond 6 people. For specific acronyms or technical terms, a custom prompt can significantly improve the result.

Several ready-made templates are available on the platform: semi-structured interview, internal meeting report, focus group, psychotherapy session, public-body minutes, HR interview.

New professional templates are added regularly based on needs reported by users.

Up to 3 minutes generations are included in the price of each transcript, at no extra cost. For example, you can generate municipal minutes, an internal meeting report and an HR interview from the same recording.

Yes, we can add generic professional templates to the platform on request, for example for career counsellors, case management services or co-ownership assemblies. Contact us to suggest a template.

Yes. Beyond the generic templates, we offer a custom prompt service tailored to your vocabulary, acronyms, interview structure and expected minutes format.

A custom template costs CHF 1,500, three revision rounds included. Before starting, we check together whether an existing template already comes close to your need. Contact us to discuss your project.

Yes. For any Enterprise account on a one-year commitment of at least 50 hours per month, one custom minutes template is free at sign-up. Additional templates cost CHF 1,500, three revision rounds included. The same commitment gives access to automatic data purging after 7 days, down to each user's browser.

The process is simple and asynchronous, in writing. You share a reference document (interview guide, existing template, typical example). We write a first version of the prompt adapted to your context. You test it and send us written feedback. We iterate, in at most three rounds, until the structure, content and length of the minutes match your needs.

Yes. Paste the Teams meeting link into the platform: the Swiss Transcript bot joins the meeting, records it and notifies participants. This feature has been in beta since September 2026 and will be further improved. Google Meet and Zoom will follow.

Primarily remotely, by email or video call, as the tool is easy to pick up. In French first, then in English and German by email. For pilot projects in German, Dorit, our native German-speaking partner, supports the teams.

All your data is hosted and processed exclusively in Switzerland, on our own servers, in a Swiss data centre certified ISO 27001, ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 50001.

No data leaves Switzerland, at any time.

It depends on its origin. An uploaded file (audio or video) is automatically and permanently deleted from our servers immediately after transcription. A live recording made on the platform is never sent to our servers: it stays only in your browser's local storage. A Teams recording via our bot is kept on our Swiss infrastructure until manual deletion or automatic purge.

Your transcripts and minutes are not deleted: they remain accessible in your Swiss Transcript account, whatever browser or computer you use.

Live recordings made on the platform work differently: they are saved only locally, in your browser's storage, never on our servers. If you cleared the cache, switched browser (for example from Chrome to another) or changed computer, they no longer appear. They are sometimes still accessible from the old browser or old computer.

To keep an audio recording long term, export it after transcription and save it separately. Uploaded files are deleted from our servers once transcription is complete: keep your original.

Live recordings made on the platform are stored in the browser of the device you used, never on our servers. Audio recorded on your smartphone therefore stays on that smartphone.

The transcript, however, is saved to your account as soon as it has been generated: if you started it from the smartphone, you will find it on your computer. That is where you can use enriched transcription and generate the minutes, as these functions are not available from the smartphone. If you see nothing on the computer, the transcript has not yet been generated from the smartphone.

To keep the audio, export it from the original device: if you change device or browser, or clear the cache, it is no longer accessible.

The transcript and minutes remain in your user interface, under your exclusive control. You can delete them manually at any time; deleting an audio file does not delete the transcript. For Enterprise accounts from 50 h per month, a specific retention period can be set on request, for example an automatic purge of all documents after 7 days. Encryption keys are derived from your password and sealed in TPM modules: no Swiss Transcript employee can read your content.

Teams recordings made by the Swiss Transcript bot are kept only on our infrastructure in Switzerland, until manual deletion or automatic purge. Microsoft acts only as your organisation's Teams provider; we do not use its recording and store nothing at Microsoft. Your vocabulary, speaker, proper-name and acronym lists remain under your control until you delete them or close the account. Activity logs (metadata only, never content) are kept for 12 months.

No, never. Your data is used neither to train nor to improve artificial intelligence models, neither by us nor by any third party. The platform runs on open-source language models executed on our own servers in Switzerland. This commitment is written into our data processing agreement (DPA, September 2026 version).

Yes. Swiss Transcript complies with the GDPR (EU) and the revised Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP). Our data processing agreement (DPA) and technical and organisational measures (TOM, version 1.2, September 2026) are accepted at sign-up and available on request, along with an NDA template.

Any data security breach is notified to you within 72 hours at the latest. You have a right to audit, including on site, and to our host's audit reports on request. Any change of subprocessor is announced 60 days in advance, with a right to object.

All transmissions are encrypted with TLS 1.2 and TLS 1.3. Stored data is protected by AES-256 with unique keys per customer and per object, protected by RSA-2048 and sealed in non-exportable TPM modules. Each customer's data is isolated at database level. Two-factor authentication is available to all and mandatory for administrators. Daily encrypted backups in Switzerland, 99.5% guaranteed availability.

No. As a company under Swiss law hosted on Swiss infrastructure, we are not subject to the US CLOUD Act or the Patriot Act. No foreign authority can compel us to hand over your data without going through Swiss judicial cooperation channels.

No, Swiss Transcript is offered exclusively as secure SaaS hosted in Switzerland. We do not plan an on-premise solution.

A Swiss Transcript API is planned for this autumn, mainly for Enterprise customers. It will let you integrate transcription and minutes generation directly into your internal tools. For early access, contact us.

Create a free account on swisstranscript.ch. You immediately get 60 free minutes of transcription, no credit card, no commitment. This lets you test the solution on one of your real recordings and assess the quality of the result on your specific use case.

For any information request or tailored quote (large volumes, custom prompt, Enterprise account, professional template to integrate): hello@swisstranscript.ch.

We reply in writing in English, French, German and Italian. Video demos are held in French, English or Italian.

Write to us at hello@swisstranscript.ch. We commit to answering quickly, and every question received feeds this FAQ to improve it.